Following the Food and Drug Administration’s declaration that sesame is now considered to be a “major allergen” a number of companies have created a “workaround” that allows them to avoid removing sesame from their products, according to Fox.
Congress unanimously passed the FASTER Act in April 2021 and the FDA added sesame to their list of major food allergens effective as of January 1st, 2023, with brands and manufacturers having a two year window to comply with the new law.
That new law requires clear labeling of sesame in food items, as well as any resulting fixes needed to be implemented regarding existing manufacturing processes.
“It’s in so many foods,” allergist and immunologist Dr. Purvi Parikh said, per the report. “It’s often a subtle allergen that many people may not realize, but it can be life-threatening.”
Jason Linde, senior vice president of government and community affairs for Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), spoke with the report about the law expressing his expectation that companies would simply adhere to the law.
“Previous to the law, [sesame] was just labeled as a spice or natural flavor,” Linde said. “So, you never knew what you were going to get, but thankfully, we passed this bipartisan law.”
However, according to the report, some major food brands, along with major United States bread suppliers, reportedly skipped over legal accommodations as the deadline of January 1st, 2023 was on the horizon, per Linde.
Linde says that instead of removing all traces of sesame from the products sold to the public, some major food brands such as fast food icon Wendy’s, Italian style restaurant Olive Garden and popular chain Chick-fil-A have added more sesame to their menu items , which he says serves as an “economic shortcut” for brands to explicitly label that there is sesame in their products, instead of pushing and funding clean manufacturing lines.
“We have updated our allergen guide accordingly and are sharing this information with our guests,” Olive Garden said in a statement.
Wendy’s has reportedly added sesame flour to its buns and stated – We take food safety and allergen matters very seriously,” via an official statement. “Like others in the restaurant industry, Wendy’s nutrition and allergen information was updated recently to include sesame, where applicable, in advance of the January 1, 2023, effective date of the FASTER Act.”
Chick-fil-A said, via Fox News Digital, that they “did not want” a recipe change for sesame flour to be added to its white and multi-grain brioche buns, adding that their bread suppliers found it necessary to do so.
“We were informed of the need for this recipe change by our bread suppliers, who are unable to guarantee with certainty that their production lines for our white bun and multi-grain brioche bun are sesame-free,” the company stated. “This is a nationwide issue that is impacting multiple restaurant brands across the country.”
“It’s also important to note that unfortunately, there are no sesame-free bread suppliers that could consistently supply Chick-fil-A’s bread volumes,” the statement added.
During a second statement, a Chick-fil-A spokesperson said that the company cannot ensure sesame-free menu items due to shared production lines in supplier facilities.
“They just decided that they would comply by taking, frankly, a regulatory shortcut,” Linde says.
The American Bakers Association issued the following statement to Fox News Digital.
“The wholesale baking sector prioritizes consumer safety,” Lee Sanders, American Bakers Association senior vice president of government relations and public affairs said. “Baking companies are working with their customers, including restaurants, to transparently disclose any allergen labeling changes to help ensure consumer safety.”
“Baking companies are working with their customers, including restaurants, to transparently disclose any allergen labeling changes to help ensure consumer safety,” Sanders continued in the statement.
“The Association strongly supports the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidance for consumers to always read ingredient labels and to check with the manufacturer if they are unsure whether a food product contains specific ingredients
The FDA “does not support” the workaround from these brands, but they’re technically not disobeying the law, per the report. “While a practice of adding sesame and then declaring it on the label is not violative, it would make it more difficult for sesame allergic consumers to find foods that are safe for them to consume, a result that the FDA does not support,” the company said. “Requirements for allergen labeling apply to both domestically produced and imported products. It is the responsibility of the companies to ensure that their products meet applicable FDA requirements.”
