Victorian hospitals will have 24 hours to alert the state's health department about patients who have life-threatening allergic reactions to eating packaged food or drink.
The new anaphylaxis response measures will start from November 1 after legislation was introduced following the death of a 10-year-old boy in 2013 who was severely allergic to dairy products.
The boy drank a can of imported coconut drink which didn't declare the presence of milk and the department was not notified the beverage was the likely cause of the reaction.
The product remained on sale for six weeks before being recalled, and put others at risk.
The new scheme will allow officials to take quick action if there's a public health risk.
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