Allergies

In 2004, Congress passed the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act.  
This made food manufacturers responsible for labeling products that contain one or more of 8 common allergens. 

Because several folks within the Culver Academies community suffer from food allergies, 
the decision was made to include allergen information on Culver's new dining hall labels.

Click here
to see what the 8 common allergens are 
and the symbols that will be used at Culver to identify them.

Click here 
to view a Powerpoint guide to the new food labels. 

 

Background Information...
(copied from www.cfsan.fda.gov website)

Congress finds that--

  1. (1) it is estimated that--
    1. (A) approximately 2 percent of adults and about 5 percent of infants and young children in the United States suffer from food allergies; and
    2. (B) each year, roughly 30,000 individuals require emergency room treatment and 150 individuals die because of allergic reactions to food;
  2. (2)
    1. (A) eight major foods or food groups--milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans-- account for 90 percent of food allergies;
    2. (B) at present, there is no cure for food allergies; and
    3. (C) a food allergic consumer must avoid the food to which the consumer is allergic;
  3. (3)
    1. (A) in a review of the foods of randomly selected manufacturers of baked goods, ice cream, and candy in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1999, the Food and Drug Administration found that 25 percent of sampled foods failed to list peanuts or eggs as ingredients on the food labels; and
    2. (B) nationally, the number of recalls because of unlabeled allergens rose to 121 in 2000 from about 35 a decade earlier;
  4. (4) a recent study shows that many parents of children with a food allergy were unable to correctly identify in each of several food labels the ingredients derived from major food allergens;
  5. (5)
    1. (A) ingredients in foods must be listed by their ``common or usual name'';
    2. (B) in some cases, the common or usual name of an ingredient may be unfamiliar to consumers, and many consumers may not realize the ingredient is derived from, or contains, a major food allergen; and
    3. (C) in other cases, the ingredients may be declared as a class, including spices, flavorings, and certain colorings, or are exempt from the ingredient labeling requirements, such as incidental additives; and
  6. (6)
    1. (A) celiac disease is an immune-mediated disease that causes damage to the gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system, and other organs;
    2. (B) the current recommended treatment is avoidance of glutens in foods that are associated with celiac disease; and
    3. (C) a multi-center, multiyear study estimated that the prevalence of celiac disease in the United States is 0.5 to 1 percent of the general population.

Questions and Answers...

  1. What is the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004?

    The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) (Public Law 108-282) was enacted in August 2004, and addresses, among other issues, the labeling of foods that contain certain food allergens.

  2. When do the labeling requirements of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) become effective for packaged foods sold in the United States?

    All packaged foods regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFD&C Act) that are labeled on or after January 1, 2006, must comply with FALCPA's food allergen labeling requirements.

  3. Must products with labels that do not comply with FALCPA be removed from the market place once the new labeling law is effective?

    No. FALCPA does not require any action with respect to products labeled before January 1, 2006.

  4. What is a "major food allergen?"

    Under FALCPA, a "major food allergen" is an ingredient that is one of the following five foods or from one of the following three food groups or is an ingredient that contains protein derived from one of the following:

  5. Does FALCPA provide any specific direction for declaring the presence of ingredients from the three food groups that are designated as "major food allergens (i.e., tree nuts, fish, and Crustacean shellfish?")

    Yes. FALCPA requires that in the case of tree nuts, the specific type of nut must be declared (e.g., almonds, pecans, or walnuts). The species must be declared for fish (e.g., bass, flounder, or cod) and Crustacean shellfish (crab, lobster, or shrimp).

  6. Are there food allergens other than those directly addressed by FALCPA?

    Congress designated eight foods or food groups as "major food allergens." These foods or food groups account for 90 percent of all food allergies. Although there are other foods to which sensitive individuals may react, the labels of packaged foods containing these other allergens are not required to be in compliance with FALCPA.

    Note:  Culver Academies is not required by this law to provide allergen information on it's food labels, but manufacturers from whom we receive ingredients and menu items must conform to FALCPA regulations.  To assist those in our population who need this information, we have chosen to pass it along via our food labels.

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