Copyright 2002 Daily News, L.P. Daily News (New
York)
October 9, 2002, Wednesday SPORTS FINAL
EDITION
SECTION: GOOD LIVING; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1257 words
HEADLINE:
READ WITH CARE Deciphering the language on food labels can keep you safe from
dangerous allergens
BYLINE: BY ROSEMARY BLACK
DAILY NEWS FOOD EDITOR
BODY: Now
that Sam Goree, 6, can read easy words like "milk" and "soy" (both of which he
is allergic to), his mother, Pam Chasek, wants him to start checking out food
labels.
Unfortunately, Sam has no way of knowing that
on a label, milk can also be called "whey" or "caseinate" and soy
can masquerade as "textured vegetable protein" or "tamari."
"I want my son to start to take responsibility for what he
is eating," says Chasek, whose 4-year-old son, Kai, also has food allergies.
"That is not likely to happen until we get food labels that say what is in a
product in everyday English."
MAKING LABELS EASIER TO DIGEST
It's not just 6-year-olds who have trouble reading food labels. Adults
are often tripped up, too and when allergic individuals eat a food containing an
allergen, they can have a dangerous reaction, says Anne Munoz-Furlong. She's the
founder and CEO of the Food Allergy and Ana-phylaxis Network and the mother of a
girl who was diagnosed with severe food allergies at 9 months old.
A bill under consideration in the Senate, the Food Allergen Consumer Protection Act, would require labels to
use common English words to disclose the presence of any of the eight most
common food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts,
peanuts, wheat and soy. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass., would also call on the Centers for Disease Control to track deaths
caused by food allergies. "The bill has now made it out of [the Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions] committee, and the next step is to pass it
through the Senate," says Jim Manley, Kennedy's press secretary. (The same
label-clarity legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Nita M. Lowey,
D-N.Y.)
Some 7 million Americans have food allergies,
and each year 30,000 are rushed to hospital emergency rooms with reactions
caused by food, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. And less
than 10% of parents whose children have food allergies are able to identify
foods containing milk by reading their labels, according to a recent study by
the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Still, it's unlikely that Americans are going to find clarity on their
food labels anytime soon. "What's left in the bill, in terms of labeling, is
that for the eight major allergens, by 2006 they will have to be identified in
plain English either at the end of the ingredient list or in the ingredient list
right after the word," says Ben Cohen, senior staff attorney at the Center for
Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
"For instance, if the label says 'caseinate,' the word 'milk' would have to
appear right after it in parentheses. But other parts of the bill are gone.
There was supposed to be an 800 number for people to call for information, and
that's gone. So it is better than nothing, but not as good as it was when it was
introduced."
COMPANIES PROMISE CHANGES
Food companies, meanwhile, are firm in their resolve to self-regulate
by coming up with labels that list allergens in common English. They also
promise to stop listing allergens found in additives as "natural flavors."
"We definitely are working collaboratively to change our
labels," says Alison Kretzer, director of scientific and nutrition policy for
the Grocery Manufactur-ers of America. "But the companies need to go through
their product line and make those changes. Then new labels have to be printed.
We agree there is a need for improved labeling guidelines, but if we went with
the proposed legislation, it would slow the process."
Supporters of the label-clarity bill disagree, charging that the
companies have had more than enough time. Fifteen months ago, spokesmen for the
business held a press conference and promised to redo product labels. While some
companies are now voluntarily identifying suspected allergens on labels, many
others are not. For instance, companies such as Kraft, Ronzoni and Pillsbury
still are using "whey" and "sodium caseinate" on labels without noting that
these are milk derivatives, or listing "semolina" without saying that it is
wheat, says Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI.
In the meantime, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network has a list
of major allergens and how they are often described on food labels. The phone
number is (703) 691-3179. The Web site is www.foodallergy.org.
Peanuts goobers, beer nuts, peanut
flour, nutmeat, groundnuts, cold-pressed peanut oil. Peanut protein also may be
found in egg rolls, marzipan, enchilada sauce, chili and baked goods.
Source: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
Get it clear
Food labels don't
fall short only in the area of food allergens. Some can
mislead consumers about foods' origins, charges Augusto Marchini, assistant
trade commissioner at the Italian Trade Commission. Take San Marzano tomatoes,
which are produced in a specific region of Italy. "People have been making
tomatoes left and right here in the United States and calling them San Marzano,
when they are in fact domestically grown tomatoes," he says. "The same thing has
happened with other products, such as prosciutto or Parmesan cheese."
The best protection for a consumer? Read the fine print to
find out where something was produced, and don't be fooled into thinking a
product was made in Italy just because the label has the colors of the Italian
flag, a little map of Italy or the word "Italian" in giant letters.
Another labeling issue concerns trans fatty acids, the
artery-clogging processed fats pervasive in cookies, crackers and fast food.
While trans fatty acids so far don't appear on labels, the Food and Drug
Administration is expected to announce a final rule early next year that will
require companies to list the amount of trans fatty acids. Trans fat labeling
could prevent 7,600 to 17,000 cases of coronary heart disease and 2,500 to 5,600
deaths each year, according to the FDA, partly because people would be able to
choose more healthful foods, and also because manufacturers might well choose to
reduce trans fats in their products rather than list high levels on the
labels.
And finally, the labeling of products as
"organic" is becoming clearer. Beginning Oct. 21, all organic products marketed
in the United States must meet U.S. Department of Agriculture standards in order
to be labeled as such.
Under the new system, if a
product is at least 95% organic by weight, it may carry the new USDA "organic"
seal. Products that are at least 70% organic may display the phrase "made with
organic" on the label. If less than 70% of the content is organic, the product
may list only those ingredients that are organic on the ingredient panel, but it
may not say "organic" on the main panel. For more information on organic food,
visit www. theorganicreport.org.
GRAPHIC: MARCOS OKSENHENDLER EMILY BARON THE GROCERY
GLOSSARY Pam Chasek reads the fine print with son Sam Goree.
Document 5 of 39. 