To provide better protection for consumers who have food allergies, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering a major change in the way nutrition labels on packaged foods communicate about potential food allergy risks due to cross-contact.
In place of current allergen advisory statements, the FDA is considering use of a standardized warning statement to indicate whether, due to cross-contact, an allergen is likely to be present above a predetermined level. That level—called a threshold or reference dose—is the amount of allergenic protein a person can consume before allergic symptoms occur. Thresholds can be determined by newer food challenge and oral immunotherapy studies that allow researchers to estimate a dose or level at which 95 percent of people with a given allergy are unlikely to react or develop symptoms.