Many of us have wondered why peanut packagers go to the trouble of having their labelling system print the warning ‘may contain nuts’ on to their bags and boxes.
Now the Food Standards Agency is carrying out the first survey of its kind to understand this practice, and other allergen labelling, all of which is currently voluntary.
There are no strict regulations in place that demand the infamous ‘may contain nuts’ message should be placed on packages of nuts.
However, over the years, different manufacturers have developed different messages for their labelling system to apply.
For instance, some identify the product as being manufactured in a factory where nuts are handled, or on a production line that sometimes works with nuts.
The FSA is now looking into whether these various statements represent different levels of threat to those with an allergy, and whether they are interpreted as such by consumers.
While the results are not due until autumn 2013, they are expected to reveal who is following FSA best-practice guidelines, and who needs to look again at their labelling machines and the messages they place on their products.
