Allergy and storage tips for Christmas chocolate

If you’re buying chocolate for someone with a food allergy, the label is what counts. Here are the basics of UK food labelling from GOV.UK’s guidance (which now includes the Food Standards Agency’s consumer advice), plus some practical storage tips.

The 14 allergens

UK law says these 14 allergens must be declared when they’re used as ingredients: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya, and sulphites (above 10mg per kg or per litre).

On prepacked food, any of the 14 used as an ingredient must be emphasised in the ingredients list — for example in bold, italics or a different colour. Cadbury’s ingredient text shows them in capitals and bold, such as MILK.

“May contain” warnings

A “may contain” statement warns that traces of an allergen might have got into the product by accident. These warnings are voluntary: businesses don’t have to use them. So a missing warning doesn’t prove a product is free from an allergen.

A “free-from” claim, on the other hand, means the allergen is not there. A vegan label is not the same and doesn’t guarantee a product is free from an allergen.

What this means for Cadbury Christmas chocolate

• Cadbury milk chocolate contains milk. Our product pages say “check the label” for everything else.
• Some products contain nuts as an ingredient, including Wholenut, Fruit & Nut, the Christmas Puds and Mini Puds (hazelnut truffle), and some Milk Tray and Roses centres.
• Several carry may-contain statements for nuts, peanuts or wheat in Cadbury’s ingredient information — including Heroes, the Medium and Stocking selection boxes, and the Biscoff products.
• We never describe a product as “nut-free” or “gluten-free”. Only the pack can tell you that.

Best before and use by

A use-by date is about safety; a best before date is about quality. Chocolate carries a best before date. After that date it’s usually safe to eat but may not taste as good.

Storing chocolate

Follow the storage instructions on the label. Tesco’s label text for the Cadbury Buttons Selection Box, for example, says “Store in a dry place. Protect from heat.” In practice:

• Keep advent calendars, tins and boxes away from radiators, fires and sunny windows.
• Don’t hang chocolate tree decorations right next to warm fairy lights.
• Put wrapped chocolate gifts somewhere cool, not under the tree near the lights.

Problems with a label

If you think a label is wrong, you can report it to your local Trading Standards service (in Northern Ireland, your council’s food safety team).