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Short But Important New Allergen Law

Congress made a significant changes to the law, but it’s two pages long.

Eric G

That’s perhaps the most remarkable thing about it. It’s not some omnibus, thousand-page monster that legislators don’t seem to even read before they vote on it. No, this time, Congress passed a law and it made a significant change to the food label and to packagers’ related obligations, and yet it’s only two pages long.

It’s called the FASTER Act of 2021, for the “food allergy, safety, treatment, education and research act of 2021,” and it added sesame to the list in the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of Major Allergens whose presence in food has to be disclosed on the label of a food in interstate commerce. The sesame requirements kick in starting January 1, 2023.

The new law also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress within 18 months about existing federal activities relating to various aspects of food allergies, such as data on their prevalence and development of diagnostic tests and new therapeutics, and recommend ways to “expand, enhance, or improve” them, and about ways to improve the process of further additions to the definition of major food allergens.

Sesame joins the other eight major allergens required by law to be disclosed on food labels, either via ingredient lists or a separate “contains” statement. They are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy.

The whole purpose of these legal requirements is to give notice to allergic people of the presence of the allergen so they can avoid it. Allergens might lurk in flavorings or other ingredients that aren’t otherwise required to be individually revealed in a food’s list of ingredients, or packaging components, hence the need for the special disclosure requirement.


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