Labelling on Food Packaging (anaphylaxis related)

[Jellypisher]

This is really starting to bug me to the point that I may start a Government petition regarding a new law for it...

I would like to see it mandatory for packaging to not only state the full ingredients of food but to also advertise when they have changed ingredients

Currently there is no requirement for them to advertise that they have changed any of the ingredients anywhere on the packaging - although they do list ingredients on the back.

This means that yet again, I've picked up a product that I have had numerous times before, started to eat it and come down in hives (not a bad reaction, but they have been very severe in the past).

Food shopping is a chore because each and every time I go to the supermarket I need to read every single ingredient listing again to check whether the product / ingredient has been changed and whether it is safe to eat.

Yes - YANBU Needs a petition
No - YABU and need to keep reading the ingredient listings each time

@Koalaslippers

I was annoyed at the flora buttery change too, dairy allergy in the house. Some shops had both versions on the shelf mixed up during the change over.

I also get annoyed that there isn't a requirement to highlight allergens on cosmetic products and the ingredients are not always that easy to read.

Me too! It was the nicest one that we could all use. Now we're back to two different ones and I have to make sure I use the df one when cooking.

I have seen labels on Sainsbury's own items when there has been a change to the ingredients, ie their cereals.

What I would like is when you ask for a food item without something, in our case cheese as my ed is allergic to dairy, for it not to be put on the item. I'm looking at you McDonalds, with putting cheese in my eds Big Mac and her not realising until her mouth started to feel odd. She doesn't get to the point she needs adrenaline but I worry that one day it will be the case as she is getting worse each time she accidentally eats dairy. It still took her a few days to feel better.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers do these changes, too.

They suddenly add stuff like acacia, lactose, mannitol. It's a bloody nightmare keeping up, and trying to get my GP to prescribe certain brands, and the pharmacies to dispense and check them.

This includes medicines for thyroid disease, and some immune suppressants, so pretty important.

The patient, apparently, is responsible for being telepathic, informed, highly literate, on the ball, and not CEV and sequestered indoors, so that that can personally unwrap every packet of tablets or box of injections on the pharmacy counter in front of a pharmacist and check the exicipients.

My mum is coeliac and showing early signs of dementia. She can't remember to check the ingredients every time. A change warning would be a huge help

@Jellypisher

This is really starting to bug me to the point that I may start a Government petition regarding a new law for it...

I would like to see it mandatory for packaging to not only state the full ingredients of food but to also advertise when they have changed ingredients

Currently there is no requirement for them to advertise that they have changed any of the ingredients anywhere on the packaging - although they do list ingredients on the back.

This means that yet again, I've picked up a product that I have had numerous times before, started to eat it and come down in hives (not a bad reaction, but they have been very severe in the past).

Food shopping is a chore because each and every time I go to the supermarket I need to read every single ingredient listing again to check whether the product / ingredient has been changed and whether it is safe to eat.

Yes - YANBU Needs a petition
No - YABU and need to keep reading the ingredient listings each time

Yanbu but stop eating their packaged shit and eat whole foods wherever possible.

@3Britnee would you call mince "packaged shit" - because most of it has sulphites in - in fact a lot of meat has it added.

What about salad? Often washed with sulphites ...

We have three allergies in this house which is fun, it really is a ballache to read every lable every single time. I shop online and find that when a product changes they don’t update the ingredients fast enough, or they have old and new stock, so until it arrives you don’t know if its safe.

I buy loose wherever possible, and you can wash salad unless you mean the ready made up ones?

Don't you have normal butchers nearby?

Sorry @DeathByWalkies I wasn't very clear. I was responding to the bottom part of your post, where you said because allergen ingredients are highlighted it's quick and easy to scan the list. I wasn't suggesting all potential allergen ingredients should be highlighted; as you said, that would render the whole idea null and void; just that your ( to paraphrase) "it's really quick and easy to scan the list because the allergens are highlighted" statement only applies if you happen to be allergic to one of the 14. To be honest, I don't even mind looking through the lists - I just wish companies were actually required to list everything!

Flora buttery used to be vegan 🤦‍♀️. At least it says with buttermilk on the front

It is much easier now as the allergens are in bold, but I have missed it on curry sauces for example before, especially when it's on a round jar and at the edge of the list.

@3Britnee yes, people could make everything from scratch, but not everyone has time, ability or even the inclination to do so, and it's not really what this thread is about.

Stickers for 12 weeks might work and wouldn't cost the Earth. They must be able to predict stock volumes fairly well.
I also don't see why full and complete ingredients shouldn't be listed. There are so many things hidden behind - to use a previous example - things like spices that actually we should be able to find out what the individual items in a mix or a sauce are.
Allergies are on the rise and the risk of anaphylaxis from food is a life or death issue for some.
Today's mass production food chain and our busy lives make it really tough to manage allergies. I think there's a push for clearer information, like Natasha's Law, calories on menus that is welcome.

This is why i check the ingredients on everything before I buy it , no matter how safe it was before. I got caught out by it once and I vowed never again. They should 100% have to put something on the packaging that states that the ingredients have changed.

@CaptainCallisto

Sorry *@DeathByWalkies* I wasn't very clear. I was responding to the bottom part of your post, where you said because allergen ingredients are highlighted it's quick and easy to scan the list. I wasn't suggesting all potential allergen ingredients should be highlighted; as you said, that would render the whole idea null and void; just that your ( to paraphrase) "it's really quick and easy to scan the list because the allergens are highlighted" statement only applies if you happen to be allergic to one of the 14. To be honest, I don't even mind looking through the lists - I just wish companies were actually required to list everything!

Well I tend to agree companies should have to list everything - though I'm sure KFC would campaign against that vociferously as they have a secret blend!

Creams Vegan waffles have milk in according to their staff and a allergy menu. I didn't get a response via email or social. I did explain the many reasons this is awful

www.creamscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Creams-Allergen-List-blue.pdf

Would listing when ingredients last changed help. So you would check the date at the top of the ingredients list and if it was 20/02/2017 you could just chuck it in the trolley, but if more recent then you could study the ingredients more closely.

Fuck's sake. DP bought me a 'basic mashed potato' to microwave because that's about all I can manage today. (I've lost 4lb since Saturday - flare-up.)

It now apparently has skimmed milk and buttermilk in it.

He should have gone to Specsavers.

@TheThreeHeadedBeast

Would listing when ingredients last changed help. So you would check the date at the top of the ingredients list and if it was 20/02/2017 you could just chuck it in the trolley, but if more recent then you could study the ingredients more closely.

That's a really sensible suggestion. T'would make life considerably easier without adding lots of extra costs to the manufacturer.

Yup friends son has intolerance to milk and arfrid tescos changed his cereal to include milk his only safe breakfast food is no longer safe

[quote 2020nymph]Creams Vegan waffles have milk in according to their staff and a allergy menu. I didn't get a response via email or social. I did explain the many reasons this is awful

www.creamscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Creams-Allergen-List-blue.pdf[/quote]
Jesus wept.

That's the sort of thing that should be reported to Trading Standards / Environmental Health.

WTF were they thinking?

In theory this is a good idea, but you need to think it through. One of the tricky things is that a company might change their ingredients, use the allocated symbol to show the change. People buy it and check it. All good. Let’s say three months later they decide to change the ingredients again. How does someone know that it’s a DIFFERENT new change to the recipe? People would look at the symbol and say ‘oh I know that changed but I checked the new recipe and it’s fine for me.’ Some shops would be holding stock of the OLD ‘new recipe’ symbol. Others would have stock of the NEW ‘new recipe’. It’s just not very practical 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m not sure if there’s a way round that.

So just to explain why "new improved recipe" is different from this suggestion -

(a) it's used selectively when the manufacturer hopes that the recipe change will increase sales (hence covering the cost of the packaging change) - it's not used every time a recipe is changed as that would be prohibitively expensive and sometimes it's hoped that most consumers won't notice the change;

(b) there is no legal definition, or even industry standard, for how long "new" lasts, which means it's just put on the packaging for one print run and it doesn't matter how long that amount of stock takes to sell through.

Luckily I checked the ingredients on Morrison's sausages the other day - they had decided to add egg to them with no warning.

@StepawayfromtheBiscuittin

Stickers for 12 weeks might work and wouldn't cost the Earth. They must be able to predict stock volumes fairly well. I also don't see why full and complete ingredients shouldn't be listed. There are so many things hidden behind - to use a previous example - things like spices that actually we should be able to find out what the individual items in a mix or a sauce are. Allergies are on the rise and the risk of anaphylaxis from food is a life or death issue for some. Today's mass production food chain and our busy lives make it really tough to manage allergies. I think there's a push for clearer information, like Natasha's Law, calories on menus that is welcome.

Some products have shelf life over 18 months or more. If the products are sold via a wholesalers to a small retailer they'll be no way that the volumes could be predicted of what's sold. For a product like flora there could be a small retailer with one type of packaging and another retailer with another variation...then there's the different sized products of the same product. It would be impossible to ensure all packaging was correctly stickered and even then the stickers would have to be distributed to every retailer via wholesalers. They'd never catch up and too risky. It is a logistical nightmare and I do feel for those who have allergies.

@DeathByWalkies you order at Creams via an app and the member of staff asked me if I had ordered vegan for lifestyle or allergies and as I have allergies he showed me the allergen menu. There were a lot of 'may contain' listed too.

I happened to pick up a packet of chicken in M&S today and noticed a blue sticker on the front advising that there had been an allergy update.