New QR code could make it easier for shoppers to identify allergens
A new QR code is being trialled in the UK to make it easier to identify allergens when picking up products at the supermarket.
Over half of people with food allergies have had an allergic reaction due to mislabelled or unclear food packaging, according to new data from GS1 UK.
The not-for-profit organisation behind the barcode is now piloting a new QR code which shoppers can scan with their smartphones to reveal a stream of data, including allergens and recycling information.
GS1 UK's Marketing Officer Sarah Atkins is from Surrey.
"20% of the population of the UK believe they have an allergen so it is not an insignificant part of the population.
"Of those, 56% of them have actually had an allergic reaction because the information on the pack they have picked up is just not accurate enough for them.
"We have a variety of brands that are working with us and we are on that mission now to talk to the large retailers and the larger brands and get them behind, what I consider to be, the biggest transformation that is going to hit the retail sector in the next 50 years."