A recent federal law requiring sesame to be listed as an allergen on food labels has the unintended consequence of accelerating the variety of products containing sesame.
Food industry experts said the necessities are so stringent that many manufacturers, especially bakers, find adding sesame to a product – and labeling it – is easier and cheaper than attempting to keep it away from other sesame foods or appliances .
In consequence, several firms – including national restaurant chains like Olive Garden, Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A, and bread makers that stock grocery shelves and serve schools – are adding sesame to products that previously lacked it. While the practice is legal, consumers and advocates say it violates the spirit of the law, which goals to make food safer for allergy victims.
“Receiving these labels was really exciting for the campaigner and mom,” said Naomi Seiler, a consultant to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, whose 9-year-old daughter Zoe is allergic to sesame. “As a substitute, firms intentionally add the allergen to the food.”
The brand new law, which is able to go into effect on January 1, requires all food produced and sold in the US to be labeled if it comprises sesame, which is now the country’s ninth leading allergen. Sesame might be found in obvious places, such as sesame seeds on hamburger buns. But it surely’s also an ingredient in many foods, from protein bars to ice cream, added to sauces, dips and salad dressings, and hidden in spices and flavors.
Advocates for families scuffling with allergies have lobbied for years for sesame to be added to the list of major allergens. Congress in 2004 created labeling requirements for eight products: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans.
Greater than 1.6 million people in the USA have sesame allergies, some so severe that they require injections of epinephrine, a drug used to treat life-threatening reactions. Cases Sesame allergy has been on the rise in recent years with a growing variety of foods containing the ingredient, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, pediatrician and director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University.
“Sesame is in so many things that folks don’t really understand,” said Gupta, who called the move so as to add sesame to products “so disappointing.”
“In families who are allergic to sesame, it’s really hard,” she said.
Under recent law enforced by the Food and Drug Administration, firms must now clearly label sesame as an ingredient or individually state that a product comprises sesame. In the USA, ingredients are listed on the product packaging in order of quantity. Sesame labeling has been required for years elsewhere, including Canada, Europe, Australia and Recent Zealand.
If ingredients don’t contain sesame, firms must take steps to stop food from coming into contact with any sesame, known as cross-contamination.
Food industry experts said the brand new requirements are neither easy nor practical.
“It’s like suddenly asking the bakers to go to the beach and take away all of the sand,” said Nathan Mirdamadi, a consultant at Industrial Food Sanitation, which advises the industry on food safety.
Some firms put statements on their labels that say that the food “may contain” a certain product or that the food is “made in a facility” that also uses certain allergens. Nevertheless, such declarations are voluntary, not required under the FDA, and don’t exempt the corporate from cross-contamination prevention requirements.
![Olive Garden, Wendys Restaurants and Chick Fil A](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/newspress-collage-25095002-1671663734118.jpg?1671645843&w=1024&1671645843)
As a substitute, some firms have taken a unique approach. Officials at Olive Garden said the chain was adding a “minimal amount of sesame flour” to the corporate’s famous sticks as of this week “as a result of the potential for cross-contamination in the bakery.”
Chick-fil-A modified its white bun and multigrain brioche buns to contain sesame, while Wendy’s said the corporate added sesame to its French toast sticks and rolls.
United States Bakery, which operates Franz Family Bakeries in California and the Northwest, notified customers in March that it could add a small amount of sesame flour to all buns and hamburger and hot dog buns “to scale back the danger of any adversarial reactions to sesame products.” .
While such actions don’t violate the law, the FDA “doesn’t support” them, the agency said in a press release.
“This could make it more difficult for purchasers with a sesame allergy to seek out foods that are protected for them,” the statement said.
Some large firms have previously added other allergens to their products and updated their labels. In 2016, Kellogg’s added trace amounts of peanut flour to some cookies and crackers, prompting protests.
It’s frustrating and scary for folks like Kristy Fitzgerald of Crookston, Minnesota. Last spring, she learned that Pan-O-Gold Baking Co., which supplies bread to varsities, health centers and grocery stores throughout the Midwest, added small amounts of sesame to its products, including those served at her daughter’s school. Meanwhile, six-year-old Audrey has grown out of her sesame allergy.
Bob Huebner, food safety/quality assurance manager for Pan-O-Gold, told Fitzgerald in a series of emails that the corporate was forced so as to add sesame to the product and label.
“The unlucky reality is that our equipment and bakeries are not equipped to scrub allergens, which can be required to stop sesame cross-contamination and was not an option for us,” Huebner wrote in an email to Fitzgerald. Huebner responded to an email from AP but didn’t reply to questions on the corporate’s practices.
Fitzgerald began a web-based petition protesting the addition of sesame.
“Sooner or later, someone will feed sesame seeds to an allergic child,” Fitzgerald said. “It makes me think that the regulations need to alter to point out that this will not be an appropriate practice.”
With postal wires.