Learn How to Read Food Labels
Learning to manage a new food allergy can be stressful, especially when it comes to unfamiliar packaged foods. Which foods can you trust? Fooblie wants to help take the stress out of feeding a family with food allergies. Read on to learn about FALCPA, how it relates to food labels, and how to properly read a food label. Let’s keep your family safe and well-fed!
FALCPA Fast Facts:
- FALCPA stands for: the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act
- It passed into law in 2004
- It only applies to ‘major food allergens’. These are your big 8: milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts (like walnuts or pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish (like lobster, shrimp or crab)
- Shellfish does not include molluscan shellfish like scallops, clams, mussels and oysters
- For tree nuts, fish and crustacean shellfish the specific type of nut or fish must be labeled
- FALCPA is for FDA regulated foods only, like:
- Packaged foods
- Conventional foods
- Vitamins and dietary supplements
- Infant formula and infant foods
- Medical foods
These FALCPA rules do not apply to:
- Fresh meat, fruit, vegetables
- Carry out box from restaurants (think a sandwich you order or bakery, street food, food trucks, festival foods, fast food restaurants)
- Highly refined oils
- Prescription & over the counter drugs
- Personal care items like cosmetics, shampoo, mouthwash, toothpaste
- Alcoholic drinks, spirits, beer, tobacco
- Kosher labeling
- Pet foods
Read labels every time, even if you trust a product
- There are no rules about changing ingredients or communicating those changes
- Sometimes different sizes have different ingredients. For example, a fun size candy bar could be different than a King size version of the same candy bar.
If my allergen is not a top 8 food allergen what do I do?
- Be careful! Foods outside of the top 8 allergens do not have to be declared.
- Call the manufacturer and ask, but they don’t have to tell you.
- When in doubt, don’t use it!
There are 2 ways for packaging to show you there is a major food allergen inside
- Option 1: list the allergen in () after an ingredient. Ingredients: natural flavors (almond), salt
- Option 2: Ingredients: natural flavors, Contains: almond
Declarations of trace amounts are voluntary
- Labels like “may contain”, or “processed in a facility with” are voluntary
- A manufacturer does not have to warn you that there may be unintentional traces or cross-contamination
Want more help?
Connect with a Fooblie coach. Our coaches have personal and professional food allergy experience and can help you get started.