labeling question

No, they are not required to advisory label. Personally, I still call companies all the time. It's also a good idea to have the product in front of you while doing so. I recently called Hostess from the grocery store to verify their cupcakes were safe as another allergy Mom had put them on a "safe" (ugh) list for school. Here, the numbers from the box told them which factory they were made and there was a possible tree-nut cross-contamination risk which they don't label for!!!

The answers to many labeling questions can be found here...

Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens, including the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004

[url="http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alrguid4.html"]http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alrguid4.html[/url]

Hi, I live in Ontario and I was under the impression that it was now law to state on the package what the food has come in contact with.
Maybe this isnt the case, but I assume that if it is not written - May contain - then its safe?
Am I wrong too? Or is it just not a requirement in the States to label the possible may contains?

Hi Janet76, yes in Ontario it is required that any food that has the top allergens or may contain etc. must be noted on the label. However, in saying that there are often food alerts given about foods that weren't declared allergenic on the label but in fact are. In my experience this is usually from foreign (overseas) manufacturers. When a previously allergen free product changes how its produced, it may show no allergens at one purchase and then change before the next. Therefore, this is where checking labels every time comes into place. My dd is not allowed to eat foods manufactured in other countries. This is with our family anyway. Are you registered with Anaphylaxis Canada? They have email alerts that they send out with all such food alerts/recalls.

In Ontario, I don't feel this to be true, what you posted SkyMom. I'm speaking about store/no name products and I'm also speaking about products that are imported from the United States, which are quite common.

Could you please clarify if you mean Canadian name brand products such as Kraft/Nabisco/Mr. Christie's, etc. because otherwise, I do disagree.

For manufacturer information, both Canadian and American, you can get links at [url="http://www.nuconnexions.com"]http://www.nuconnexions.com[/url] and e-mail each company you have a question for.

If there is a Canadian or Ontario specific law about Canadian and/or Ontario specifically produced foods (again, name brand, Canadian), could you please provide us with the link SkyMom to that law?

With the caution that this only applies to Canadian or Ontario made food and not to food that we eat that is very often imported from the U.S.

Do you allow your daughter to eat food that is made in America?

Sorry, I'm simply worried about the wording of your post. I see store brand/no name products each day that depending on the grocery store chain may or may not be labeled properly even though they are made in Canada. I'm also concerned because I know a lot of the food I buy is imported from America.

As requested from the Canadian Food Inspection agency, allergen labelling is a requirement. I will provide further written clarification as I receive it.
[url="http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/ch2e.shtml"]cfia[/url]

SkyMom, it would be great to receive answers to my specific questions directed to you in my post above. I am extremely concerned about what you posted as I do not believe it to be true for all products that the member in Ontario might be thinking of purchasing and that's why I wanted clarification. For her, not myself.

So, I do look forward to [b]your[/b] answers. Broadsweeping generalizations, even if you believe them to be true, can be very dangerous, as you well know.

A product coming in from America to Canada - is it re-labeled? I am thinking Old El Paso. I have yet to see a "may contain" on any of their products. Yes, they are re-labeled as far as making the product bi-lingual, but I am not clear that they are re-labeled for allergy information.

Also, in the past, Pillsbury was a [b]great [/b] offender at not labeling properly. In the past. Great. It also differed greatly whether it was a Pillsbury Canada or Pillsbury U.S. product and you really have to look closely to find that information sometimes.

So, I really do feel that your post needs clarification for the safety of the member in Ontario who directed the question towards you.

I also do not believe it to be true of all store/no name brands although they are certainly getting much better (thinking of President's Choice and how they are going "peanut free" with a lot of their things).

I look forward to your response, as I'm sure the other Ontario member does as well.

Thank-you.

In response, I included the regulations link as a link to said information was asked for. Yes, my dd eats food imported from the United States. However, most of her food is made in Canada. As she has only had her initial reaction nine years ago I feel fine with the choices that we have made. Her level is 4++ and over 100 on the rast, to note she is very sensitive to pn. As far as the specific imported foods and name brand items we have never had an issue with these ever. If it is not labelled as a may contain or an actual ingredient my dd has ate the said food with no problems. A letter is sent from the cfia to all companies who import food to Canada informing them of their required labelling. Are you in Canada Icare? Perhaps if you or your child hav had a reaction to the undeclared food could you please elaborate? I simply went by our personal experience and what the cfia has enforced.

another labeling ?...

okay, lets say i have 2 different brands of a product. one product is labeled only for contains, the other is labeled for contains and processed on's. assuming the allergen isnt listed on either, do you consider both safe? do you call the one that doesnt list shared equip? what about the one that lists processed on? do you assume that is safe as they have thoroughly labeled contains, may contains and processed on???

also, many labels that i have seen dont even have the allergy warning for the top 8... why is that?

In reply to what I think you're asking; my dd as well as the rest of our family do eat foods that do not have pn as an ingredient or any precautionary warnings such as may contain, shared facility, or shared lines. This has always worked for our family, however, duly noted that all people with pa react differently.

SkyMom, thank-you. Yes, I'm in Ontario. So, from reading your post I would assume that you do not buy store or no name brand foods? Also, that you stick to mainly Canadian made foods so you wouldn't have a problem with American imports because you're not buying them.

I'll use another example. Bob's Red Mill. I bought their bulghar wheat. Labeling looked great to me, through Canadian eyes. But until about two years ago, it was actually not okay and not labeled as "may contain". So I was buying it, without knowing that it was "may contain". Please note: They have now changed and are peanut free. If interested anyone would have to check to see if they are tree nut free. But they are a perfect example of an American import that does not have to comply with labeling requirements for allergens because there is no "may contain trace tree nuts" warning on their packages.

What I'd like to be able to do is walk Janet76 through a grocery store and show her the multitude of things she's looking for. Not only Canadian products, but American products, which are quite prevalent in our stores. Also, walk her through how some no name brands label okay and how some don't.

It's a journey and I'm sure that she will figure it out, as you have SkyMom for your daughter and your family and as have I for myself and my son. I just needed you to be really clear because again, if you go to the Pillsbury part of the grocery store - there's Pillsbury Canada and Pillsbury U.S. and how well is the U.S. labeling? And they do not have to comply.

Believe me, I'm more suspect of a product (new one) if I see NO "may contain" or "made in" warnings than I am of ones that say "may contain" or "made in". Wondering if something has been left off or the company, in America, did not require that labeling. Again, going back to Old El Paso. Owned by ConAgra. I have yet to see a "made in" or "may contain" warning on any of their products and it's been years. Are they truly peanut free (and free of all the top ten) or are they just not labeling the way they should be?

But SkyMom, again, thank-you for answering my questions. I'm in Toronto.

Hi, i am new to all this - 1 month in - so i have been calling companies alot. The same answer that I get from every company that I have called (Cadbury, M&M Meats, Hershey (for choc. chips) to name a few) is that if it is not listed as may contain or may have come in contact with, the product is safe to consume. All these companies have told me that by law in Canada, they must state whether the product has come into contact with any of the top 8 allergens. Same as the information on the Canadian food and drug webpage.
I purchased a package of mini rolo the other day and the only warning listed was 'may contain wheat'. If there was a chance of peanut it would by law have to be stated.

As for the different brands of product - again i go with what the packaging reads. if it reads may contain or processed on i was not purchase it, but if there was no warning, it's considered safe - today that happened to me with the Chipits, no warning but I called just in case, and was told it was safe and had the lady inform me of the law to label anything that has contact with the top 8 allergens.

Companies that sell their products here in Canada have to re-label for french AND for the top 8.

Im interested in trying this out though - Kendebuttahfly - if you can think of a product that has peanuts/contact with no warning, let me know and I can check here and see what the label reads. Test it out.

okay i posted b4 with out noticing the other post - sorry

New question - what do u mean by Pillsbury Canada and US??
I gave my son crescent rolls the other day assuming they are peanut free since they are not labelled - was that wrong?
Are not all companies suppose to label top 8 to sell in Canada??

I'm gonna go to the store tomorrow and look at the Old ElPaso and this Red mill stuff. I'm getting a little confused.

Janet - I wasnt thinking anything that contained peanut specifically, but I thought the law in the states was that it had to be labeled for contains, and it was optional to label may contain, produced on, etc. For example, 2 things I noticed werent even labeled for CONTAINING milk (let alone processed on, etc.) was the philadelphia cream cheese and kraft mac n cheese. obviosuly both had milk, and milk was obviously labeled in the ingredients, but there was no allergy warning one way or the other. it makes it confusing trying to be able to feed my son? *sigh*

Hi Kande
I had this converstation the other day with the lady from hersey's about the choc. chips. There is no warning on the peanut butter chips that they may have peanuts or processed on, but of course there are! She had told me that they didnt need to label may contain since its on the ingredients.
So i see what you mean with the cream cheese (i had one in my fridge) and the first ingredient is milk products. My thoughts would be then that you have to both read the whole list of ingredients then look for warnings, not just see 'okay no milk warning' and take it home.
Its hard!!!! My little one is peanuts and egg whites - try baking something without eggs! It doesnt stay together, and you can't buy baked goods with eggs (not that i have found yet) and most have a peanut warning anyway. He's only 9 months so thankfully he doesnt seem to know better, and the more it crumbles the easier for him to eat, but my 4 year old is wondering what is happening to his fav. cookies. *** Okay done venting ***
I guess it just means that a trip to the grocery store now takes 1/2 hour longer - reading all the labels. But you have opened my eyes - I was just looking for a warning not at the whole list.

ugh that is the most ridiculous thing i have EVER heard! obviously i wouldnt feed him anything with pb/pn in the title - ie peanut butter chips. i guess i can see the point is that its self-explanitory... but for crying out loud feeding our kiddos should NOT be this difficult! so now you dont have to do an allergy warning IF its in the ingredients, AND you dont have to put processed on/may containts!?!?! so ridiculous. im glad (well im not glad that anyone else is going through this) but its nice to know that im not the only one with a teeny tiny little guy having to deal with this! and as for eggs.. i know when baking you can use applesauce for oil, i wonder if theres anything that could substitute for eggs? is there an egg-free egg substitute out there or anything? im not in that boat, so i have no clue! *sigh* days like the ones ive been having recently make me think this may just drive me insane ;)

Hi,

I don't want to get into the labeling discussion but there are several substitutes for egg in baking - I believe you might find some on FAAN's web site, also I think [url="http://www.missroben.com/"]http://www.missroben.com/[/url]
in there receipe section has a section for substitutions. I have tried a few and they didn't work out great for me. I do really like Cherrybook Kitchen mixes - I believe you can also order those at miss robens.

Janet76, based on my experience only, in the same Province that you live in, and having done this for more than 10 years (PA/TNA only - not EA), no, a company importing from America into Canada does not have to label for allergens. They do have to do the bi-lingual labeling, but not the allergen labeling.

You said that you have only been doing this for a month. It is an overwhelming thing when you first start the journey and try to figure things out. Even 10 years later, it's overwhelming, perhaps in other aspects.

Like you, when I first started out (and realizing labeling laws have changed both here and in America since then), I just assumed that food would be labeled correctly if it was made by the same corporation in America that had off-shoots in Canada. No!

I didn't even think to look for "made in America" or "imported into Canada from the U.S. by......". I just assumed. We were okay. Nothing happened.

I didn't have the internet until my PA child was 4, so I had a lot of things I had to learn and deal with (like getting him safely into school) pre-internet. But it's do-able.

Just recently, there was a discussion (not here) about store/no name brands again. If you look at President's Choice (Loblaw's), you have [b]great [/b] "peanut free" logos on a few of their items now. Then, you have items that have "may contains" or "made ins". Then, you have items that say nothing.
What about the ones that say nothing? Can we assume that they are safe? Realizing that with store/no name brands, they may or may not have a different supplier for each run.

For years, I was unable to touch any store brand item. Now, there are quite a few that I can, and yet I can feel, in myself, a reluctantcy to do so, simply because it was a no before.

But my biggest concern for [b]you [/b] right now is that you don't get overwhelmed and step back from this board in fear. I can't even say I'd take you shopping because I have no idea what to look for when dealing with an egg allergy.

I can tell you that it does get easier. That you will find your "comfort zone" and you will find what works for you and your family. It all comes to you. Being here is a big part of it. 99% of what I learned about PA, I learned from this board - other members a couple of steps ahead of me on the journey, who had "been there, done that" and really guided me to where I am to-day.

It doesn't matter if you post 20 questions/concerns a day. It doesn't. And people will help.

Janet76, this part of one of your posts concerns me:-

Companies that sell their products here in Canada have to re-label for french AND for the top 8.

[b]No [b], respectfully, this has not been my experience. Another American company to look at, and they may very well be owned by ConAgra as well is Tostitos nacho chips/salsa/etc. I see no warnings whatsoever on any of their products. Not a word about anything. Do I buy them for my family? That's a whole other story.

I think what you're doing, calling the company, is the best thing to do, but I have also always maintained that if we all called a company, with the same question, 10 of us, and got 10 different CSR's at the same time, we would get 10 different answers. The experiment was never done, but I have always maintained that. Since you're in Ontario, have you ever tried to call Rogers' customer service? You might know what I'm talking about then.

What I like to do when I contact a company is contact them via e-mail because if I get a response back from them, I post it here to share with everyone. I find it somewhat easier than trying to decipher my notes after a telephone call.

LOL - very true for Rogers!!

Thanks so much for your posts. I am unsure how my little guy is gonna react to peanuts since we found out by mistake while testing for milk - but I thank God that we found out that way rather than him sitting in the back of the van eating a timbit.

I guess (and i hate to say it) we will just have to pray and hope nothing happens and if something does then we know better. I see what ur saying about nothing on the package via warning - i was just assuming that if it didnt state anything it was okay. But on the same hand can i spend the day calling all companies asking. I'm just gonna have to follow that voice in my head that says yes or no.
And I was just say to my girlfriend the other day what a blessing having the internet is ... what did i do 10 years ago when i needed to know something?? LOL

Thanks so much for the information!!

Janet76, I bought the Old El Paso Fajita Kit yesterday. Much to my surprise, they are now labeling for "contains". Contains wheat and soy.

See, I still haven't checked with ConAgra (I think they still own them), but if they're labeling for "contains" - boldly, while also including them in the ingredient list; what about "may contains"?

But I've been buying Old El Paso, without problem, for PA/TNA only, since time began. It was only through reading here that I understood there to be a problem with ConAgra (at one time) with labeling.

I can tell you, as other's can, that times have really changed in 10 years.

What I like about having the internet is that I can e-mail the companies (I mentioned this above) and I feel I have something more concrete also than whatever a CSR says on the phone. Maybe. Maybe not. And to tell you the truth, but not advising it whatsover, there are very few companies I contact. Very few.

I have trusted the labeling even when I shouldn't have. When Pillsbury U.S. (now owned by General Mills) was not labeling okay. Then, I'd have to tell people, oh, my son can have something made by Pillsbury Canada, but you have to look to see if it's imported from the U.S. It was so confusing.

You will figure it out. And probably without any adverse effects.

But I did think of you yesterday when I purchased that Fajita Kit and I checked the label.

thanks alot

i wanted to buy some ice cream sandwiches the other day and I really like the no-name yellow box ones at zehrs, but there is no warning or anything. so i bought the chapmans, but i do plan on calling the number on the no-name box next time to see.

so im just going day to day, label by label LOL