Food labelling

With the rise of innovative ingredients entering our meals, EFA is closely following the basis to assess the allergenicity risk of the so-called novel foods. The authorisation of novel foods is managed by the European Food Safety Authority on which EFA is a registered NGO stakeholder. In 2018, we brought the patient perspective to ImPARAS, the network of scientists studying what makes a protein an allergen (COST Action FA1402).

We also set the scene of the second ‘International Symposium on Food Allergens: regulation, management and detection’ with a keynote speech advocating that we need better labelling to empower patients with food allergy. In a nutshell, EFA demands the establishment of risk thresholds for allergens, to surpass the often misused “may contain” labelling by food operators due to lack of guidance and regulation, and resulting in risk-taking behaviour by food allergy patients.