Milk Allergen Monitoring: Compliance and Challenges

Food allergy is a relevant public health issue, characterized by an exacerbated immune reaction of the body to food components, with a prevalence of approximately 3% in adults and 8% in children. About 90% of cases are caused by eggs, milk, fish, crustaceans, nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans, with anaphylactic shock being the most serious complication. Treatment consists of avoiding the consumption of allergenic foods. In order to promote greater awareness, Law 14.731/2023 instituted the National Food Allergy Awareness Week. Since 2015, the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has required the mandatory labeling of 18 allergenic foods. The Public Health Laboratory of Minas Gerais (LACEN-MG) is a pioneer in allergen monitoring in Brazil. In partnership with ANVISA and other health surveillance agencies, it has been carrying out compliance assessments since 2015 and currently monitors 14 of the 18 allergens provided for in the legislation. This study aimed to verify the veracity of information regarding the presence of milk allergen in foods that did not declare milk or dairy products in the list of ingredients, nor used the warning phrase "ALLERGIC: MAY CONTAIN MILK" on their labels. In 2024, 32 samples belonging to the following categories were evaluated: cookies (10), creatine (2), hamburger (6), mayonnaise (3), loaf bread (2) and peanut butter (9). The analyses were performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (R-Biopharm^®, R4652) kit, with a detection limit of 2.5 mg/kg of total milk proteins