TUESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- Some food products without "may contain" allergy advisory labels may still be contaminated with allergens, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology held March 13 to 17 in Washington, D.C.
L. Ford, from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues performed allergen assays on 399 food products that either had an advisory label for egg, milk or peanut, or similar food products that did not have an advisory label.
Compared to similar products with no allergens declared, the researchers found that products with advisory labels were less likely to contain egg (1.8 percent versus 2.6), and more likely to contain milk (10.2 percent versus 3 percent) or peanut (4.5 percent versus 0 percent).
"Overall, 5.3 percent of advisory-labeled products and 1.9 percent without allergen declared contained the allergen," the authors conclude. "Contaminated foods without advisory labeling were primarily from small manufacturers. The clinical impact of the degree of contamination remains to be determined."
Abstract #672
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