Pine nut allergy
Pine nuts — or pine kernels — are edible seeds harvested from some species of pine tree. They may also be called pignoli (the Italian name), pinoli, Indian nut, or piñon. They’ve been in the (allergy) news a lot more…
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food allergens
14 allergens in cosmetics
The experience related in The Sun this week of a nut allergic student suffering a severe reaction after using a Nivea lip balm containing sweet almond oil should serve as a reminder that, if you have food allergies, the ingredients…
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Nima: is it really 96.9% accurate?
The Nima Gluten Sensor has launched in the UK to mixed response. I’ve written a piece for Foods Matter providing an overview of the product and looking at the research into its performance and limitations. But in this post I…
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On the labelling of spelt
Earlier this year in Spring, I reported an allergy labelling problem to the Food Standards Agency. I’d been noticing for years that many manufacturers of spelt-containing products, while correctly highlighting the spelt in their ingredients lists, were failing to specify…
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Nuts, seeds, legumes – allergens or not?
Rule #1. Any food has the potential to cause an allergy, and therefore on one level, any food can be reasonably described as being an allergen. But when it comes to EU food labelling laws, 14 foods / food groups…
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Allergens: the big 8, the big 14
That there are eight major allergens in the United States and fourteen major allergens in the United Kingdom and EU can cause problems to those with food hypersensitivities on both sides of the Atlantic — either when visiting one another’s…
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Gluten free oats: labelled an allergen or not?
Two years ago I wrote about why all oats — be they gluten free oats or ordinary oats — are considered allergens in law and must be highlighted on ingredients labels. If you need a refresher, click here. Back then,…
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Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer’s online allergy and intolerance information and ‘free from’ food lists are excellent. Here is the Gluten Free page. It gives immediate mention and priority to coeliac disease, from which many supermarkets and brands would do well to…
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14 Allergens Free Brands and Products
There’s a page on this website — 14 Allergens Free Foods — dedicated to brands which only offer products free from all 14 EU-specified food allergens (as well as a few brands who only use one or two allergens at…
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Dairy free vs milk free — what’s the difference?
I’ve written a lot in the past about the terms ‘dairy’ and ‘vegan’ and how they apply to ‘free from’, as well as how they impact those who avoid milk for various reasons — veganism, milk allergy / CMPA, lactose…
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