Australians with severe allergies have been warned there is no way to guarantee that pre-packaged foods are safe, according to new research.
Researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute found 14 cases in Australia and New Zealand where people suffered life-threatening anaphylaxis attacks from unlisted ingredients - in just three months, .
The study has prompted warnings that reading listed ingredients on food packaging may not be enough to prevent an allergic reaction.
Alarmingly, half of the cases involved products that did have special allergen warnings. In those cases, it's suspected the food products were contaminated with other allergens during manufacturing.
The study's lead author, Dr Giovanni Zurzolo, says authorities must re-examine food safety regulations, including precautionary allergen labelling, to protect vulnerable consumers.
Victorian teenager Emilia Habgood has experienced several anaphylactic attacks and carries an EpiPen with her at all times because of severe reactions to wheat, eggs and peanuts.
Despite taking great care with her diet, she suffered an episode 18 months ago after eating a packet of rice crackers that were in her school lunch.
“We had rice crackers that mum had been giving me for about six months… I had them in my lunchbox and they were fine, then I started getting an itchy mouth,” she told SBS News.
Her mother Helen Czech said she had double checked the ingredients and it appeared to be safe.
"There were no ingredients listed on the label that Emi is allergic to, so we were very surprised that she had a reaction," her mother Helen Czech said.
"It is concerning that even if you read the label carefully and try to do everything right that your child could still be at risk.
“To this day, we don’t know what it was.”
Ms Czech said better quality labelling would be helpful to parents and adult allergy sufferers.
The Melbourne based researchers surveyed 200 allergists across the country about whether their patients had had reactions to pre-packaged foods.
Professor Katie Allen said she was “astounded” to find quite a high rate of anaphylaxis – the most severe reaction to food.
The research has been published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Manufacturers are required to list added ingredients of their products.
However the inclusion of terminology such as ‘may contain traces of’ is not compulsory.
Approximately half of Australian food manufacturers use a voluntary risk assessment process called VITAL to check cross-contamination during food production.
The allergy experts believe the labelling should go even further to prevent allergic reactions.
They are also calling for the VITAL system to be enforced across the board and clearly labelled on products.
“It’s time for the industry to step up the mark and stop passing the buck to the consumers,” Professor Allen said.
- Additional reporting AAP
