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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

#241

Post by bsder »

kgwgk wrote: post #227
bsder wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not necessarily true. It depends upon the severity of the allergy and the percentage of people with mild vs severe allergies. If you have a mild sensitivity, the added sesame may be below your threshold. Now you know that the sesame is controlled so you can always buy the product. The problem is that the people with severe allergies expected that the new FDA rules would have manufacturers significantly retool…

> If you have a mild sensitivity, the added sesame may be below your threshold. Now you know that the sesame is controlled so you can always buy the product. If you can buy the product with the added sesame you could also buy the product without the added sesame, could't you? Nothing changes in that case - while in other cases the added sesame creates a problem. It doesn't improve the situation for any consumer (leav…

> If you can buy the product with the added sesame you could also buy the product without the added sesame, could't you?

No. That does not follow.

Before, with "may contain sesame" the product might or might not contain enough sesame to trigger your reaction as it was completely uncontrolled. Sure, 99 times out of 100 it was fine but when somebody ran sesame burger buns on the third shift it would make you barf for 48 hours. You simply cannot eat that product on the off chance that it might be bad even though 99% of the time it is fine.

After, you know there is exactly X amount of sesame and never more than that. You can test the product once and it either affects you or it doesn't. At that point if it doesn't affect you, you can buy the product and be confident that it won't change.

Manufacturing 101: Anything that isn't measured isn't controlled.

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

#242

Post by mhb »

harimau777 wrote: post #229
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If producer A just puts sesame in their products, and that means they can undercut producer B who spends the money to comply with the spirit of the regulation, producer B goes out of business because their expenses are higher. So what do you expect would happen? Consumers like cheaper rather than higher prices, this isn't a new thing.

Pass regulations that prevent producer A from undercutting producer B?

Making food more expensive might have consequences.

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

#243

Post by userbinator »

Adding allergens at a low level to everything may have a positive effect of reducing allergies in the population, a sort of automatic oral immunotherapy. I wonder if the FDA intended this effect, and if it'll lead to more controversy like with water fluoridation.

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

#244

Post by Ferret7446 »

utensil4778 wrote: post #29
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…

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…

So maybe the FDA shouldn't have changed the rules if it significantly harms consumers?

And I don't see how it harms consumers. These foods that may contain traces of sesame, had always might have contained traces of sesame. So are traces of sesame dangerous or not? If they are, then consumers shouldn't have been eating these foods to begin with. If they aren't, why are the FDA forcing the labeling?

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

#245

Post by kgwgk »

bsder wrote: post #241
kgwgk wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you have a mild sensitivity, the added sesame may be below your threshold. Now you know that the sesame is controlled so you can always buy the product. If you can buy the product with the added sesame you could also buy the product without the added sesame, could't you? Nothing changes in that case - while in other cases the added sesame creates a problem. It doesn't improve the situation for any consumer (leav…

> If you can buy the product with the added sesame you could also buy the product without the added sesame, could't you? No. That does not follow. Before, with "may contain sesame" the product might or might not contain enough sesame to trigger your reaction as it was completely uncontrolled . Sure, 99 times out of 100 it was fine but when somebody ran sesame burger buns on the third shift it would make you barf for…

They will be measuring the sesame that they are adding as an ingredient. That's on top of whatever unmeasured amount of sesame was already present due to contamination.

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

#246

Post by stoperaticless »

harimau777 wrote: post #229
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If producer A just puts sesame in their products, and that means they can undercut producer B who spends the money to comply with the spirit of the regulation, producer B goes out of business because their expenses are higher. So what do you expect would happen? Consumers like cheaper rather than higher prices, this isn't a new thing.

Pass regulations that prevent producer A from undercutting producer B?

How? Forbid sesame seeds for everybody?

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

#247

Post by jjallen »

betaby wrote: post #158
kevinventullo wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn’t this open up the market for a newcomer to make verified sesame-free bread?

No. That market is too small to target. Overregulation is affecting consumer choices.

It’s over regulation to everyone who doesn’t have sesame allergies.

It’s lifesaving to those that do.

Somehow bakeries in Switzerland are doing just fine with sesame being a declared allergen and keeping them separate but American ones just can’t be bothered to handle a life threatening ingredient thoroughly carefully.

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

#248

Post by bsder »

kgwgk wrote: post #245
bsder wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you can buy the product with the added sesame you could also buy the product without the added sesame, could't you? No. That does not follow. Before, with "may contain sesame" the product might or might not contain enough sesame to trigger your reaction as it was completely uncontrolled . Sure, 99 times out of 100 it was fine but when somebody ran sesame burger buns on the third shift it would make you barf for…

They will be measuring the sesame that they are adding as an ingredient. That's on top of whatever unmeasured amount of sesame was already present due to contamination.

The manufacturer will dial the measured sesame so that it will be large enough that "cross contamination" will be a rounding error.

It's fairly easy to get something below a reasonable threshold--run a batch or two without the contaminant and throw them out. After that, the background levels will be below the added ingredient measurement.

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

#249

Post by jusssi »

kgwgk wrote: post #214
maxerickson wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, great, people are living up to their legal duty, I'm so proud of them and totally won't think they don't give a shit about other people if they do the cheapest thing that satisfies the regulation.

People are going to buy the cheapest option that satisfies the regulation. If giving shit about other people means systematically buying more expensive options they won't give any.

This is food. It has so many more quality dimensions than price point and regulation compliance.

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

#250

Post by Ferret7446 »

nox101 wrote: post #160
mcmoor wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Of course the market is small. Not sure what your point is. My point is it's not profitable for a large company like Bimbo to target that small segment. A smaller company, not trying to compete with Bimbo, can target that segment knowing Bimbo and other large companies are going to stay out of it. I don't understand why you don't see that as a solution. That kind of thing exists all over. Half the products at Whole F…

Would you be willing to pay >$100 USD for a loaf of sesame free bread?

There is no market for it. You need customers willing to pay the price. A small company, not trying to compete with Bimbo, cannot afford to sell >$100 USD allergen free bread, because no one would buy it.

You're right, it's not other people's responsibility to provide for your needs.

The problem is, the downstream effects of this policy make everything worse for people with sesame allergies, which is the opposite of the intended effect.

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