Cosmetic companies need to stop forcing people with food allergies to learn Latin to safeguard their health and display warnings written in plain English, according to an MP with a history of severe allergic reactions who is demanding a step change in how sufferers are treated.
Becky Gittins, the new Labour MP for Clwyd East, said that she and other food allergy sufferers currently had to learn Latin names for some crucial ingredients in face creams, lip balms and lotions to ensure they did not come into contact with a substance that could make them seriously ill.
Gittins, who has previously been hospitalised following a reaction to nuts, said it was “absolutely bonkers” that she had to be aware of the Latin names of some substances before using them – a practice she said was exhausting for the increasing number of young people affected by food allergies.
“When I use skin products, hair products and toiletries, those don’t have to have allergy labelling in the same way as food,” she said. “So to not have an allergic reaction to shampoo or moisturiser or lipstick or anything like that, everybody with a nut allergy needs to know the Latin words for all the things they’re allergic to.
“Why is it that a chocolate bar I would eat would have to say whether it contained nuts, but for a lip balm that I put on my mouth in exactly the same way and I probably swallow when it’s in and around my mouth, I would have to know that almond is ‘prunus’ something?” It wouldn’t have to say almond oil. That is a frustration.”
Gittins, who has several allergies and says she still has to ask her husband what he has eaten before she can kiss him, discovered she suffered from severe reactions when she was rushed to hospital after eating a mini Snickers in a box of Celebrations after her school Christmas party. She said she had suffered several allergic reactions.
Latin names are used to ensure that there are standard ways of describing ingredients across different nations and languages as products are exported. However, Gittins said the huge growth in the number of people with food allergies meant that more progress should be made in making life simpler for them.
She also said many companies were now covering themselves with a blanket warning that their product “may contain nuts”, making it impossible for those affected to know when they faced a real risk.
“There are lots of companies who just put ‘may contain traces of nuts’ to cover themselves legally, but there isn’t a scientific threshold which determines whether or not they have to declare that,” she said. “That makes it really hard for people like me with nut allergies, because I’ve then got to try and make some sort of calculated decision about my health on whether that company is being over cautious or under cautious. This is an area where allergy labelling has become worse.”
It comes amid evidence that the number of people diagnosed with food allergies in England has more than doubled in a decade. The recent research by Imperial College London, which analysed GP records for 7 million people, found that the number of new food allergy cases increased from 76 per 100,000 people in 2008 to 160 per 100,000 people in 2018. The highest prevalence was seen in children under the age of five.
Gittins has now vowed to become a champion in parliament for the growing number of food allergy sufferers in Britain.
She said that flavoured vapes should also have allergy information as clear as that applied to food, because she was aware of reports that vape smoke could contain traces of substances that may cause reactions.
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“Vapes are a really big topic in politics at the moment,” she said. “But what a lot of people aren’t aware of is there have been reports of allergic reactions from secondhand vape smoke. We hear people talking about vapes and young people and asthma, but you don’t necessarily hear them talking about the possibility of allergic reactions and anaphylaxis and vapes, and that’s something I want to explore.”
Gittins is backing a call from the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, a UK food allergy charity for which she has recently become a parliamentary ambassador, for an “allergy tsar”, appointed by the government to boost awareness of the allergy epidemic and encourage further research and understanding.
The Foundation was set up by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died aged 15 in 2016 after suffering a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into a Pret a Manger baguette.
A government spokesperson said: “We are working across government, with the NHS, voluntary organisations and patient representative groups to consider how allergy care and support could be improved. Officials have also been in discussions with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, and ministers will carefully consider their views. Regulations stipulate that all cosmetics must include a full list of ingredients that is clearly marked on the product label or packaging. This list must be written using common or generally accepted ingredient names.”