A 'Vegan' Food Label does not mean it is Allergen SAFE.
“UK vegan products found to contain milk or egg”
Last year the Guardian newspaper reported that more than one-third of UK foods labelled as vegan contain animal products, namely milk and egg. This sent shock waves through both vegan and allergic communities.
The Food Standards Agency website says, ‘When you buy vegan food, you might not expect it to contain any trace amounts of milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. However, trace amounts of cross-contamination can occur when vegan food is produced in a factory or kitchen that also handles non-vegan food.’
It is important to be aware that there is NO LEGAL DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘VEGAN’ and no threshold for how much of an animal-derived ingredient a vegan product may contain. We need people with food allergies to be aware of this fact.
Allergic customers must not rely on the word ‘vegan', to mean there are no ‘traces’ of milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, molluscs or any other animal products present. The term just means that the manufacturers have attempted to eliminate animal products from the ingredients as best as possible.
Please share as widely as you can - if it is labelled as VEGAN, it does NOT mean it is safe for people with food allergies.
