Secret ingredients & Food Allergies

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Geektastic

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#183726 27-Oct-2015 21:44

So...some products have 'secret' ingredients.

I wonder what would happen if someone was allergic to a secret ingredient not declared on the label and died as a result?

What are the rules about keeping such things secret in this day and age? (I suppose there are lab scanners that could identify all the ingredients in any case).

richms

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#1415109 27-Oct-2015 21:51

If you have an allergy then wouldnt it be stupid to eat something with undeclared ingredients?

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#1415122 27-Oct-2015 22:35

If someone died, something might change. If no one dies, nothing will change. Unless you get Helen du Plessis on your side ...

sbiddle

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#1415168 28-Oct-2015 06:16

Such as?

If you don't comply with the food labelling laws you're breaking the law, but the food labelling law doesn't require every individual ingredient (such as herbs and spices) to be declared. ALL allergens must be declared so the odds of somebody having an allergic reaction are virtually nil.

Hammerer

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#1415175 28-Oct-2015 06:41

People are more likely to die from reactions that they don't know would happen. The source of more than one-third of anaphyaxis events are never determined. For some of those people, the first time is the last time.

sbiddle

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#1415194 28-Oct-2015 08:29

Hammerer: People are more likely to die from reactions that they don't know would happen. The source of more than one-third of anaphyaxis events are never determined. For some of those people, the first time is the last time.

And the vast majority of food related anaphylaxis events are caused by fish and nuts, hence these being two of the eight allergens that must be declared on all food to comply with NZFSA labeling. The other 6 (including milk and egg) can cause severe reactions, but are unlikely to cause death.

wasabi2k

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#1415235 28-Oct-2015 09:26

Are you talking about supermarket packaged stuff? Restaurant food?

Entirely unclear on what you are talking about.

Common allergens are always labelled. If you are at a restaurant you let the chef know and they will usually recommend something.

Geektastic

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#1415475 28-Oct-2015 13:05

wasabi2k: Are you talking about supermarket packaged stuff? Restaurant food?

Entirely unclear on what you are talking about.

Common allergens are always labelled. If you are at a restaurant you let the chef know and they will usually recommend something.

There are a number of things that at least claim some level of secrecy in some ingredients: off the top of my head

McDonalds 'Special Sauce'
KFC secret blend of spices
Glasseye meat sauces (secret spices 'we can't tell you about')
The Coke recipe

I'm not particularly concerned other than as a matter of academic enquiry as it were: how come we have on the one hand strict requirements to state what is in things and on the other, an ability to deliberately conceal some things....it's an interesting dichotomy.

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#1415498 28-Oct-2015 13:52

Geektastic:
wasabi2k: Are you talking about supermarket packaged stuff? Restaurant food?

Entirely unclear on what you are talking about.

Common allergens are always labelled. If you are at a restaurant you let the chef know and they will usually recommend something.

There are a number of things that at least claim some level of secrecy in some ingredients: off the top of my head

McDonalds 'Special Sauce'
KFC secret blend of spices
Glasseye meat sauces (secret spices 'we can't tell you about')
The Coke recipe

I'm not particularly concerned other than as a matter of academic enquiry as it were: how come we have on the one hand strict requirements to state what is in things and on the other, an ability to deliberately conceal some things....it's an interesting dichotomy.

All of which would require labeling if allergens are present. As explained above there is no need to break down ingredients to a level where herbs & spices (in the case of KFC) are individually broken out in the ingredients. If one of those ingredients was an allergen however this would need to be made clear.