Food & Health Alliance

This study was carried out by the University of Surrey and involved participants being accompanied during a routine food shop and interviewed at length to find out what they were thinking when they chose each product.

The research found people were making interesting choices when buying or eating a particular food which included:

• The brand was important because participants trusted certain food companies more than others.
• ‘May contain’ warnings, were not seen as credible or desirable and were sometimes ignored. The majority of participants felt that it was almost impossible to avoid eating products with ‘may contain’ labelling. These precautionary warnings are used by some food manufacturers to indicate possible cross-contamination with a food allergen.
• When eating out, some people did not tell restaurant staff about their allergy because of social embarrassment and the fear it would further limit their choices. For some this led to increased risk-taking.

The results are being used to inform dietary advice to consumers with nut allergies and to steer the development of food allergy labelling policy.

For access to the full study report and further information on the resources available to help food allergic consumers can be accessed by this link.