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| |  Consumer Alert to Sulfite-Sensitive Asthmatics WASHINGTON, March 7, 1997 -- The U.S. processors of canned tuna today alerted sulfite-sensitive asthmatics that some canned tuna contains sulfites that are not declared as an ingredient on the label. While sulfites are of no health concern to most consumers, they may trigger asthma reactions in certain sulfite-sensitive asthmatics. Affected canned tuna products include most albacore (white) and limited amounts of light tuna. Sulfite-sensitive asthmatics should call toll free 1-80O-283-1112 to determine if tuna they have on their shelves or regularly consume contains sulfites. Sulfites are widely used by the food industry as a preservative and are found as an incidental ingredient in many other food products. Food labels must indicate when a product contains sulfites. The sulfites in the canned tuna products came from an ingredient in the broth used as a flavor enhancer. The U.S. tuna processors received the ingredient from a supplier which added sulfiting agents in violation of industry specifications without their knowledge. The entire U.S. tuna processing industry has discontinued use of ingredients containing sulfites and is no longer shipping existing products that fail to disclose sulfites as an ingredient on the product label. No adverse health effects have been reported to any of the U.S. tuna processors due to the presence of undeclared sulfites in canned tuna. The industry has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the situation and is cooperating fully with the Agency in order to inform those individuals who may be sulfite-sensitive. The industry also has notified the Food Allergy Network so that it may alert its membership, which includes members of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Today's announcement was issued on behalf of the U.S. tuna industry by the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Tuna Foundation(USTF).
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