The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has warned that food labelled as vegan is not always free from animal-derived ingredients.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Dr Patrick O'Mahony of the FSAI said that the term vegan is not defined in Irish or European foods laws and so there are no enforcement measures open to the FSAI to manage the issue.
He said that there is no evidence that food producers are carrying out misleading labelling for nefarious reasons, but the FSAI is concerned about the dangers for people with food allergies that may be in vegan foods.
Dr O'Mahony said that the cross-contamination of food products with allergens does happen on occasion and food producers are careful in labelling to acknowledge this.
He said the FSAI had been made aware of a food product labelled as vegan which also stated 'may contain milk'.
He explained that a general allergen label requires that if you use one of the 14 EU-listed allergens in food production, it must be declared but if allergens are found in a food source at low levels they do not have to be declared.
However, with the growing move towards vegan foods, he said there is a concern that some producers would use it as a marketing term without ensuring there are none of the animal-derived ingredients included.
He said there are some discussions around defining vegan foods in the EU but nothing has changed yet.
Dr O'Mahony said that people with food allergies can suffer in silence, but the FSAI is working to ensure they get clear and precise information on their food products and sources.
