ArticleClinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology2021
Poor understanding of allergen labelling by allergic and non-allergic consumers.
Article in Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Guideline
- Online and Mobile Application Diet Information for Food Chemical Intolerances: An Evaluation of the Content, Quality and Health Literacy Demand.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Article
- High-risk food recalls in the United States: Temporal trends and structural characteristics based on FDA enforcement data, 2012-2024.PloS one · 2026Article
- Recent Advances in Nucleic Acid-Based Electrochemical Sensors for the Detection of Food Allergens.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Traditional and Emerging Physical Processing Technologies: Applications and Challenges in Allergen Control of Animal and Plant Proteins.Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2025Review
- A Survey of Allergic Consumers and Allergists on Precautionary Allergen Labelling: Where Do We Go from Here?Nutrients · 2025Article
- Article
- Precautionary Allergen Labeling: Avoidance for All?Current allergy and asthma reports · 2024Review
- Reaching Communities Through Food Allergy Advocacy, Research, and Education: A Comprehensive Analysis.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2024Article
- Historical and social science perspectives on food allergy.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2023Review
- "Vegan" and "plant-based" claims: risk implications for milk- and egg-allergic consumers in Canada.Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2023Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Consumers on Food Allergy and Food Allergen Labeling: A Case of Lebanon.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Management of IgE-mediated food allergy in the 21st century.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2023Review
- Accidental allergic reactions to food in adolescents and adults: An overview of the factors involved and implications for prevention.Frontiers in allergy · 2023Article
- Allergen management under a voluntary PAL regulatory framework - A survey of Canadian food processors.Heliyon · 2022Article
- Poor understanding of allergen labelling by allergic and non-allergic consumers.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding consumers' interpretation of allergy information is crucial for effective food safety policies. We evaluated consumer understanding of allergy information on foods in controlled, experimental studies.
methodUsing 18 packaged foods, we evaluated consumer understanding of information about allergens in two experiments: First, a comparison of foods with no stated allergen versus allergen as a stated ingredient versus a precautionary allergen label (PAL); second, a comparison of three common variants of PAL. In each experiment, consumers with and without self-reported food allergy were asked to estimate the risk of allergic reaction and to rate the comprehensibility of the allergen information. In the second experiment, consumers were also asked which form of PAL they preferred.
resultsRisk of reaction was assessed as high and low for foods with the allergen stated as ingredient, or without any mention of allergen. However, risk assessment for PAL varied and was judged as higher by non-allergic than allergic participants (82% vs. 58%, p < .001). Understanding of risk associated with PAL also varied by health literacy (p < .001). Both allergic and non-allergic consumers judged all forms of allergy information to be unclear, especially products with no allergy information for non-allergic consumers. Products with a 'Produced in a Factory' PAL were perceived as less risky than 'May contain' or 'Traces of' PALs (p < .001), less than 40% of participants judged PAL information to be comprehensible, and participants preferred 'May contain' over the other PALs.
conclusionBoth allergic and non-allergic consumers find allergen information difficult to interpret on packaged foods and misunderstand PAL, incorrectly distinguishing different risk levels for different PAL wording. Clearer allergy information guidelines are called for, and the use of only one PAL wording is recommended.
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