How food labelling can help you manage your
baby’s allergy
If your baby has a food allergy you’ll know just how careful you have to be when you buy pre-packed foods. And while the thought of checking the labels on everything you buy might at first seem daunting, it’ll soon become second nature.Food labelling is there to help you make informed choices and European labelling rules mean that ingredients have to be clearly listed on packs to make it easier for people with allergies to identify the ingredients they need to avoid. The rules for pre-packed foods mean that 14 food allergens, including cereals containing gluten , crustaceans, molluscs, eggs, fish, peanuts, nuts, soybeans, milk, celery, mustard, sesame, lupin and sulphur dioxide at levels above 10mg/kg, have to be referenced to the source allergen whenever they, or ingredients made from them, are used at any level in pre-packed food.
A lot of packaging also carries advisory labelling. This is the ‘may contain’ message you will have undoubtedly seen on items such as breakfast cereals, biscuits and packets of nuts. This phrase is often used by manufacturers as a warning and is not a legal requirement. And while some members of the public have complained that it is used too frequently or inappropriately, the Foods Standards Agency recognises that it is invaluable for people with allergies and has been working with the food industry to provide clear advice to the public about why these labelling terms are used and what they mean.But despite being there to help us, food labelling can sometimes be less than straightforward, with several different names being used for one common allergen. For example, milk may be labelled as the following
- Beta-lactoglobulin
- Casein
- Rennet casein
- Ammonium caseinate
- Calcium caseinate
- Magnesium caseinate
- Potassium caseinate
- Sodium caseinate
- Delactosed or demineralised whey
- Hydrolysed casein/whey and hydrolysed milk protein
- Lactalbumin
- Lactalbumin phosphate
- Lactose
- Lactoferrin
- Lactoglobulin
- Milk derivative
- Fat and protein modified milk ingredients
- Whey
- Whey protein concentrate.
With all the good will in the world, mistakes do happen and products which appear to be safe for allergy sufferers aren’t. Allergy UK has a comprehensive list of withdrawn products, which were labelled as dairy-free but found to actually contain dairy. This kind of resource is extremely useful and well worth looking at.
But if you do find food labelling a bit confusing you could always start by looking online at the ‘free from’ lists many supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s , Tesco , Morrisons , Waitrose and Asda have. Whilst it’s worth remembering that some of the foods on the lists will not be suitable for babies they can give guidance on what’s in certain products and can help you make informed choices more easily when your baby is ready for them.
By doing a little bit of research, you’ll soon know what to look out for and understand what food labelling means. But if you do have any questions about it or you’d like to ask us about your baby’s allergy, please contact our experts anytime on 0800 996 1000, or get in touch via Live Chat, our online messaging service, between 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday.