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How
to Report a Food Reaction due to Mislabelling or Contamination"
from
the AAIA National News, April 1998.
If you have an allergic
reaction to a manufactured food and you suspect that it may be mislabelled
or contaminated by an unlisted
allergen:
1. Immediately
follow your emergency treatment plan.
2. Do not throw
out any remaining portion of the offending food. Wrap and
save it, along with the label and package (it helps to know the
store also).
3. Contact the
nearest office of the CFIA for advice. Report the type of
reaction. If requested to do so, give the CFIA the remaining
portion of the food, along with the label and package, for laboratory
testing.
4. You can report the
reaction to the manufacturer of the food if you wish to do so.
The company may want to know the code numbers
from the packaging so that it can investigate. If the company
offers to pick up the remaining food, telll them that the CFIA will
be doing
this.
Note: If the CFIA tests the food and finds that mislabelling
or contamination did occur, they will contact the manufacturer.
Sometimes the food has to be recalled.
Web site information:
CFIA - http://www.inspection.gc.ca
Food
Recalls/Allergy Alerts
(http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/recaltoce.shtml)
ou en francais... (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/corpaffr/foodrecalls/recaltocf.shtml)
You can receive e-mail versions of new recalls. People who
subscribe to the service will get all of the recalls destined for
the web in English and French as plain text messages. Usually,
individuals on the subscription list receive the information
the same night as it is issued. Many of these are not published
in the newspaper so it's a useful source of information.
Acts
and Regulations
(http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/reg/rege.shtml)
en francais... http://www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/reg/regf.shtml
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has many roles, including inspection
of food companies and sources, enforcement of acts and regulations,
issuance of food recalls and allergy alerts that will be of interest
to Canadians.
Contact CFIA:
English http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/directory/maindire.shtml
French http://
www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/directory/maindirf.shtml
Receive great information
like this on a regular basis by becoming
an AAIA member and receiving our newsletters!
Allergy/Asthma Information
Association,
Box 100, Toronto, Ontario M9W 5K9
Phone (416) 679-9521 or 1-800-611-7011 Fax: (416) 679-9524
Web site: http://www.aaia.ca
E-mail: national@aaia.ca
Terms
of Use: The information
on this site does not constitute medical advice and is for your
general information only. We cannot be held responsible for anything
you could possibly do or say because of information on this site.
Consult your family physician or allergist for specific questions
or concerns.
This article courtesy of the Allergy/Asthma
Information Association at www.aaia.ca and the Calgary Allergy Network
web site at www.calgaryallergy.ca. May be reproduced for educational,
non-profit purposes with proper attribution.
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