<story><title>FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don&apos;t</title><url>https://www.npr.org/2024/06/26/g-s1-6238/fda-warns-bakery-foods-allergens</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lpolovets</author><text>My understanding is this allergen over-labeling was inspired by the FDA in the first place. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&amp;#x2F;90830854&amp;#x2F;sesame-seed-allergen-fda-food-law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&amp;#x2F;90830854&amp;#x2F;sesame-seed-allergen-fd...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the linked article (from Jan 2023):&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  But sesame does differ in one distinct way from eggs, peanuts, shellfish, milk, and soy: The seeds are teeny tiny and hard to keep track of. This means they’re prone to “cross-contamination,” in food-allergy terms. If you operate a bakery that makes sesame bagels, the odds are decent that rogue seeds will end up in your other products, too. Bad news for people with severe sesame allergies. But it’s also expensive and frustrating for food manufacturers to ensure the seeds are kept away from other foods, if they’re on the FDA’s major allergens list.
  
  Advocates have therefore been warning since December that the FASTER Act is poised to have a counter effect. Rather than minimize cross-contamination, as they argue the law requires, many big food brands have opted to add sesame to their bread products, then simply declare it as an ingredient. They are intentionally adding sesame flour to “avoid complying with the spirit and intent of the FASTER Act,” FARE tells Fast Company. That is cheaper than certifying that their facilities are 100% sesame-free.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>postmodest</author><text>This is the same issue as Prop 65, and while we can all say &amp;quot;oh the law is bad&amp;quot; the real problem is _corporations are lazy_.&lt;p&gt;Instead of making sure their products are safe, they just say everything is unsafe, because they know consumers will become numb to it.&lt;p&gt;Our food shouldn&amp;#x27;t contain allergens, and our computer mice shouldn&amp;#x27;t give us cancer, but instead of taking the time to make sure of that, companies just tell us the products are dangerous, because they know we don&amp;#x27;t really have a choice.&lt;p&gt;They have the money and the capability, but they choose profit over consumer safety, and that&amp;#x27;s THEIR sin, not ours.</text></comment>
<story><title>FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don&apos;t</title><url>https://www.npr.org/2024/06/26/g-s1-6238/fda-warns-bakery-foods-allergens</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lpolovets</author><text>My understanding is this allergen over-labeling was inspired by the FDA in the first place. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&amp;#x2F;90830854&amp;#x2F;sesame-seed-allergen-fda-food-law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&amp;#x2F;90830854&amp;#x2F;sesame-seed-allergen-fd...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the linked article (from Jan 2023):&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  But sesame does differ in one distinct way from eggs, peanuts, shellfish, milk, and soy: The seeds are teeny tiny and hard to keep track of. This means they’re prone to “cross-contamination,” in food-allergy terms. If you operate a bakery that makes sesame bagels, the odds are decent that rogue seeds will end up in your other products, too. Bad news for people with severe sesame allergies. But it’s also expensive and frustrating for food manufacturers to ensure the seeds are kept away from other foods, if they’re on the FDA’s major allergens list.
  
  Advocates have therefore been warning since December that the FASTER Act is poised to have a counter effect. Rather than minimize cross-contamination, as they argue the law requires, many big food brands have opted to add sesame to their bread products, then simply declare it as an ingredient. They are intentionally adding sesame flour to “avoid complying with the spirit and intent of the FASTER Act,” FARE tells Fast Company. That is cheaper than certifying that their facilities are 100% sesame-free.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>paulddraper</author><text>&amp;gt; Rather than minimize cross-contamination, as they argue the law requires, many big food brands have opted to add sesame to their bread products, then simply declare it as an ingredient.&lt;p&gt;Right.&lt;p&gt;Bimbo has not been actually adding the allergen to the product. Presumably, they will start explicitly adding it, so the warning will be proper.</text></comment>