Sesame allergies and food labels

[Mike Nolan]

A recent law added sesame to the list of food allergies that has to be declared on the label.

According to an AP store in the Wall Street Journal, this has had an unintended consequence: Companies, notably bakeries, that make products with sesame find it easier to add a little sesame to something and label it as having sesame than go through the measures required to avoid cross-contamination from their other products that use sesame.

For example, Olive Garden is now adding a small amount of sesame flour to their breadsticks. Similarly, Chick-Fil-A is adding sesame flour to their buns, and Wendy's to their buns and French toast sticks.

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[BakerAunt]

I can see how it would be difficult to wall off part of an eating establishment to prevent cross contamination. The issue probably extends to the suppliers who would have to guarantee that their products were not manufactured in a facility that also processes sesame seed, as with peanuts and other tree nuts.

If I had a food allergy, I do not know that I would want to trust any restaurant.

[Mike Nolan]

A close friend and my brother-in-law both have an olive oil allergy, that's something that shows up in a lot of foods, and cross-contamination in a restaurant kitchen is always an issue.

We went to one of those Brazilian barbecue restaurants shortly after it opened here, and though we had called in two days ahead of time when we got there the staff had no information on what items on the menu had either garlic or olive oil in them. :sigh: We haven't been back. There's an excellent one near where our son lives in Pittsburgh, not only is their salad and hot foods bar much better and their selection of barbecued meats wider, the staff knows their menu and its ingredients very well.

[BakerAunt]

One of my friends is allergic to tomatoes; getting people to take it seriously is sometimes an issue for her. At one dinner at a house, she asked if an item contained tomatoes, and the person responded, "Not enough to kill you." Clearly, that man had no clue about food allergies. Even when eating out, it can be an issue, since some recipes might use a bit of tomato paste. That means she is cautious as to what she orders.

[Mike Nolan]

When we were at Disney World a few years ago, when we'd tell the server that Diane had a garlic allergy, one of the chefs would come out and discuss options with her. Obviously the Disney folks take food allergies seriously!

[cwcdesign]

We recently went to a local seafood restaurant - we were thinking about ordering fried okra - and it dawned on me that it might be fried in the same oil as the shrimp (my newest allergy) - I asked the server and he said yes and that I would also want to avoid the fried fish (which I was thinking about) and the French fries. He recommended any of the grilled fish - I had a blackened Mahi sandwich which was delicious. Anyway, it might not have mattered but I'm glad I didn't take any chances - I'm not carrying around an epi-pen for no reason!

[Mike Nolan]

The fryer is a common source of cross-contamination. Few restaurants maintain separate fryers for different types of food to avoid cross-contamination. I've heard of some restaurants that maintain a gluten-free area of the kitchen, with separate appliances, but even that's no guarantee against cross-contamination.

With my wife's garlic allergy, even the grill isn't safe unless it's been scrubbed down. There's a PepperJax near us (cheese steaks), they use garlic in their seasoning salt, but will scrape down and wash the grill, re-glove and use clean utensils if I order something for my wife there. It probably isn't 100% secure against cross-contamination, but it is sufficient for her needs.

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