Going Allergen-Free

Over the last month in the SupplySide® Community—where I spend a good portion of my days, dishing up perspectives on key industry issues—I've been immersed in allergen and intolerance issues. Gluten-free had a solid showing (naturally, considering the bandwagon support the diet receives from non-celiacs—diversified demand from medically diagnosed celiacs will continue, but the rest will wane with time…), but what particularly intrigued me was the concept of allergen-free foods—retail products, and even menu items (FDA has started to meddle with restaurants, so why not?), that are "peanut-free," "shellfish-free," etc., as well as those that are completely free of the "big eight" food allergens (and maybe even throwing in those that Canada adds to the list, like mustard and sesame, something FDA should consider).

The lynchpin here is FDA approval of guidelines that would create national standards for creation of such products. I brought up the idea with Maria Acebal, CEO of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) during a recent conversation, and she thought it was a great idea, something that she had already been talking about lately with folks. After all, it's kind of bizarre that we have an FDA standard for gluten-free but not nut-free (the former can cause serious gastrointestinal distress, the latter, death).

Allergen-free foods would serve not only the niche segments of society who suffer from the major known food allergens (segments that continue to grow…), but also a much-wider portion of the population required to steer clear of allergens. Consider the possibilities for kids' birthday parties (a point raised by my colleague Heather Granato during a Community discussion), school and university foodservice, institutional foodservice, and just nervous moms whose kids are friends with someone who has a food allergy (we all know someone with an allergy).