Harmonized VITAL FAO-WHO Reference Doses for food allergens expected soon
On March 23, during our Affidia Talks “Precautionary Allergen Labelling: what lies ahead”, Jasmine Lacis-Lee, President of the Allergen Bureau, declared that they are in the process of aligning their Reference Doses with those proposed in 2022 by the ad hoc joint FAO-WHO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations-World Health Organization) panel of experts.
The Allergen Bureau, a body representing food industry, dealing with allergen management, authored the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling Program (VITAL®) in 2007, with the latest version 3.0 issued in 2021. VITAL® has been developed to provide a risk-based methodology for food manufacturers to use in assessing the impact of allergen cross-contact and to provide appropriate precautionary allergen labelling (PAL).
While the VITAL 3.0 concept is based on ED01 (Eliciting Dose 01, max. 1 % of the affected persons show allergic reactions) reference doses (although ED05 - max. 5 % of the affected persons show allergic reactions- was also considered), the ad hoc joint FAO-WHO panel of experts, which met three times in 2021, decided that the threshold based on ED05 provides sufficient protection for allergy sufferers.
Jasmine Lacis-Lee collaborated with us in our webinar about PAL and, in the video message she sent, she said that the Allergen Bureau is in the process of switching from the reference dose of ED01 to ED05, de facto aligning with the FAO-WHO doses and action levels.
As we reached out to her to confirm this change, she said: “The Allergen Bureau will align to the FAO/WHO recommendation on Reference Doses. This was something we have always intended to do and announced it at the Allergen Bureau member meeting in October 2022. It’s likely that this news has not traveled overseas yet. I think it would be important to note that the VITAL Scientific Expert Panel provided the Allergen Bureau an ED01 and ED05 option in 2019, and at that time we did not think that the industry or other stakeholders, locally or internationally, would accept this shift and hence adopted ED01 based on the new statistical approach. It’s interesting to see how much has changed in 4 years.”
We, at Affidia Journal, acknowledge this decision of the Allergen Bureau as an important step forward that will lead to the end of the era of zero limits for food allergens.
Sources:
https://affidiajournal.com/en/precautionary-allergen-labelling-pal-what-lies-ahead
https://vital.allergenbureau.net/vital-program/
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240065420
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