Just because something is vegan does not mean a food product is suitable for an allergic customer due to unintentional cross contact with allergenic ingredients.
The FDF guidance highlights it is important that allergic customers do not automatically assume products labelled as vegan are safe to consume because allergen free and vegan are separate claims.
Heather Hancock, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said:“The FSA warmly welcomes the FDF’s work to improve the clarity of allergen information provided to consumers. Getting this right is essential to ensure that food is safe for people living with food allergy or intolerances.
“This new guidance makes clear the requirements for free-from claims for egg and milk, and it also contains important clarifications about vegan labelling, which will help prevent shortcuts and other claims inadvertently leading people with food hypersensitivity to make the wrong food choices.”
The Anaphylaxis Campaign is a charity operating solely for the growing number of people at risk from a severe allergic reaction.
Lynne Regent, chief executive of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, added: “By working with patient organisations such as ourselves to produce clear guidance for both consumers and industry, the risk of the allergic consumer misunderstanding the vegan label, with the potential for very serious consequences, will be reduced.
“This guidance will be a valuable resource to help us provide reliable information about the crucial difference between ‘free-from’ and ‘animal free’.”
The Vegan Society is an educational charity that provides information about veganism.
Chantelle Adkins, director of business development at the vegan Society, commented: “The Vegan Society is pleased to see further guidance for food manufacturers that helps to clarify the difference between vegan labelling and allergen labelling.
“We do not claim that products registered with our Vegan Trademark alone will be suitable for people with allergies. We take consumer safety very seriously and would encourage anyone with a food allergy not to rely on vegan labelling to mean that a product will contain no trace of animal derived allergens.”