FDA CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION - Have Food Allergies? Read the Label

SILVER SPRING, Md., May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Some food allergies can cause severe reactions, and may even be life-threatening. For the 14th annual Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 8-14, FDA gives advice to people allergic to certain foods on how to avoid packaged products that contain them.

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If you're allergic to one of the eight major food allergens—milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish (such as crab, lobster, or shrimp), tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans—learn how to look for your nemesis on the food label at

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm254504.htm

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FDA Consumer Updates may be posted and published elsewhere without permission. Please credit "FDA Consumer Health Information (www.fda.gov/consumer)" as the source. FDA values feedback on its consumer health information. Send questions, comments, or story ideas to: [email protected].

Media Contact: Patricia El-Hinnawy, 301-796-4763, [email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration