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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

#182
As a father of a 9 mo old with a sesame allergy found out the hard way with a trip to the ER... not only are we making our own bread now because of this, but also, so should you! Store bread has so much unnecessary crap in it, idk why we didn't do this sooner. It's a bummer that we basically can't eat anyone's baked goods outside of the house now, but hey, I guess the market decided I should keep my money and invest in my family, while the rest of you should enjoy the completely unnecessary calories, exposure, and expense of sesame flour.

Also, as far as I can tell, most involved in this sucks, FDA for demanding regulation without investment, lobbyists for supplying a crap solution, and manufactures for not rising above it and rarely caring about the quality of their products.

My recommendation is to boycott store bakery isles in general, invest in $BVILF, and use your kitchen to make friends with your neighbors and get everyone you know making bread/baked goods at home. It absolutely takes privilege to follow this journey, but pay it forward with the bread you can make at home with simple ingredients.

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

#183
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They actually have the Bimbo brand on the soccer jerseys for the Philadelphia Union which probably isn't good for the team's jersey sales.

They sell you a jersey for $300 and still put advertising logos?

This is incredibly common with soccer jerseys in many big keagues. And I mean the brand logos on soccer jerseys are often big elements. You'd pretty much have a solid color shirt if it wasn't for the brands in them.

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

#184

As a father of a 9 mo old with a sesame allergy found out the hard way with a trip to the ER... not only are we making our own bread now because of this, but also, so should you! Store bread has so much unnecessary crap in it, idk why we didn't do this sooner. It's a bummer that we basically can't eat anyone's baked goods outside of the house now, but hey, I guess the market decided I should keep my money and invest…

This story is about companies erring on the caution and labeling them with things like sesame even if they like don't contain it.

The cost of proving it is sesame free and fines if they are wrong are not worth your business.

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

#185

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…

This is about sesame. Last year or so, the FDA changed the rules about sesame as an allergen. Some bakeries then decided to just slap "may contain traces of sesame" on everything so they didn't have to pay the cost of actually ensuring there's no cross-contamination. This has significantly harmed consumers who are actually allergic to sesame. Now there's effectively no way to know if a baked product will actually con…

The other (cheaper) alternative is to deliberately add sesame flour, which some bakeries are doing, according to the article.

So what do you think is better:

1. Label bread with the "may contain" label. Meaning, truthfully, that people with severe sesame allergies shouldn't eat it.

2. Add sesame flour and then add a "definitely contains" label.

I think #2 is much worse from a "significantly harms consumers" perspective.

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

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies aren't dogs, companies have obligations that they need to fulfill and they're choosing to neglect them.

> Companies aren't dogs Metaphor, but sure, quite literally they're not dogs. Very true. > companies have obligations that they need to fulfill and they're choosing to neglect them. From our eyes they're neglecting to follow the spirit of a policy. From their eyes, they're following it to the letter of the policy. Perspective.

AFAIK you are required to follow the letter of the law, not the spirit. Whatever spirit moved the legislature into approving a law is secondary to the actual wording of the law. If congress wanted people to follow "the spirit of the law" then they should have made the law more explicit, instead of leaving it up to the FDA to decide what's the right spirit to have.

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

#187
post #134

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.

The Jackal is blown. Wolenski talked before dying. Repeat: The Jackal is blown.

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

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one wins by some percentage of the population having to bake their own bread. If these facilities cannot keep unwanted visible particulates like sesame out of their products, how can they keep dirt and bacteria out? This regulation is not only good for people allergic to sesame, it's a brown M&M test. I see value in it.

> If these facilities cannot keep unwanted visible particulates like sesame out of their products, how can they keep dirt and bacteria out? They seemingly cant. There is a federally allowable amount of rat droppings allowed in food and it is non-zero!

Then it should be on the label.

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

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one wins by some percentage of the population having to bake their own bread. If these facilities cannot keep unwanted visible particulates like sesame out of their products, how can they keep dirt and bacteria out? This regulation is not only good for people allergic to sesame, it's a brown M&M test. I see value in it.

> how can they keep dirt and bacteria out? They can't. It's statistically impossible. Even operating theaters and clean rooms can't keep every trace bit of dirt or bacteria out. All anyone tries to do is reduce the incidence to below a meaningful threshold. If the requirement is: either eliminate every last molecule of every offending substance, or use a label that the offending substance may appear in trace amounts.…

I didn't say "every last molecule", I said "visible particulates".

Nice attempt to straw-man though.

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

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies aren't dogs, companies have obligations that they need to fulfill and they're choosing to neglect them.

> Companies aren't dogs Metaphor, but sure, quite literally they're not dogs. Very true. > companies have obligations that they need to fulfill and they're choosing to neglect them. From our eyes they're neglecting to follow the spirit of a policy. From their eyes, they're following it to the letter of the policy. Perspective.

Presumably the majority of people that don’t have sesame allergy would prefer to pay less for bread so I’m not as clear that “our” and “their” are different here.
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