title: The regulatory challenge of food allergens.
abstract: Food allergy is an important public health issue worldwide. Allergic consumers must avoid eating foods that could provoke potentially life-threatening reactions, and successful avoidance depends on having complete and accurate information on food labels. Regulatory agencies support allergic consumers by working with industry to ensure that all food allergens that are intended to be present in a food are declared on the label and that effective controls are used to prevent the presence of unintended allergens. These regulatory activities take place in a complex legal and policy environment both domestically and internationally. Protecting allergic consumers in this complex environment requires effective use of public health data and risk assessments.
authors.affiliation: Food Allergen Coordinator, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration , 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, Maryland 20740, United States.
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gendel
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D005502:Food / Q000592:standards; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007881:Legislation, Food; D057051:Product Recalls and Withdrawals; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant