| Research Abstract |
Foods sold over the counter can often cause symptoms of food allergy ; therefore, we measured specific ingredients (egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, and peanuts) in 81 products of a variety of food types from 20 companies purchased from various locations ; convenience stores (6 companies, 20 products) and fast food shops(6, 29), and rice bowl dishes (1, 3), bread (2, 5), takeout sushi (2, 11), and Japanese-style confections(3, 13).
The specific ingredients were detected at levels of 10 μg/g or above in 27 of the 81 products. In products other than rice cakes, wafer cakes filled with bean jam, and frozen desserts the specific ingredients were detected at several μg/g or more. Differences were seen in the quality of information provided about food allergens depending on the business sales style, and there were also failures to provide some information or to provide excessive information. For example, all companies provided information about fast foods, rice bowl dishes and Japanese-style confections, as did 2 of the 6 convenience store companies; however, no information regarding food allergens was provided for bread and takeout sushi. In addition, no information was provided for 9 of products which specific ingredients have been detected at levels of 10 μg/g or above. When we contacted the companies that might have provided incorrect information, they immediately made the necessary corrections.
To select safe food for patients, precise information about the specific ingredients needs to be provided by point-of-purchase displays, websites and in other forms, even for food sold over the counter without an obligation to label.
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