Labeling of food allergens on prepacked foods intended for final consumption in Hungary

Authors:
Janos Gyorvari, Jeno Szigeti, Laszlo Varga

Volume 24, Issue 2;
Pages: 63-68; 2018
ISSN: 2069-0053 (print) (former ISSN: 1453-1399), Agroprint;
ISSN (online): 2068-9551

It is a major responsibility of food processors to operate an allergen management system, which guarantees, among other things, that an appropriate label containing the required information is placed on the packaging of products. By examining 180 samples, we aimed to determine (i) to what extent labeling of allergens on prepacked foods intended for final consumers complies with the applicable legal requirements in Hungary and (ii) what kind of problems can be observed in this area. Our results showed that only 61% of the products complied with all the legal requirements examined in this study. Therefore, the staff of Hungarian food businesses clearly need to be further educated on proper labeling of food allergens