Casein and maltodextrins exceptions to EU allergen label

Milk (casein) products used as fining agents in cider and wines, wheat based maltodextrins and glucose syrups, and fish gelatine used as carrier for vitamins and flavours are among the list of exceptions detailed in Commission Directive 2005/26/EC​ of 21 March 2005.

The exemptions from labelling requirements are made on the that they are not likely to produce an allergic reaction.

Introduced in November 2004, and due for total enforcement by 25 November this year, EU Directive (2003/89/EC) requires food makers to provide a comprehensive ingredients listing on the label of potential food allergens; essentially to flag up to the consumer any potentially harmful ingredient.

The move was largely driven by the steep rise in allergy sufferers. An estimated 4 per cent of adults and 8 per cent of children in the EU - the total population tops 380 million - suffer from food allergies, according to the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations.

There is no current cure for a food allergy, and vigilance by an allergic individual is the only way toprevent a reaction: but a peanut allergy can be so severe that only very tiny amounts can be enough to trigger a response.

The new allergen labelling rules, welcomed by consumer organisations for their transparency, herald the mandatory inclusion on food labels of the most common food allergen ingredients and their derivatives: cereals containing gluten, fish, crustaceans, egg, peanut, soy, milk and dairy products including lactose, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seed, and sulphites.

Further products exempted from the allergen label are: lysozyme (produced from egg) used in wine, fish gelatine or Isinglass used as fining agent in beer, cider and wine; vegetable oil derived phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean sources; plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil sterols from soybean sources; and nuts (almonds, walnuts) used (as flavour) in spirits.