Lack of food allergy labels 'putting lives at risk'

Campaigners say correct labelling can make the difference between life and death

Dangerously unclear food allergy labels are putting residents and tourists at serious risk, campaigners say.

Deputy Steve Luce, the Environment Minister, admits Jersey is "way behind" on labelling, as the government launches a 10-week public consultation for islanders to give their opinion on a proposed new Food Law.

Allergen labelling is currently not mandatory, but the government plans to introduce a licensing scheme for food businesses and update food hygiene standards.

Neva Richardson, from the Jersey Food Allergy Group, said the island had been waiting for these changes for "more than ten years".

Deputy Steve Luce said the changes would be focused on food businesses

The government said it hoped the plans, if approved, could be rolled out next year.

Luce said: "We've been waiting for it for a long time, actual food businesses have been well prepared for this - they know it's coming and they welcome it.

"The public won't see very much change, they will be buying food in shops, it will be very clearly labelled and they will have the assurance that in the food preparation kitchen that the chefs and those people preparing that food have been doing it correctly."

Life or death

Ms Richardson, who has a son with a dairy allergy, said the legislation was essential to protect people.

She said: "Jersey is significantly behind most of the rest of the world and to everyone that visits the island they often think that we are the same as the UK.

"That is where we have found that there are such differences that it is dangerous for a lot of people with allergies and for anyone who wants to know what is in their food.

"For people that suffer with an allergy it is a matter of life or death in some cases, severe allergic reactions can lead to anaphylaxis which then can lead to death - it may seem that people are being a little bit picky or fussy about what is in their food but for some people it is really very serious."

Ms Richardson said the changes needed to come in soon to make people feel safer and to allow for more informed choices.

She said: "We've got to think about balance and we don't want to delay the legislation by making minor exemptions to things.

"We would encourage anyone that is serving food, be it charity events or temporary markets, to have allergy labelling, but we wouldn't want that to stop this legislation going through."

She added that the sooner everyone can adopt clear labelling the better for the whole island.

"People [who] are suffering from intolerances and allergies will be able to feel just that little bit safer when they eat out," she added.