I was wondering, a big local chain grocer here in CO is King Soopers. I know they're parent company is Kroger, some of you may know. Okay, so my question is about their bakery items. If they are making cakes and selling them and NOT one word is mentioned on their label as *may contain* or *made in a facility*.....but were told by the bakery manager they ARE all made on at the same facility(but no nut warning on ANY label)....who can you report them too? Is there a place even? A friend of mine discovered this after she went to have them make her a cake. The Bakery manager even called the warehouse/bakery and was told by them that they're cakes are make on shared equipment(almond poppy is one of the flavors I am worried about) but there is NO mention of anything nut on their other flavors of cakes....which doesn't make sense. Isn't it against the law NOT to label them as *made in a facility..."??? This came up because we were just at a b-day party and the mom was trying, she really was, saved the label for me to read...she told me how she went to store after store until she found a nut-free label and bought the cake there. So here I am, trusting this store that their cake is safe, when I hear from another friend that it isn't! How do you get the store to change their labels, how do you get them to follow federeal laws??? What should I do next(of course NOT buy cakes from them) but who can I go to, to get this corrected???
Help, thanks!!! Chanda
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)
It was only a few weeks ago that the supermarket I do my main shopping at started labelling for may contains. I don't buy anything from the bakery of course but you have to walk through that area to get to the produce and the stickers are very obvious but they don't actually say 'peanuts', just 'nuts' (along with the other major allergens). The sticker is on EVERYTHING in the bakery.
So I wouldn't be surprised if all supermarket bakeries start doing this soon. I don't know why it took them so long.
Unfortunately, no, they are NOT required to list for cross contamination on ANY food items regardless of where they are manufactured. The new law ONLY requires that allergens in a food, including "flavors", "spices", etc. be listed clearly and in plain language. Some manufacturers choose to list for cross contamination, but they don't HAVE to.
AND, if this is an in-store grocery bakery, I *thnik* they would have even less regulation- like bakeries, restaurants, etc.
I would suggest going to the bakery manager, and if he/she isn't helpful, the store manager, and then up to the regional manager/CEO, etc if you have to. I bet if you give them information and request that they label their foods for cross contamination risk (or if it is in store, maybe at least put a sign up, they would be willing to consider it.
Tara P
It is NOT the law that they have to label for "may contain". The law ONLY states that the top 8 must be labelled in plain english (milk rather than whey) if it is an INTENTIONAL ingredient. Cross contamination is not covered by the law. Neither are highly refined oils, so your stuff could still have peanut oil in it without having to be labelled (but this is very rare).
There's a link floating around the board that has the law written out for you to see. Someone can probably post it for you here. But no, your store is not violating the law.
UGH...that sucks! I will let my friend know that it isn't the law then, we thought it was. She did tell the bakery manager, "you'd better get something on your label because if my son eats this and has a reaction, I'm suing you(edited)".
See, I learn something new everyday here....I had no idea! I thought if I read a label and nothign was mentioned, it was safe...but that's sooooo NOT the story! Thanks!
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)
[This message has been edited by Chris (edited January 28, 2007).]
Chanda....my friend told me that if you see nothing on a label assume that it is contaminated. I just got back from Trader Joe's and QFC (Kroger) and sometimes I felt like crying but most of the time I was so thankful that there are products with good labeling. I can't imagine how hard this must have been years ago!
Quote:Originally posted by chanda4:
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See, I learn something new everyday here....I had no idea! I thought if I read a label and nothign was mentioned, it was safe...but that's sooooo NOT the story! Thanks!
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I used to just trust what labels said too, until I found this site! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
You *can* trust *some* labels - major brands like GM, for example. I never trust a label from a small manufacturer, and I don't trust/use store brands.
Some bakeries label and some don't. In one supermarket I found some packaged plastic containers with allergy stmts and some without. I think it's dangerous as I don't trust anything packed in a plastic see-through container from the backeries in the supermarkets (whether they make them there or not).
I only stick with certain brands and I don't trust gourmet (spelling?) products as they get fancy with peanuts/nuts.
When my son was only PA we had a bakery which we would order cakes from and safe cookies because they only used 2 types of tree nuts and we just didn't order anything with nuts. Then he became allergic to TN and sesame and I became allergic to TN also and now we can't buy from there anymore. It's sad looking at the pictures from 3 years ago when he was eating cake and we didn't have to worry so much and had more options then we do now. But rather safe then sorry plus I really like to bake too.
[This message has been edited by momll70 (edited January 28, 2007).]
Sorry Chris for my naughty spelling...thanks for editing me! Sorry again.
oops - wrong post.
[This message has been edited by Greenlady (edited January 28, 2007).]
I thought Kroger's bakery cakes and cupcakes were peanut free? The peanut free preschool that my son will go to serve these for bdays sometimes. I would call and find out if the store gets it from the same bakery as their cakes and cupcakes. I know the cookies are unsafe at the store, but the cakes are supposed to be ok.
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