September is National Food Safety Education Month, and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Brown County supports this endeavor because of our commitment to food safety education and training. This year’s annual food safety campaign spotlights the increasing importance of food allergen awareness.
About 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies. And it’s not something that should be taken lightly. That’s because once every three minutes a food allergy will send someone to the emergency room. While some reactions can be mild causing things such as hives and abdominal cramps, others can be severe leading to trouble breathing, loss of consciousness, and even death. To keep family and friends with food allergies safe, it is important to keep food and beverages containing allergens separate from other food. This is critical when shopping, storing, and cooking it.
While any food can cause an allergic reaction, eight foods are responsible for 90% of the reactions. They are known as the “Big Eight” and include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat and soy. Peanuts and tree nuts, such as walnuts and pecans, are also on the list.The best way to safeguard family members and friends with food allergies is to keep the food they are allergic to out of your home. However, depending upon the severity of the food allergy and the needs of other family members, you may decide to keep food containing allergens in your home. If you do, you must make sure these allergens are not transferred to the food served to the allergic person. This is called cross-contact and it must be prevented in order to keep people safe.
If the food contains a “Big Eight” allergen, it must be listed on the label. The manufacturer might do that by including the name of the allergen in parenthesis next to the ingredient. For example, if flour is listed as an ingredient on the label, it might be followed by the word wheat in parenthesis—“flour (wheat)”. As an alternative, the manufacturer might include a statement that specifically calls out the allergens that are or may be contained in the food. For example a food that contains wheat, milk, and soy might include the following statement—“Contains wheat, milk, and soy.” This statement would be found next to or immediately following the list of ingredients.
When buying food, make sure the package is not broken or damaged in any way. Damaged packages could allow allergens to get onto the product inside. And make sure that nothing has spilled on the outside of the package for the same reason.
Don’t stack food containing allergens on top of other food. This can lead to cross-contact and cause an allergic reaction. Consider placing food containing allergens away from other food in your cart.
For more information about food allergens or National Food Safety Education Month, please contact Kim Miles at the Extension office.
