TORONTO - Health Canada says it's making a few changes to its proposed regulatory amendments for the labelling of food allergens, gluten sources and sulphites.
In a statement Monday, it said one of the changes is the development of Canadian criteria for the establishment of new priority food allergens.
And it has decided to add mustard as a priority allergen in the regulations based on the criteria document.
However, onions and garlic did not make the cut, although some stakeholders had wanted those food items included as well.
Health Canada says the decisions follow comments on allergen labelling received from the public and discussions with various health groups and the food industry.
More than 140 comments were received up until December 2008 after proposed regulatory amendments were published in the Canada Gazette in July of that year. The comments came from various sources, including consumers, health professionals, patient groups and industry associations. Health Canada says it is now working to update the regulatory proposal with the changes and publish them in the Canada Gazette in the spring of 2010.
Health Canada estimates up to six per cent of young children and three to four per cent of adults suffer from food allergies, and nearly one per cent of the population has celiac disease, a sensitivity to gluten.
Marilyn Allen, a consultant to Health Canada and Anaphylaxis Canada, one of the groups involved in discussions, says she thinks it's "wonderful" that criteria will be in place so there will be something transparent and a means of measuring whether a food will be deemed a priority allergen.
Among other things, the criteria rely on scientific information, consideration of the allergenic potency of the food and consideration of the potential Canadian exposure to the food or food ingredient "with additional consideration as to whether the food or food ingredient may become a hidden source of food allergens in pre-packaged food products for sale in Canada."
The current Food and Drug Regulations require ingredients to be declared on the label of most prepackaged foods, but components of certain ingredients are exempted.
Mustard seed is "very concerning" to those who have a mustard allergy, Allen said.
For instance, she said mustard could be a hidden ingredient in barbecue sauces, salad dressings, marinades and meat products without being individually listed.
A marinade's label might have barbecue sauce as an ingredient without saying that mustard is a small component of the barbecue sauce. However, if mustard were to become a priority allergen, it would have to be listed.
Mustard is a prioritized allergen in the European Union, Allen noted.
In addition to the change on mustard, Health Canada said it has decided to remove proposed exemptions for declaring fining agents and wax coatings derived from food allergen and gluten sources on the labels of pre-packaged food products.
Some fining agents derived from eggs, fish or milk are used in the manufacture of whisky or alcoholic beverages.
"I see the removal of the exemption for the fining agents and wax coating as a positive because if there is any indication of a concern there, that those fining agents do contain a priority allergen and no one can establish whether they are at risk or not, it is important to listen," Allen said.
