FAO/WHO take on precautionary allergen labeling (PAL)

The third in a series of meetings of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens took place from 18 to 29 October 2021.

The first meeting was held in December 2020, following a request from the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) to verify and, if necessary, update the priority allergen list, which groups the most relevant allergens at a global level. The meeting led to an identification of the criteria for assessing additions and exclusions from such a list, which, in turn, led to soy being removed from it, replaced by sesame (see Bert Popping’s first-hand report from the meeting here).

The second meeting stemmed from a CoP developed by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) related to the handling of allergens throughout the supply chain. CCFH asked FAO and WTO to provide scientific advice on allergen thresholds. In March 2021, it resulted in preliminary threshold levels being established by the Expert Consultation for priority allergenic foods, as well as analytical methods being recommended for the detection of allergens in food and food processing environments (see Bert’s again and the report).

The aim of the third meeting was to review and evaluate the evidence in support of precautionary allergen labelling (normally referred to as PAL).