Link: Watch out for sesame in more foods

[sonia]

Sesame Is Now a Major Food Allergen. Why Are So Many Companies Suddenly Adding It to Foods? by Amanda Gabriele.

Earlier this year, the FDA announced that sesame is now considered a major food allergen. Food manufacturers are required to call it out on the back of packaging in the “contains” section, along with other allergens like soy, milk and wheat. But in a twisted turn of events, rather than simply calling it out on products that originally contained sesame, companies are adding sesame flour to food items that were previously free of the allergen.

Comments

[altamira16]

Every time there is a change in food safety rules, they use that as an opportunity to make life harder for allergic people.

[sonia]

😞

[runpunkrun]

Ugh. Thanks for the heads up.

[sonia]

I wish it were better news!

This is just infuriating!

[jesse_the_k]

I don't get it. Food manufacturers seem to have generally complied with the "big 8" rules, which came into effect in 2004--why is adding one more item causing this revolting response?

Re: This is just infuriating!

[sonia]

Because someone had the bright idea and spread it around?

[minoanmiss]

That's freking spiteful. Argh.

[sonia]

Yeah. Nothing like companies making it really *obvious* they don't care about people's well-being.

[silveradept]

This is a textbook example of a perverse incentive, specifically because it'll be cheaper and easier to poison things rather than comply with the requirements to avoid contamination.

[sonia]

I'd frame it more as lack of support for the public good (why is it a matter of cost/profit to keep people safe) but yeah, in the current framework someone did game the system in an unexpected and unintended way. Now we need a law against that anti-social behavior.