Allergens LeDa list shortened

Last summer, the Nutrition Center stopped collecting information about non-statutory allergens in the Food Database (LeDa). This means that the allergen information in the database is limited to the legal allergens. The LeDa input form for allergen information is used by many companies in their own product specifications.

LeDa list

The Nutrition Center has been collecting information on consumer products in the Food Database for years. Information about allergens, nutritional values ​​and other product information is kept here. In practice, an overview of the input screen of the Food Database is called 'the LeDa list', see box. Within the Food Database, information on twenty-four substances was managed, including the fourteen EU allergens. In addition, ten non-statutory substances were included. These are lactose, cocoa, glutamate, chicken meat, beef, pork, coriander, corn, legumes and carrot.

In addition to the extra allergens, the allergen information in the Food Database is more extensive than required by law, by actively requesting cross-contamination with allergens (column K).
The Food Database is fed with information from manufacturers of branded articles and links to other databases. There are links with GS1, Brandbank, SIM (Jumbo and Superunie house brands), Albert Heijn and PS in Foodservice.

Delete 10 extra allergens

The Nutrition Center has decided to stop collecting the ten extra substances. More and more information is coming in through links with other databases. Some databases, such as GS1, only collect the information required by law, so that details of the ten additional substances are unknown.
The number of products for which information about the ten additional allergens is available is therefore limited. On this basis, the Nutrition Center cannot provide reliable information about this.
In addition, a scientific review of the ten additional allergens is needed. There are also known substances other than these ten that can cause allergic reactions, such as poppy seeds and fruit such as apple or kiwi. And vice versa, substances are mentioned in the supplementary list that are less often associated with allergic reactions. Examples are cocoa and chicken meat.

Revision of product specifications and questionnaires

The vast majority of food companies do not provide information directly to the Food Database. They use the LeDa list as the basis for their questionnaires that are sent to suppliers or for their final product specifications. They will have to reconsider the design of this. This does not only apply to manufacturers, but also to the databases linked to the Food Database and other databases based on the Food Database, such as SpecsPlaza.
In practice, it appears that not only the current LeDa list is used, but that many of the substances that were once on the ALBA list are still requested within the chain. This creates an unnecessary administrative burden. It is obvious to simplify the allergen lists to the fourteen legal allergens.

New allergen template

When using the legal list of allergens, it is logical that the LeDa list will no longer be the standard for allergen information. However, this also means that information about cross-contamination (column K) is no longer available. This while information about cross-contamination with allergens is becoming increasingly important. 
Allergenen Consultancy has developed a template with the aim of standardizing allergen information in the chain and enabling a risk assessment of cross-contamination. This template can be included in the company's own specification or questionnaire. The Nutrition Center and sector organizations such as the Association of Dutch Manufacturers of Bakery Raw Materials (Nebafa) and the Association for Bakery and Confectionery (VBZ) endorse this template. The Federation of the Dutch Food Industry (FNLI) also endorses the need for uniform and quantitative allergen information. The template and more explanation about it can be downloaded for free at www.allergenenconsultancy.nl/template-allergeneninformatie.

Source: VMT 2017 edition 15, LeDa list shortened by M. van Ravenhorst owner Allergenen Consultancy and W. van der Vossen expert Food safety Nutrition Center