Getting tough on allergen testing
People who are allergic to specific foodstuffs are about to get some
official and technical help. South Africa is busy refining a new set of laws
that will make food formulation and labelling much more specific and stringent.
In step with this a local organisation called Food & Allergy Consulting and
Testing Services (F.A.C.T.S.) has set up a laboratory that can verify allergen
claims on consumer goods.
 The F.A.C.T.S. laboratory is the first in South Africa and one of few
worldwide that is able to quantitatively substantiate allergen claims. Based in
Cape Town and led by South African allergy expert Dr. Harris Steinman F.A.C.T.S.
is already addressing local laws and manufacturers' practical needs.
A study by Dr. Steinman published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology reveals
signs of a startling growth in allergic sensitisation in the majority of South
Africa's population. Some allergies are extremely dangerous: very small
quantities of fish and peanut proteins can result in anaphylaxis, or systemic
shock that can cause death. More commonly, allergy sufferers have low-level or
medium-level discomfort that interferes with their education or work, their
social life, their physical activities and general happiness and normal
development. This is especially harmful to children, who in disproportionate
numbers suffer from allergies.
F.A.C.T.S. adopts a holistic approach to allergy diagnosis and treatment,
deploying a team of experts, with medical, life sciences, dietetic, food
science, educational and commercial knowledge. They use a massive collection of
electronically stored information on adverse reactions to foods, to tackle the
intricate issues of allergy.
Services offered to companies include ensuring the following: the full
compliance of ingredient terms with SA, US and other legislation; the correct
indication of any allergenicity claims and the appropriate wording in the
ingredients list; the acceptability of health and other claims, and of slogans,
logos and trademarks; and the appropriateness of any nutrition education offered
by the food manufacturer.
Since contamination can occur at various stages in the manufacture of
consumer products, allergen HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) site
audits are also offered. Site assessment of this kind can retrospectively
identify points of contamination.
In addition F.A.C.T.S. offers advice on the responsible marketing of
nutrition benefits. The pending legislation and the emergence of a service such
as the one offered by F.A.C.T.S. are part of a strong social-development towards
more sensitive consumer protection.
F.A.C.T.S. offers advice in the following areas:
Contamination: At the farm, transport, or storage stage,
contamination of raw products can easily occur through, for example, not
cleaning the scales between the weighing of different products. Packaging
material may contaminate. For example, a wheat derivative may be used in the
packaging of a product. The plant layout should minimise the chances of
cross-contamination (dust from peanut operations must not contaminate other
products). Inadequate air movement or cleaning where powder products such as
casein are used is a special cause of contamination.
Inadequate labelling: It is not enough to indicate an
ingredient only by its function, as with "binder". The actual
substance must be named. Along these lines, "lecithin" is an
inadequate listing, as it does not indicate whether this is soy or egg lecithin.
Both soy and egg are common allergens, and lecithin is a common ingredient in
processed foods, so the old style of labelling made it very hard for allergic
patients to select safe products.
Ingredient switching: Some manufacturers switch ingredients
without changing labels when, for example, an ingredient becomes expensive or
hard to source. This is illegal and very dangerous.
Label sharing across different formulations: A brand of tuna,
for example, with slightly different formulations may have identical labels for
each formulation. This is illegal, and hazardous if one of the variable
ingredients is an allergen such as casein.
Allergens in non-food products: Generally the less strict
labelling rules for non-food products do not mean allergic consumers are
necessarily safe from things like peanut oil in face cream or egg in shampoo.
Labelling not borne out by laboratory testing: Under the
pending legislation it is no longer enough for manufacturers to, for example,
label a product "gluten-free", unless it has been confirmed by
laboratory tests that the ingredient is not there, or is there only in the
minute amounts the law allows.
More information:
www.factssa.com
Claire Murphy
Food and Allergy Consulting and Testing Services
P.O. Box 565
Milnerton7435
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 551 2993
Fax: +27 (0) 21 551 2807
Claire@factssa.com
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