Category： Allergies

Revision Draft to add “macadamia nuts” to and delete “matsutake mushroom” from the list of the allergens for recommended labeling announced (Japan)

The Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) announced that it planned to revise “Regarding Food Labeling Standards” within the current fiscal year (by the end of March, 2024) in a set of the materials of the “The 6th Advisors’ Meeting on Food Allergen (13 December, 2023)”. The main points of the revision are as follows. After the… more »

UK: About Precautionary allergen labelling (PAL)

The Food Standards Agency(FSA) updated the Technical Guidance on food allergen labelling and information requirements on the 4th September, 2023. The guidance recommends that food business operators, in particular, review the use of precautionary allergen labels (PALs*). (*PAL is used to inform consumers of the possible unintended presence of allergens in food. e.g. “May Contain… more »

Future of allergen labeling (Japan) (Consideration of adding macadamia nuts to the list of recommended labeling)

The Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) held the 5th Advisors’ Meeting on Food Allergen Labeling  in June 14, 2023. After making walnuts obligatory for the allergen labeling in March this year, the CAA published a policy plan to add “macadamia nuts“ to and remove “matsutake mushrooms“ from the list of recommended labeling for allergens in the… more »

Recent Trends in Food Labeling Standards in U.S.A., Australia, and Canada

The following is a summary of the trends in the food labeling standards of the United States, Australia, and Canada. U.S.A. Update On May 16, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a draft Compliance Policy Guide regarding major food allergen labeling and cross-contact. Overview The draft specifies FDA’s enforcement policy for managing cross-contact… more »

Mandatory allergen labeling for walnuts and others:“Food Labeling Standards”, ”Regarding Food Labeling Standards”, ”Food Labeling Standards Q&A” Revised (Japan)

On March 9, 2023, the Consumer Affairs Agency(CAA) announced revisions to “Food Labeling Standards”, “Regarding Food Labeling Standards”, and “Food Labeling Standards Q&A”. The main revisions include the mandatory labeling of allergens for walnuts and the addition of rapeseed producing EPA / DHA* to the list of specified genetically modified agricultural products**. In this article,… more »

Report on mandatory allergen labeling for walnut: The period of transitional measures is until March 31, 2025 (Japan) ~Summary on other future revisions and transitional measures~

On December 13, 2022, a report was submitted in response to a proposal for partial revision of Food Labeling Standards (such as mandatory allergen labeling for walnuts). According to the report, the transitional period from recommended to mandatory allergen labeling for walnuts is March 31, 2025. The partial revision is expected to be promulgated and… more »

Comments invitation on partial revision draft of Food Labeling Standards started ~Addition of walnuts to the list of Specified allergens (mandatory labeling items for allergens) and Addition of rapeseed producing EPA/DHA to the list of specified genetically modified agricultural products~(Japan)

On October 13, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency announced the start of invitation for public comment on the “Partial Revision of Food Labeling Standards.” The public comment was closed on November 12. Summary of the revision According to the public comment procedure, the outline of the revision draft is as follows. Revision of mandatory allergen… more »

The move from recommended to mandatory allergen labeling for “walnuts” (Part 2) (Japan) ~Report on the national fact-finding survey of health damage caused by immediate-type food allergy in 2021~

At the 67th Consumer Commission Food Labeling Section Meeting held on June 6, 2022, the prospect of the mandatory allergen labeling of “walnuts” was announced. I would also like to take up the “Report on the national fact-finding survey of health damage caused by immediate-type food allergy in 2021”, which was the background of the… more »