The Recent Buzz on Food Allergy Labeling and My "Marketplace" Mention

In tandem with the FDA allergy labeling discussion going on today, NPR's "Marketplace" show did an item on food allergies and food labeling last night. And guess what--my blog got a mention! In July I wrote a post called "Is It Me, Or Are Allergy Labels Getting Way Wackier??" They summarized this post in the story. Follow this link to read/listen to the story on NPR. It felt great to have my blog mentioned right next to a quote from one of my food allergy heroes, Anne Munoz-Furlong, founder of FAAN.

It's always nice for your blog to be given a "shout-out" in the media, but the most important thing about this story is that it illustrates how dire the need is for consistent food labeling. The Marketplace story also brought up the issue that many of us have discussed lately and that is the fact that manufacturers don't want to spend money to have consistent food labels, and so they are just labeling everything "may contain the top 8 allergens." I know that so many companies are struggling right now and I sympathize, but there has to be a better way.

There's been a lot of buzz about food labels lately and I've got another great article on this topic for you to check out. This month's Chicago Parent magazine features a story called "Mom Takes on Food Industry" about one mother's efforts to make food manufacturers more aware about their labeling practices after her food-allergic son got very ill after eating a mislabeled food item.


I'm very interested to see what the FDA has to say today. Stay tuned!