Voluntary Report - public distribution

**Date:** 3/23/2005

**GAIN Report Number:** E35060

E35060

**EU-25**

**Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards**

**Allergen Labeling - Temporary Exemptions**

**2005**

**Approved by:**

![](media/image1.wmf)Norval E. Francis, Jr.

U.S. Mission to the EU

**Prepared by:**

Hilde Brans

**Report Highlights:**

The European Commission has established a list of allergen derivatives
that are temporarily excluded -- until November 25, 2007 - from
mandatory declaration on food labels.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Brussels USEU \[BE2\]

\[E3\]

**Allergen Labeling -- Temporary Exemptions**

In November 2003, the EU published Directive 2003/89/EC making the
indication of allergenic substances on food labels mandatory. Directive
2003/89/EC is an amendment to the EU's general food labeling directive
2000/13/EC and establishes a list of allergenic substances. The
directive also provides that the Commission may temporarily exempt
certain ingredients from mandatory labeling while food manufacturers
conduct scientific studies to establish that those ingredients do not
trigger allergic reactions.

The applications that the Commission received from the manufacturing
industry regarding certain derivatives of allergenic ingredients were
referred to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for a scientific
opinion. Based on EFSA's risk assessments, the Commission has now
established a list of allergen derivatives that are temporarily excluded
-- until November 25, 2007 - from mandatory declaration on food labels.
The list is an Annex to Commission Directive 2005/26/EC and includes the
following food ingredients and substances:

+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| **            | **Products thereof provisionally excluded**          |
| Ingredients** |                                                      |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Cereals       | \- Wheat based glucose syrups including dextrose     |
| containing    |                                                      |
| gluten        | \- Wheat based maltodextrins                         |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Glucose syrups based on barley                    |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Cereals used in distillates for spirits           |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Eggs          | \- Lysozym (produced from egg) used in wine          |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Albumin (produced from egg) used as fining agent  |
|               | in wine and cider                                    |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Fish          | \- Fish gelatin used as carrier for vitamins and     |
|               | flavors                                              |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Fish gelatin or Isinglass used as fining agent in |
|               | beer, cider and wine                                 |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Soybean       | \- Fully refined soybean oil and fat                 |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Natural mixed tocopherols (E306), natural D-alpha |
|               | tocopherol, natural D-alpha tocopherol acetate,      |
|               | natural D-alpha tocopherol succinate from soybean    |
|               | sources                                              |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Vegetable oils derived phytosterols and           |
|               | phytosterol esters from soybean sources              |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil    |
|               | sterols from soybean sources                         |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Milk          | \- Whey used in distillates for spirits              |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Lactitol                                          |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Milk (casein) products used in fining agents in   |
|               | cider and wines                                      |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Nuts          | \- Nuts used in distillates for spirits              |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Nuts (almonds, walnuts) used (as flavor) in       |
|               | spirits                                              |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Celery        | \- Celery leaf and seed oil                          |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Celery seed oleoresin                             |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Mustard       | \- Mustard oil                                       |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Mustard seed oil                                  |
|               |                                                      |
|               | \- Mustard seed oleoresin                            |
+---------------+------------------------------------------------------+

Commission Directive 2005/26/EC can be downloaded from the Internet at
<http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_075/l_07520050322en00330034.pdf>.

**Visit our website:** our website
**[www.useu.be/agri/usda.html]{.underline}** provides a broad range of
useful information on EU import rules and food laws and allows easy
access to USEU reports, trade information and other practical
information. More information on the EU's food labeling requirements can
be found at
[www.useu.be/agri/label.html](http://www.useu.be/agri/label.html).

E-mail: AgUSEUBrussels@usda.gov

**Related reports from USEU Brussels:**

  ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ ------------------
  **Report Number**                                            **Title**                            **Date Released**

  E34093                                                       Allergen Labeling on Wine            November 2004

  E23186                                                       New Allergen Labeling                September 2003

  E34054                                                       Food & Agricultural Import           September 2004
                                                               Regulations & Standards              

  These reports can be accessed through our website                                                 
  [www.useu.be/agri](http://www.useu.be/agri) or through the                                        
  FAS website                                                                                       
  <http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/attacherep/default.asp>.                                        
  ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ ------------------