When you have food allergies, reading packaged goods labels becomes a way of life. But recognizing if your allergen is in the product isn’t always easy. Sometimes allergens can be hidden (e.g. as “natural flavours” or “spices” or “hydrolized protein”) or referred to in consumer-unfriendly scientific names.

In Canada, the allergy and celiac communities have been frustrated by long delays in getting regulations that would make reading food labels easier.

In July 2008, Canada’s former health minister announced that the federal government was moving to make it law that food manufacturers list priority allergens in plain language on packaging, not just in scientific terminology (e.g.: “milk” would be shown as an ingredient, not just “casein”). Ingredients of ingredients that are priority allergens would also have to be listed. For example, manufacturers couldn’t simply list “flavouring” if the source of that flavouring included a priority allergen, such as sesame.

Health Canada then published proposed new labeling regulations for priority allergens, gluten and sulphites in Canada Gazette Part 1. That was followed by several months in which the public and stakeholders (food manufacturers, allergy groups, etc.) were allowed to comment on the proposed regulations.

Health Canada reviewed all the comments received. In late 2009, it announced some significant changes to the proposed regulations (including making mustard a priority allergen). When the full consultation and review period was completed in early 2010, the regulations were expected to be published in Canada Gazette Part 2, at which point they would be final.

Unfortunately, in November 2010, the regulations still sat in limbo, finalized but still not passed. Allergic Living and fellow allergy and celiac advocates launched the write-in campaign to the Prime Minister. Following much community pressure, the government finally passed the regulations into law in February 2011, with the new regulations in effect as of August, 2012.

NEXT: Labeling FAQ

The department has announced interim guidelines to food manufacturers that end exemptions for undeclared, “hidden ingredients” in packaged foods. So when a seasoning, flour or margarine is an ingredient of a packaged food’s ingredients and contains a priority allergen – that allergen will now need to be named on the label. Similarly, previously vague ingredients such as “hydrolyzed protein” or “natural flavour” will now have to specify if they contain top allergens. (The priority allergens are: peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, sesame and sulphites.)

Samuel Benrejeb Godefroy, director of the bureau of chemical safety for Health Canada’s Food Directorate, announced the interim guidelines at the Governors’ Foundation’s International Conference on Food Allergies in Montreal in early November. “There shouldn’t be any hidden sources of priority allergens,” he later told Allergic Living. “If somebody puts an ingredient label on a food, it had better be accurate for priority allergens.” Benrejeb Godefroy sees the interim guidelines as an effective tool: “We don’t want to be managing by recalls. What we want is to create predictability in the system.”

Health Canada is also working to update its policy on “may contain” statements on packages, which have become ubiquitous, varied and confusing to consumers. For one much anticipated change – the issue of spelling out priority allergens in plain English or French (e.g. “milk” rather than “casein”) – consumers will still have to wait for the new regulations.

First published in Allergic Living magazine, Winter 2007-08
(c) Copyright AGW Publishing Inc.
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Long-awaited legislation that requires manufacturers to clearly list any of 10 priority allergens on food packages will soon be a reality.

“This clearly affects literally millions of Canadians in one way or another,” Health Minister Tony Clement said in an interview with Allergic Living. “Either people suffering from allergies or celiac disease, or parents who are trying to do the best for their kids who have these kinds of issues.”

Clement announced the new labeling regulations in July 2008, shortly after a campaign in which almost 4,000 people e-mailed a letter, posted at Allergicliving.com, to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The letter urged the government to champion the proposed new rules, noting their importance in the lives of millions of Canadians, and reminding that they had been ready but stalled since 2006.

While Clement didn’t expressly comment on the letter campaign, he did take the time in his address to “thank the moms and dads who have been pushing for this improvement.”

When the law takes effect, companies will be required to list priority allergens in plain language on packaging, and the components of ingredients will have to be specified if they are priority allergens (tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, eggs, milk, soybeans, crustaceans, shellfish, fish, wheat and gluten sources. Sulphites will need to be listed when more than 10 parts per million of a product.

While it could be up to 18 months before the regulations are in place – there is a process for public comment until late October, followed by an implementation period – Clement made an appeal to the food industry to begin working on the changes immediately.

He also told Allergic Living that he is committed to putting these rules into force. “I wanted to make sure we had money in the budget so the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had the money to inspect and enforce these labeling requirements. That was the final piece of the puzzle. I knew once I got that commitment then I could make an announcement, and it would be a serious announcement.”

Food allergy and celiac disease groups and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) have lobbied for this legislation for years. Until now, labels listing scientific names, generic terms such as “spice” and “natural flavour,” and allergens hidden in ingredient components could make shopping perilous for those with allergies and celiac disease.

While the allergy community is applauding Clement’s actions, there has been some criticism that the finished regulations don’t address the “may contain” statements on many food labels. Anaphylaxis Canada said it will “continue to work with Health Canada and other stakeholders to address these and other food labeling issues.”

From the Fall 2008 issue of Allergic Living magazine.
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- Read about the new regs. at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s site.
- View the discussion about the letter-writing campaign in our Talking Allergies forum here.