Yes. Defra (Department for Food and Rural Affairs) held a public consultation on the Food Information Regulations at the beginning of 2013. Coeliac UK responded to the consultation and highlighted that although introduced as voluntary information, allergy advice boxes provide a useful way of highlighting the presence of deliberate allergenic ingredients in pre-packed food. Consumers are used to referring to these as a quick guide and for many people the allergy box is seen as an effective and instant way of indicating presence or absence of gluten in foods, rather than reading through the ingredient list.

We have worked with the Food Standards Agency and other parties to try and get a standardised approach for allergy boxes used by all the retailers and major manufacturers. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has produced guidance for all its Members in an effort to get a consistent way of labelling. This will hopefully mean that most labels will look the same and allow consumers to get used to the changes.

Read the guidance.