Journal of Nutrition and Food Security

en Investigating Food Allergen Labeling in Commercially Packaged Food Products public specific orginal article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: In 2017, Turkey introduced Turkish Food Codex Regulation on labeling and providing food information to customers, which has been revised on a regular basis ever since. The purpose of this study was to survey food allergen information regarding foods and beverages sold in Turkey and the extent to which food allergens and precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) are emphasized in the products. Method: Thirteen food and drink categories were reviewed in five physical food stores and three online stores. A total of 1,010 foods and beverages were checked for allergens according to their labels. Results: 1,116 allergenic foods were identified in 59.7% of foods and beverages,. Gluten-containing cereals were clearly labelled in every food category, and milk received the highest number of declarations (30.55%), followed by gluten (27.42%), and tree nuts (9.67%). Snacks contained the most number of allergens (14.8%), followed by dairy products (13.8%), and baked products (12.4%). Conclusions: Accurate and understandable food allergy labeling is essential in avoiding food allergies. Food allergy labeling legislation especially The EU Regulation No. 1169/2011 establishes uniform rules for allergen labeling, which is one of the most stringent food regulations in the world. Current allergen labeling restrictions and policies need to be improved to reduce the risk of food hypersensitivity.  </div> Food allergy, Food labelling, Food legislation, Food packaging 306 315 http://jnfs.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-683-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatma Hazan GUL hazangul@erciyes.edu.tr 0000-0003-2776-808X Yes Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey Jan Mei Soon-Sinclair 0000-0003-0488-1434 No Faculty of Allied-Health and Wellbeing, University of Central Lancashire, PR1 2HE Preston, UK.