WP4 Social Science - Communicating changes to precautionary allergen labelling

Calling off from C425727 Research: Social Science Call-Off.

The FSA has a duty to inform consumers of changes that may influence food safety risk (regulatory or otherwise). The FSA want to conduct research to ensure we are effectively communicating to consumers potential changes to precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) and standardisation for pre-packed foods.

This work is aligned to FSA’s key area of research interest on food hypersensitivity risks: How can we use business and consumer behaviour insights to deliver better food hypersensitivity outcomes and improve risk communication?

The EU has indicated its intention to legislate in this area by the end of 2027. By December 2027 the SPS agreement is likely to be in place, with the UK aligning on food hypersensitivity (FHS) issues. Therefore, changes to how and when PAL is applied will likely apply directly to us and we need to be able to communicate these changes, and their potential risks and benefits, to consumers.