Abstract
Food allergy is an adverse health reaction, whose clinical manifestations may lead to death. Of the various foods that may be a source of allergens, one can highlight chocolate. Depending on its composition, chocolate can accumulate a large number of allergenic ingredients, enhancing the risks associated with its consumption. The objective of this work was to evaluate the labelling of chocolates considering the Brazilian legislation RDC n° 26/2015. The chocolates were separated into eight categories, with 139 labels being evaluated. The declaration of containing allergens was not found on 11% of the labels, even though they contained ingredients with mandatory declaration. The categories “soy chocolate” and “confectionery” represented 40% and 33%, respectively, of the undeclared labels. At least one non-conformity with RDC n° 26/2015 was found in 53% of the chocolate labels, where the categories “diet/ light /zero chocolate” and “confectionery” presented non-conformity in 100% and 50% of the labels respectively. The declaration placed in an “obscure place, difficult to visualize and/or on the seal”, was the most recurrent non-conformity (21% of the labels). The legislation should be adequate to promote alignment in communication between the industry and the consumer. However, it was verified that adherence to the labelling rules for allergens is still not complete, even though the adjustment period already finished.
Keywords:
RDC 26/2015; Food label; Conformity; Food allergens; ANVISA; Legislation; Food allergies; Nonconformity
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