Mandatory Labeling Research Articles

A comprehensive survey of allergen labeling on pre-packaged food products imported from Mainland China

This study investigated the prevalence, type and accuracy of allergen labeling information on 429 imported pre-packaged food products imported from Mainland China sold in Sydney, Australia. Overall, 93.5% of the products complied to the FSANZ's Food Standards Code and included English labels. The 73% of the surveyed products complied with Australian mandatory allergen labeling requirements and stated the presence of allergens in the ingredient lists and allergen summary statements. The 22% of the products contained PAL statements and overall, the wording “may contain traces of” (28.4%) was commonly used. While most PAL statements (69.5%) were in English, a considerable number of PAL statements were only in Chinese (19%). The ELISA analysis revealed that 51.5% of the tested products contained at least one allergen residues, ranging from 0.7 to 297.3 ppm. The 30% of the tested products contained allergen residue levels exceeding the VITAL® Action Level Two (i.e. high risks of allergens) that recommends PAL, where milk (45%) was the most prevalent allergen followed by egg (40%), wheat (35%), and peanut (10%). Among them, 55% did not contain PAL statements and 30% of the positive products with PAL statements contained undeclared allergens (i.e. not specified in the PAL statements). This study deemed 25.8% of the products imported from Mainland China pose potential risks for allergic consumers. This study highlights the necessity of implementing mutually acceptable or harmonized allergen labeling requirements including PAL and risk assessment plans globally.

Consumer preferences for wild game cured meat label: do attitudes towards animal welfare matter?

Even though the European Union has imposed a mandatory labeling system for conventional meats, there is no mandatory labelling scheme for the so called ‘minor meats’ – such as hunted wild game meat (HWGM). Thus, some European countries have implemented voluntary labelling programs certificating the origin of wild game meat. This study uses a discrete choice experiment to: (1) assess consumer preferences for processed meat products (including wild game meat bearing a HWGM label); and (2) investigate whether consumers’ attitudes towards animal welfare affects their food choice behavior for alternative meat products. Data was collected through an online survey conducted in Italy and consumer preferences for HWGM was estimated through a latent class logit model. Overall, results suggest that, even though HWGM label does not exist yet on the Italian market, it is appealing to Italian consumers and it will likely be accepted by the majority of them. However, consumers who are particularly concerned about animal welfare issues and animal rights showed the lowest level of the interest in the hunted game meat product and thus the presence of the HWGM label does not provide any benefit to them. Our findings have important implications for the development of successful marketing strategies and policy intervention in the HWGM sector at a national and European level.

Understanding Vietnamese Urban Consumers' Nutrition Label Use, Health Concerns, and Consumption of Food and Beverages with Added Sugars.

Vietnam is experiencing a diet and nutrition transition. Increasing consumption of food and beverages with added sugars is a significant public health concern. Policies and interventions, such as mandatory nutrition labelling, are being considered to improve consumers’ awareness and understanding of diet and health implications of added sugars in food and beverages. The effectiveness of various policy approaches relies on an improved understanding of the interrelationships between urban Vietnamese consumers’ health concerns, nutrition label use, and intake of sugars. We empirically disentangle these relationships for urban Vietnamese households using novel intra-household data covering 4047 adults and 737 adolescents from 1590 households in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The data are from comprehensive household surveys and 24-hour food diaries. Simultaneous equation regression models are estimated using three-stage least squares (3SLS) to account for possible endogeneity. Nutrition label use is significantly associated with a lower share of calories from foods and beverages with added sugars. These findings suggest that nutrition labelling programs may be an effective policy mechanism to reduce the negative health implications of increasing availability and consumption of food and beverages with added sugars in urban Vietnam.

Rapid Authentication of 100% Italian Durum Wheat Pasta by FT-NIR Spectroscopy Combined with Chemometric Tools.

Italy is the country with the largest durum wheat pasta production and consumption. The mandatory labelling for pasta indicating the country of origin of wheat has made consumers more aware about the consumed pasta products and is influencing their choice towards 100% Italian wheat pasta. This aspect highlights the need to promote the use of domestic wheat as well as to develop rapid methodologies for the authentication of pasta. A rapid, inexpensive, and easy-to-use method based on infrared spectroscopy was developed and validated for authenticating pasta made with 100% Italian durum wheat. The study was conducted on pasta marketed in Italy and made with durum wheat cultivated in Italy (n = 176 samples) and on pasta made with mixtures of wheat cultivated in Italy and/or abroad (n = 185 samples). Pasta samples were analyzed by Fourier transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy coupled with supervised classification models. The good performance results of the validation set (sensitivity of 95%, specificity and accuracy of 94%) obtained using principal component-linear discriminant analysis (PC-LDA) clearly demonstrated the high prediction capability of this method and its suitability for authenticating 100% Italian durum wheat pasta. This output is of great interest for both producers of Italian pasta pointing toward authentication purposes of their products and consumer associations aimed to preserve and promote the typicity of Italian products.

Analyzing Twitter Conversation on Genome-Edited Foods and Their Labeling in Japan.

In recent years, the research and development of genome editing technology have been progressing rapidly, and the commercial use of genome-edited soybean started in the United States in 2019. A preceding study’s results found that there is public concern with regard to the safety of high-tech foods, such as genetically modified foods and genome-edited foods. Twitter, one of the most popular social networks, allows users to post their opinions instantaneously, making it an extremely useful tool to collect what people are actually saying online in a timely manner. Therefore, it was used for collecting data on the users’ concerns with and expectations of high-tech foods. This study collected and analyzed Twitter data on genome-edited foods and their labeling from May 25 to October 15 in 2019. Of 14,066 unique user IDs, 94.9% posted 5 or less tweets, whereas 64.8% tweeted only once, indicating that the majority of users who tweeted on this issue are not as intense, as they posted tweets consistently. After a process of refining, there were 28,722 tweets, of which 2,536 tweets (8.8%) were original, 326 (1.1%) were replies, and 25,860 (90%) were retweets. The numbers of tweets increased in response to government announcements and news content in the media. A total of six prominent peaks were detected during the investigation period, proving that Twitter could serve as a tool for monitoring degree of users’ interests in real time. The co-occurrence network of original and reply tweets provided different words from various tweets that appeared with a certain frequency. However, the network derived from all tweets seemed to concentrate on words from specific tweets with negative overtones. As a result of sentiment analysis, 54.5% to 62.8% tweets were negative about genome-edited food and the labeling policy of the Consumer Affairs Agency, respectively, indicating a strong demand for mandatory labeling. These findings are expected to contribute to the communication strategy of genome-edited foods toward social implementation by government officers and science communicators.

A comparison of DNA extraction methods and PCR-based detection of GMO in textured soy protein

Monitoring the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in a variety of food is important to many countries, as the law requires that the approved GMOs should be labeled as such. In addition, before genetically modified crops are used to obtain feed for the livestock, tests must be carried out to screen unapproved genetically modified varieties. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to detect and accurately quantify the amount of transgenic material present in food and feed. The analysis of processed soybean used in food and feed involves a number of complications, which negatively affect the DNA extraction. Therefore, the successful selection of DNA extraction methods is important for the detection of specific DNA targets in textured soy protein (TSP). The aim of this study was to compare three methods of DNA extraction from TSP, namely CTAB, modified CTAB and phenol/Chloroform methods. To this end, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used to monitor products derived from GMOs, which specifically amplify the 35S promoter, NOS terminator and EPSPS gene. The results obtained from the modified CTAB method was promising, as the concentrations were higher than those in the CTAB and phenol/Chloroform methods. In addition, the purity of TSP samples was satisfactory. All the soybean samples were evidenced by presence of the lectin gene and 35S promoter, NOS and EPSPS were found in all TSP samples. This is the first report showing that most of genetically modified soy protein does not use the “GMO” label in Iran, which has amplified the need for mandatory labeling systems and reliable and simple methods for routine analysis of genetically modified foods.

Mandatory labelling of origin of products from territories occupied by Israel and the weight of public international law: Psagot,

Mandatory labelling of origin of products from territories occupied by Israel and the weight of public international law: Psagot,

Food Safety, Coronavirus and Risk Prevention: Future Perspectives in Four Proposals

COVID-19 is a zoonosis, a disease transmitted by an animal to humans. The diffusion of the outbreak is therefore born of an unsuitable, insufficient, excessively permissive food safety system. Hence, the regulation of food safety plays a central role in the protection of health and has done so on a global scale. The overall regulation of food safety therefore requires an increase in the level of health protection, even at the expense of commercial prerogatives. For these purposes, four reform measures are suggested: to transform the Codex Alimentarius Commission into an organisation that adopts international standards with the sole purpose of protecting health; to apply the precautionary principle on a global scale and in international organisations; to strengthen the mandatory labelling tool; and to create a worldwide system of controls.

Digital Technologies in the System of Modern Models of Interaction between Taxpayers and Tax Authorities

The presented study addresses the peculiarities of using digital technologies in the field of interaction between taxpayers and tax authorities.Aim. The study aims to explore the possibilities of introducing advanced digital technologies (Automated Control System (ACS) VAT-2, product labelling, and introduction of online cash registers) into the system of modern models of interaction between taxpayers and tax authorities.Tasks. The authors analyze the specific aspects of implementing ACS VAT-2, product labeling, and online cash registers in business practice and develop recommendations for improving the efficiency of these tools.Methods. This study uses general scientific methods: legal and statistical analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction.Results. The operating features of ACS VAT-2 are considered, the scheme used by tax authorities to identify organizations benefiting from VAT deduction is shown, and sanctions applied to these entities are described. The study analyzes the operating principle of online cash registers, the major stages of their implementation, and the sanctions applied to entrepreneurs using outdated cash register equipment. In the context of consideration of the mandatory product labeling system, the algorithms for preparing entrepreneurs to the transition towards electronic labeling are examined and the transition periods for specific product groups are estimated.Conclusions. The implementation of ACS VAT-2 digital technologies, online cash registers, and electronic product labeling increases the efficiency of control over product movement along the entire logistics chain and is aimed at preventing tax evasion, particularly with regard to VAT.

Information Values on the Consumer’s Valuation of non-GM Material: The Case of Cooking Oil in Korea

This paper analyzes the changes in consumer preference that may occur when the current Genetically Modified (GM) crops policy is strengthened by applying mandatory labeling to all processed food that uses GM crops as raw materials. We estimate the change in consumers’ willingness to pays for cooking oil before and after providing the information on GM raw material contained in the currently marketed cooking oil to consumers. To this end, a hypothetical cooking oil product using non-GM raw materials is set up, and consumers are classified into high and low awareness groups for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and those who prefer and do not prefer organic foods. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) analyses show the amount of willingness to pay before providing the information for high and low awareness groups for GMOs increases from 23.8 dollars and 18.0 dollars per 1.8 L to 25.6 dollars and 20.3 dollars, respectively. The value of the information on GM raw materials of a consumer group with high prior knowledge of GMOs is estimated to be 1.8 dollars, and the value of the information of a consumer group with low prior knowledge is estimated to be 2.4 dollars per 1.8 L. The willingness to pay (WTP) change according to the information provision of the group with the highest prior knowledge of GMOs is estimated to be 0.6 dollars, and the WTP change is estimated to be 3.6 dollars for the group with lowest prior knowledge. This implies that the lower the prior knowledge possessed by a consumer, the higher the value of information on GM raw materials elicited.

Contact dermatitis caused by glucose sensors, insulin pumps, and tapes: Results from a 5-year period.

The number of patients with contact dermatitis from glucose sensors and insulin infusion sets is increasing. Patch testing is challenging because of a lack of information concerning the constituent materials of medical devices. To report on products and causes of allergic reactions to glucose sensors or insulin infusion sets over a 5-year period and suggest a short screening series. Analysis of patch test data from consecutive patients suspected of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to glucose sensors and/or insulin infusion sets from 2015-2019. Patient numbers increased from 4 to 15 per year; 30/38 (78.9%) were children. In 29 (76.3%), a diagnosis of allergic/probable ACD was established, mostly due to the tapes of the device or allergens in these tapes (n = 23) followed by allergens in the device housing (n = 10). Isobornyl acrylate, abitol, and colophonium were the most common allergens. Information from manufacturers was often difficult to obtain and, if accessible, inadequate. For this reason, the diagnosis was delayed for more than 1.5 years in 12 (31%) patients. The increasing number of patients, mostly children, with ACD from devices used in treatment of type 1 diabetes demonstrates the importance of this problem. Allergies can easily be overlooked, due to the lack of mandatory labeling of the constituent materials of the devices.

The emergence of nutrition warning labels in Latin America

Abstract Over the last decade, Latin American countries have become leaders in the emerging policy field of front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL). Recommended by public health experts and the World Health Organization, FOPNL regulations seek to improve the healthiness of population diets and thereby reduce the incidence of overweight and obesity and associated non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases. In 2011, Chile passed the world's first comprehensive nutrition labelling law and now prohibits school sales and daytime advertisement of any product labeled “high in” sugar, salt, saturated fats, or calories. Ecuador introduced a mandatory traffic-light labelling scheme in 2014, while Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico introduced Chile-style warning labels since 2018. Several other Latin American countries, including Argentina and Brazil, are currently debating the introduction of mandatory front-of-pack warning labels. In contrast, most countries in the Global North have so far failed to introduce mandatory FOPNL and the European Union even banned its member states from doing so in 2011. This presentation will trace and explain this emergence of FOPNL in Latin America.

Food allergen labeling: compliance with the mandatory legislation in Brazil

Abstract Food allergies are reproducible adverse reactions mediated by specific immunological mechanisms that occur in sensitive individuals after consumption of a certain food. It is recommended that the allergic person excludes from the diet the food that triggers the allergic reactions. In Brazil, the Collegiate Board Resolution no 26 of July 2, 2015, establishes the requirements for mandatory labeling of the main foods that cause food allergies, by implementing the use of alerts. The objective of this work was to verify if food labels in Brazil comply with this resolution. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out at the Ezequiel Dias Foundation from July/2018 to September/2018. The compliance of food labels was investigated according to the requirements for mandatory labeling of the main foods that cause allergies, regulated by CBR 26/2015. The results showed that 12.13% of the analyzed foods did not contain the allergy alert. In addition, 31% of the samples used precautionary allergen labeling, due to possible cross-contamination by an allergenic food. People who have food allergies benefit from advances in food labeling. However, much still needs to be done to ensure that legislation is duly complied, in order to improve the quality of life of allergic people.

Product Traceability as a Mechanism for Ensuring Quality and Safety in Digital Economy

The presence of counterfeit and pirate goods in circulation, along with original products, has become a worldwide social problem. The task of goods quality and safety assurance is relevant worldwide. The example of products made from wool mixtures of various animals shows the complexity of identifying counterfeit products and the prospects of combating the above negative phenomena by ensuring product traceability throughout the supply chain from manufacturer to consumer using information technology. The quantitative determination of the fibrous composition of precious wool products in mixtures with sheep wool was estimated by optical microscopy, its complexity was shown. Inclusion of products from precious types of wool, including those made in mixtures with sheep wool, in the list of goods subject to mandatory labeling with control and identification tags was proposed.

“VešKajPiješ?” (You know what you drink?) - mobile app for reducing alcohol related harm in Slovenia

Abstract Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, provides that the labelling of ingredients and nutritional declaration is not mandatory for alcoholic beverages with more than 1.2% alcohol by volume. Consequently, consumers generally do not have access to similar information on alcoholic beverages as they do for food and non-alcoholic beverages. In Slovenia, drinking alcohol is a serious public health problem, both among adolescents and adults. Per capita consumption of pure alcohol in Slovenia is above the EU average. In order to achieve better results and reduce alcohol related harm, we need a comprehensive alcohol policy that incorporates proven effective measures in different areas of action. In 2019, in the frame of Slovenian programme “VesKajJes” (Know what you eat) supported by MoH, a mobile application was developed that enables consumers to scan EAN code for gaining the nutrition profile of selected food item. An analysis of the behaviour of mobile app users revealed that alcoholic beverages are one of the most frequently sought products; of all searches, as many as 36% of users wanted to get information about alcohol beverages. This was a major reason for upgrading the mobile application with information about alcoholic beverages. Additionally this newly developed communication channel will be used for raising awareness about alcohol-related harm. Mobile application “VešKajPiješ?” (You know what you drink?) will be developed within which we will: (1) collect information on at least 1,500 alcoholic beverages; (2) develop the protocol for a reliable assessment of the energy values depending of the type of alcoholic beverages; (3) prepare short health messages to raise awareness about the effects of hazardous and harmful alcohol use; (4) develop an application upgrade to show the alcohol content, energy value of alcoholic beverages, health messages and a link to a screening tool for assessing the alcohol consumption (AUDIT). Key messages There is a growing support for mandatory labelling of alcohol-containing beverages including health warnings. The program presents a solution consisting of a mobile app for consumers seeking information.

Consumer perception, mandatory labeling, and traceability of GM soybean oil: evidence from Chinese urban consumers

ABSTRACT Consumer preference for the mandatory labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods promotes public support for the implementation of GM food policies. This study analyzes consumers’ preference for the traceability of GM soybean oil. Survey data were collected through a self-administered survey covering 804 randomly sampled urban residents in the eastern, central and western regions of China. Using a logit model, this analysis examines the impacts of influential factors on consumers’ preference for traceability. The results show that about 56.5% of the respondents have a positive preference for the traceability of GM soybean oil. Factors increasing the preference for traceability include a better perception of the attributes of nutrition benefit and potential health risk, perceived inadequacy of simple mandatory labels, more attention paid to food labels, and distrust in the agencies overseeing GM food safety. Enhancing consumers’ perceptions of GM-related attributes and awareness of food labels will help improve the mandatory labeling management of GM foods.

Are side effects of cannabidiol (CBD) products caused by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contamination?

Cannabidiol (CBD)-containing products are widely marketed as over the counter products, mostly as food supplements, to avoid the strict rules of medicinal products. Side-effects reported in anecdotal consumer reports or during clinical studies were first assumed to be due to hydrolytic conversion of CBD to psychotropic Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ 9-THC) in the stomach after oral consumption. However, research of pure CBD solutions stored in simulated gastric juice or subjected to various storage conditions such as heat and light with specific liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) and ultra-high pressure liquid chromatographic/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometric (UPLC-QTOF) analyses was unable to confirm THC formation. Another hypothesis for the side-effects of CBD products may be residual Δ 9-THC concentrations in the products as contamination, because most of them are based on crude hemp extracts containing the full spectrum of cannabinoids besides CBD. Analyses of 67 food products of the German market (mostly CBD oils) confirmed this hypothesis: 17 products (25%) contained Δ 9-THC above the lowest observed adverse effects level (2.5 mg/day). Inversely, CBD was present in the products below the no observed adverse effect level. Hence, it may be assumed that the adverse effects of some commercial CBD products are based on a low-dose effect of Δ 9-THC and not due to effects of CBD itself. The safety, efficacy and purity of commercial CBD products is highly questionable, and all of the products in our sample collection showed various non-conformities to European food law such as unsafe Δ 9-THC levels, full-spectrum hemp extracts as non-approved novel food ingredients, non-approved health claims, and deficits in mandatory food labelling requirements. In view of the growing market for such lifestyle products, the effectiveness of the instrument of food business operators' own responsibility for product safety must obviously be challenged.

Детекція генетично модифікованих рослин у продукції агропромислового комплексу

The use of genetically modified organisms in the production of agricultural and food products is important for the view of food security. Despite this, there is a concern in society about the possible threat of GMOs to human health and biodiversity. Nowadays the likely risks are divided into food, environmental and socio-economic risks. There is a necessity for systematic research on the spread of GM crops and the appropriate mandatory labeling of products, which include components derived from GM plants. It gives consumers the right to choosing to eat or not GM-foods. For this reason, in many countries GMOs' circulation is regulated and controlled. The article presents systematic data of the analysis of samples agriculture products, which were analyzed regarding the content of GMOs in the Department of molecular -biological research of Ukrainian Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products during 2018-2019. To conduct an analysis of the GMO content in agriculture products CFX96 Real-Time PCR (BioRad) was used. The study was conducted according to ISO 21569:2005 Foodstuffs – Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products – Qualitative nucleic acid based methods; ISO 21570:2005 Foodstuffs – Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products – Quantitative nucleic acid based methods; ISO 21571:2005 Foodstuffs – Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products – Nucleic acid extraction. In 2018 were analyzed 319 samples about GMO content and 93 (29.2%) of them were positive. Among the positive samples, 66.7% were the premixes, 11.8% – rapeseed, 9.7% – soybean meal. In 2019 was analyzed 130 samples and 9 (6.9 %) of them were found positive. It is established that such GM plants as soybeans GTS 40-3-2, rapeseed GT 73 are present in the agricultural market of Ukraine. Furthermore they are not only actively grown, but also used for the production of feed.

An HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of marker compounds of aloe and scutellariae radix in cosmetics

The Department of Health in Taiwan has announced mandatory labeling of the whole composition of cosmetics since May 5, 2002. Chinese herbal extracts are commonly added to cosmetics to attract consumers. To follow the earlier-mentioned regulation, it is important to develop a quantitative method to examine the contents of products to which Chinese herbal extracts have been added. This study attempted to establish a quantitative method for aloe and Scutellariae Radix (SR) in cosmetics. An HPLC/UV method using gradient elution was established to analyze marker compounds in herbal extracts and spiked blank cosmetic bases. The calibration curves of the marker compounds were linear (r > 0.99) in the range of 1.6 to 50.0 μg/mL. The analytical method was validated and commercial products were assayed. The results indicated that aloin, aloe-emodin and chrysophanol were not detected in all four aloe extracts. Baicalin and wogonin were detected in the two SR extracts. However, marker compounds of these two herbs were not detectable in the 26 commercial product samples.

Avaliação do atendimento da legislação sanitária em anúncios de alimentos compostos por luteína, com alegações de propriedade funcional, comercializados na Internet

This cross-sectional, quali-quantitative study, aimed at evaluating products of lutein, marketed as functional foods, ads, with respect to their conformity to Brazilian food labelling regulations. Data were collected about the ad language; label image; mandatory labeling information; functional properties claims; registration in the Ministry of Health. The study analysed 127 Google Shopping ads, 55.9% (71/127) had advertised imported products and 44.1% (56/127) had promoted national products. These sales proposals disclosed 70 different products: 62.8% (44/70) imported and 37.2% (26/70) national products. All imported products were not regularized with Anvisa; 11.6% of nationals did not have mandatoryregistration or the registration was expired. All national product ads showed the product label, but in none of them the label was fullydisplayed, and the ads content did not complement the information. Allegations of unauthorized properties of imported products werepresent in 57.7% of the texts and in 26.8% of the images of the labels displayed in the Google Shopping ads; in the text of 41.2% of web pages and in 35.2% of the images of the labels presented on the pages. In relation to national products, unauthorized claims were identified in 78.6% of the texts in the Google Shopping ads; in 25% of the images of the labels used in these advertisements; in the text of 81.2% of the associated web pages and in 15.6% of the images of the labels displayed on these sites. These results highlight the importance of monitoring e-commerce in relation to compliance with sanitary legislation.