FOOD LABELING

On 15/02/2017, I had the pleasure to give a lecture at Wszechnica Żywieniowa at the Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumption Sciences, SGGW in Warsaw, the broadcast was live. As a speaker, I presented current information on food labeling. A summary of the most important slides below.

Proper information on the label enables consumers, especially those suffering from allergies or food intolerances, to make informed and safe choices.

WHAT IS A CELIAC DISEASE?

Celiac disease, a gluten-dependent celiac disease, is an immune-mediated disease caused by gluten (a protein fraction present in wheat, rye and barley seeds), occurs in people with genetic predisposition (1).

 

Celiac disease affects approximately 1% of the total population (2).

TREATMENT OF CELIAC

The only way to treat celiac disease is the strict and consistent use of a gluten-free diet throughout life. Wheat, rye, barley, as well as all their varieties and products obtained from them (3) should be completely excluded.

LABELING

Proper information on the label enables consumers, especially those suffering from allergies or food intolerances, to make informed and safe choices (4).

REGULATION OF EU IMPLEMENTATION
No. 828/2014 DATED 30 JUL 2014

on the requirements for the provision of information to consumers on the absence or reduced presence of gluten in food.

GLUTEN-FREE

The statement ‘gluten-free’ may only be made where the food as sold to the final consumer contains no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten.

souce: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32014R0828

FOOD LABELING

From December 2014. The REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL (EU) No 1169/2011 of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers are in force.

The name of the substance or product of the allergenic component on the label should be emphasized with a wording clearly distinguishing it from the rest of the list of ingredients, e.g. by means of a font, style or background color.

UNREGULATED ISSUES

Additional provisions, e.g.: may contain trace amounts …, the production plant also uses …

The law does not impose an obligation to apply these records, and manufacturers will put them on the label “just in case” to protect the product placed on the market, which may be dangerous for those with food allergies (5).

EXAMPLES OF IMPROPER LABELING:

• flour instead of wheat flour;
• flour that contains gluten, instead of indicating the grain it comes from;
• no reference to the allergenic component from which the product is derived, for example soy protein, lupine protein;
• no information on manna or couscous cereals that are made of wheat (6);

WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER?

• regular checking of information on the labels, as the composition of the product may change;
• reading labels of all food products, including those not associated with the content of cereals (tea, herbal biscuits, juices, dietary supplements);
• the products with the information: “may contain traces of gluten” or “gluten is used on the premises” or “does not contain wheat” are a health risk, because the gluten content may be higher than 20 ppm;
• that naturally gluten-free products, eg corn groats, buckwheat and millet, may be contaminated with gluten during harvesting, processing and packaging (7).

 

MSc. Food Science Wioleta Zysk