Indicazioni di presenza di allergeni in etichetta

The list of substances or foodstuffs that, based on up-to-date scientific knowledge and relevance and may cause allergies or intolerances in certain individuals, is given in the Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011. Under EU legislation, allergenic products and substances whose presence in food must be indicated on the label are the following: cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soy, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, celery, lupine, sesame, mustard and sulfites.
On a voluntary basis, manufacturers may also carry claims that may alert them to the non-excludability of the presence of allergens in products (PAL -Precautionary Allergen Labelling).
With regard to such warnings, current regulations in different world states frequently show high heterogeneity with regard to the criteria and priorities established.
It is generally agreed that the management of risk associated with the presence of food allergens cannot be separated from the mandatory use of appropriate food labeling, indicating the possible presence of one or more of the formally recognized allergens.
This necessity has consequently led to the need to establish threshold values of allowable allergenic substances in food, so that any exceeding of these values must be mandatorily reported on the label to protect the health and to ensure the informed choice of the allergic consumer.