The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today (04/09/2023) updated its best practice technical guidance on food allergen labelling to support food businesses and keep consumers safe.
In particular, the technical guidance is recommending a number of changes in relation to how food businesses should use Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL). PAL is extra written allergen information on food packaging to explain that an allergen may be in a food even though it is not an intended ingredient (for example, “May contain”). The updated guidance includes:
The guidance also clarifies the difference between a ‘vegan’ claim and a ‘free-from’ claim. PAL statements can be used in combination with a ‘vegan’ label, because a ‘vegan’ label communicates different information and is aimed at a different consumer group. Only ‘free-from’ claims are guarantees that the specified allergen is absent.
Read the full technical guidance on the FSA website.
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