What is a Food Allergen?
The Food and Drug Regulations of Canada explicitly state the following foods are allergens and must be identified if there are levels equal to or above 10 ppm of the specific product. The following are all the official Food Allergens of Canada.
almonds,- Brazil nuts,
- cashews,
- hazelnuts,
- macadamia nuts,
- pecans,
- pine nuts,
- pistachios,
- walnuts,
- peanuts,
- sesame seeds,
- wheat or triticale,
- eggs,
- milk,
- soybeans,
- crustaceans,
- shellfish,
- fish,
- mustard seeds,
- gluten, or
- sulphites.
However, it is not necessary to identify any of these ingredients if they are found in the final product from a result of cross-contamination as seen in [B.01.010.1(3), FDR].
How to Label the Food Allergens?
According to the Food and Drug Regulations of Canada, the packaging of any product with more than one ingredient must contain a list of ingredients and of components [B.01.008(1), FDR]. The list of ingredients must be in descending order of proportion by weight before they mix into the final product. The food allergens can also be identified in a “contains, added or food allergen source section”, but they must always be identified by their prescribed source names, as seen in [B.01.010.1(2), FDR]. Components (ingredients of ingredients, for instance, the ingredients in tomato paste) must be identified by their common names.
