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FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

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Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#131

Post by infecto »

Miner49er wrote: post #107
infecto wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know honestly. I understand the spirit of it but I also don’t believe a factory should have to be serve markets that it chooses not too. My point which I did not get to very well is that I think the FDA is in a weird spot. I understand their side but I also wonder how a bakery can legally and with the spirit of the law decide to not serve customers with allergies.

It's not forced to serve markets. They are just not allowed to say their products contain sesame when they don't. They are mislabeling their products, and the FDA's job is to ensure products are labeled accurately.

I am not sure which is why I think its a confusing spot. From the article...

- "FDA officials indicated that allergen labeling is a “not a substitute” for preventing cross-contamination in factories."

- "some companies began adding small amounts of sesame..FDA officials said that violated the spirit, but not the letter, of federal regulations"

Hence my open ended question, how do you legally and with the spirit of the law not serve the allergy market? If you allergen labeling is not a substitute for preventing cross-contamination...what if I as a baker/factory don't care about cross contamination?

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#132

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

int3 wrote: post #114
jasinjames wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number might be 0.2% for just sesame, but roughly 10% of Americans have some form of allergy[0]. I'm guessing the reasoning here is to attempt to prevent "allergen creep", where the endgame would be major manufacturers throwing their hands up and listing most products as possibly containing many allergens (or, as in this case, intentionally introducing unnecessary ingredients). If this were to happen, we would ex…

even if it were 10%, we shouldn't expect 90% of consumers to subsidize the other 10%

I'm not sure how to separate this mindset from one that would have commercial buildings not be required to include elevators and wheelchair ramps. Do you also think that's an unfair burden to put on the roughly-90% of people who are not mobility-impaired? (Not implying any judgement either way, just curious if this is a consistent viewpoint).

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#133

Post by valicord »

int3 wrote: post #114
jasinjames wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number might be 0.2% for just sesame, but roughly 10% of Americans have some form of allergy[0]. I'm guessing the reasoning here is to attempt to prevent "allergen creep", where the endgame would be major manufacturers throwing their hands up and listing most products as possibly containing many allergens (or, as in this case, intentionally introducing unnecessary ingredients). If this were to happen, we would ex…

even if it were 10%, we shouldn't expect 90% of consumers to subsidize the other 10%

I guess we should repeal the Americans with Disabilities Act then?

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#134

Post by sn41 »

Molitor5901 wrote: post #15

This seems like splitting hairs on the part of the FDA. FDA officials acknowledged Tuesday that statements that a product “may contain” certain allergens “could be considered truthful and not misleading.” Bimbo officials have until July 8 to identify steps taken to remedy the issue — or to explain why the labeling doesn't violate FDA standards. So a baker.. who adds (insert allergy ingredient here), in minute quantit…

I agree. If I am allergic to sesame, then I would also rather play it safe, rather than try a risk.

By the way, Molitor 5901 is the phone number used by the Jackal to know if he could move, in "The Day of the Jackal", if I remember right.

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#135

Post by int3 »

valicord wrote: post #133
int3 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

even if it were 10%, we shouldn't expect 90% of consumers to subsidize the other 10%

I guess we should repeal the Americans with Disabilities Act then?

unironically. would love to have those berkeley lectures back online

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#136

Post by AnotherGoodName »

forgetfreeman wrote: post #122
lpolovets wrote: post #117

My understanding is this allergen over-labeling was inspired by the FDA in the first place. https://www.fastcompany.com/90830854/sesame-seed-allergen-fd... From the linked article (from Jan 2023): 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 o…

Eh, this seems like a pretty bullshit argument on the part of manufacturers though. My expectation for a food prep area is that I should be able to safely eat off of any surface. This level of cleanliness should eliminate any contaminants from the environment bigger than airborne dust and given how relatively cheap air filtration equipment is a case could be made there as well. In any case sesame seeds are a hell of…

Hmm I wonder how good the us legal system is if a person insists they fell ill eating a product without a warning label and it goes to a jury trial?

There will undoubtedly be a focus on ‘whether you can be 100% sure there was no sesame dust in the air’. Without a perfect vacuum clean room (that doesn’t really exist) you can’t be. As in even if you’re really fucking clean your probably losing the case in the American legal system.

Fuck it my bread is made with a sprinkle of sesame flour and is known to contain potential carcinogens identified by the state of California.

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#137

Post by mcmoor »

nox101 wrote: post #98
alwa wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems to be the problem. New regulations [0] would require expensive measures to prevent cross-contamination if your label says that your product carries a risk of cross-contamination. But it's not "contamination" if it's an ingredient, so if one thing in your factory has sesame in it, you're better off adding a tiny bit of sesame to everything else than you would be scouring the whole line between products. Pre…

And, if all the big companies only make things with allergens, then a market appears for allergen free products that some company will see an opportunity and fill.

In lots of disability cases, share of people affected is very very small it's not profitable to cover them. Otherwise the companies would already fight to capture this market.

This is why lots of disability measures are (or campaigned to be) enforced by government. But now we're out of realm of free market and on to production quota, and that comes with its own consequences.

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#138

Post by int3 »

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #132
int3 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

even if it were 10%, we shouldn't expect 90% of consumers to subsidize the other 10%

I'm not sure how to separate this mindset from one that would have commercial buildings not be required to include elevators and wheelchair ramps. Do you also think that's an unfair burden to put on the roughly-90% of people who are not mobility-impaired? (Not implying any judgement either way, just curious if this is a consistent viewpoint).

I think one difference is that there isn't a great alternative option in the case of commercial buildings -- if you have a job in a given building that doesn't accommodate your disability, you can't just go find a different building. But insofar as food is concerned, you could pay more for more carefully-manufactured food, or just cook for yourself

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#139

Post by bnralt »

valicord wrote: post #133
int3 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

even if it were 10%, we shouldn't expect 90% of consumers to subsidize the other 10%

I guess we should repeal the Americans with Disabilities Act then?

Yes? If the government can find a better way to help people with disabilities, great. But small business being sued because a booth is 6 inches too small, or universities having to take down lectures because they lacked close captioning seems to clearly go to far to me. People seem to have a terrible time understanding diffused societal costs and opportunity costs.

Re: FDA warns top U.S. bakery not to claim foods contain allergens when they don't

#140

Post by justin66 »

Molitor5901 wrote: post #15

This seems like splitting hairs on the part of the FDA. FDA officials acknowledged Tuesday that statements that a product “may contain” certain allergens “could be considered truthful and not misleading.” Bimbo officials have until July 8 to identify steps taken to remedy the issue — or to explain why the labeling doesn't violate FDA standards. So a baker.. who adds (insert allergy ingredient here), in minute quantit…

> What is a baker to do?

Keep allergens out of products where they aren’t ingredients.

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