Grocery Stores and Loose Nuts-Write to FDA

I wrote to Iowa's state inspection office regarding the number of grocery stores that have uncovered bins of fresh peanuts in the produce dept. I also had been in a neighborhood grocery store and noticed in the meat dept. that an employee was mixing ground beef with a Playtex (latex) glove. Geez!

Apparently, from the reply below, it might be helpful to write the FDA if you have had a reaction due to loose nuts in grocery/retail stores. Maybe, they would consider regulations. While I have not had a reaction, I am afraid to eat any foods merchandised close to them. So, there goes the use of fresh produce that I love so much.

Here is the reply I received...

In retail food establishments, this issue has not been addressed in the
2001 Food Code. FDA and ourselves are reviewing allergen issues on the
inspection of food processing plants that have one or more of the 8
major allergens of concern, which includes peanuts and tree nuts. The
main issues of control is adequate labeling (which is not new) and
adequate "clean-out" between products that contain allergen ingredients
and those that don't. Food processing plants also need to verify that
incoming ingredients are free from "cross contact" with allergens of
concern. Re-work is also an issue that needs to be addressed. Due to
the complexity of the issue and the large number of products handled at
one retail store, it has not been addressed at retail. We have not
received any guidance on this issue at retail from FDA at the present
time.
If you have any further questions, please contact Robert Haxton of our
Food and Consumer Safety Bureau at 515/281-6539 or by e-mail at
[email]rhaxton@dia.state.ia.us[/email].

Sincerely,
David Werning
DIA Public Information Officer
[email]David.Werning@dia.state.ia.us[/email]