Kraft Foods 1-800-431-1001
called on March 1, 1999 spoke to Warren
Overall impression: Knowledgeable, but they do not use dedicated lines.
Information: I actually called about their Breyers ice cream but they told me they sold that. So why I had them on the line I asked them about their labelling procedures and manufacturing process. I was told that of course if the ingredient is in the product they would list it otherwise you must ask about specific products. So I asked about JELL-O Gelatin and they said there should be no problems. I then asked about their puddings. He read from a book at that point and said although we do not use dedicated lines they believe their sanitation process to be good in eliminating any known allergens such as nuts. I am trying to think if they make any peanut pudding. The only nut pudding I can think of is pistachio.
I should have asked him if they made any peanut containg puddings.
Patti,
They don't make any peanut puddings. The only nut product pudding is pistachio. However, Jello Brand does make a box mix no bake cheesecake, oreo cheesecake, and guess what, PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE!!! Oh, yum. You know, I just don't understand this infatuation with peanut butter. Even before my son had this allergy, I really didn't care much for it except on a PB&J sandwich.
Christine
Christine,
I agree, I don't understand the infatuation with peanut butter. I guess they are trying to push these products over as a "healthy food" because it has peanut butter in it. I also have a 22 year old daughter (as well as a 6 year old allergy free daughter and my 2-1/2 year old peanut allergic son), and and we she was growing up there was a limited number of snack foods containing PB. Do you think all these new foods are coantributing to the increase in peanut allergies?
Yes, the proliferation of peanut in the diet IS causing an overall increase of the peanut allergy in the population. I think the Canadian government is on the right track in forbidding peanuts products for children under 3. All this peanut butter eating is assaulting the kids' immune systems. I wonder how many more people will die or be at risk before the U.S. does something about it. My guess is it will be another 10 years before it dawns on them that we shouldn't be cramming it down their throats. I'm sure if shellfish were cheap and tasty, we'd all be doing the same thing with it and we'd have these problems also. But since it is expensive and not palatable to children it is not such a problem and never will be; however, the allergy is just as severe and unpredictable. I don't know why they won't do something. They do it with eggs (no eggs under a year).
Christine
Hi, I called Kraft at their Canadian toll-free number today to ask about the unspecified hydrolyzed plant protein in their new Kraft Spaghetti Dinner. I was told that it was not peanut or tree nut protein because they always label nut ingredients. I was not told what protein it was. I complained to the woman I spoke with (Yvonne, I think) about the fact that the specific plant protein was not in brackets after the term hydrolyzed plant protein. I told her that I supported the proposed Canadian Food and Drug Act labelling change that would make this mandatory and I told her how hard it was to cope with this allergy sometimes. I also mentioned that the FDA in the States requires the specific protein to be listed in brackets so it should not be so hard to do in Canada. She was on the defensive but promised to pass my comments along.
Also, I have been unable to confirm on any Canadian allergy site or government site that Canadian daycares cannot serve peanut products. I also tried the print versions of the federal and Ontario statutes. Does anyone have more information about the specific law or related regulation? I am interested.
Take care, Kathryn.
Wow,
I just had a conversation with Angela at Kraft Foods. (who happens to be allergic to peanut oil and nuts)
She told me (in a very professional, read from the script way) that they would not tell me what their "natural flavor" was. She said it was proprietary information. They are told by the suppliers what is in what they receive. But basically Kraft will not tell it's customers. She went around and around stating how if peanut was an ingredient then they would list it on the label. However if it was part of the natural ingredients then they would not and they would suggest I do not use them for a peanut allergic person. It was a very frustrating conversation which left me thinking (again) the only way to have manufacturers tell us what is really in their products is if we make them by law. It is too bad many manufacturers will not do so on their own, but this brings home one of the reasons we need to be organized.
If you want to help make labeling better, let me know and join the team.
P.S. If you want to have an idea of what we are up against. Give Kraft a call at 1-800-431-1003. 8 am to 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. On Saturday 9 am to 2 pm. Let them know why we need them to label better!!!
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[email]"Chris@PeanutAllergy.Com"[/email]
Hi Chris,
What a shame, as I considered Kraft to one of the more safe manufacturers. I guess this was because they funded alerts on FAN.
On another note about Kraft, A member of our support group asked them about their line of Hot Dogs ,Oscar Mayer, and was told that they were produced on the same line as other peanut containing products. We haven't double checked the info yet but I have to admit, I never would have thought they could produce hot dogs on the same machinery as the other things Krafts makes.
Greg, after reading your post (we had Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs for lunch), I went to their website [url="http://www.kraftfoods.com/index.cgi"]www.kraftfoods.com/index.cgi[/url] and I was pretty impressed with it. You can e-mail Kraft with any question but I have to admit, I never really gave them a second thought to their safety since Kraft seems very "family oriented" and each product I purchase of Kraft does not list "may contain peanuts" on the label.
My children eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and the Hot Dogs and my peanut allergic son has never had a problem...thus far! If their is a chance of cross contamination, I would sincerely hope Kraft would change their labeling to reflect this.
[This message has been edited by Connie (edited April 23, 1999).]
Chris I found it very disturbing that Kraft felt that they did not have to disclose what was in their natural flavorings. It reminded me of a link that you had posted a while back about such labeling. It was my impression that from this link they could group insignificant amounts of things under such headings as spices, natural flavors etc. however if it was thought that it had a highly allergenic food in it, then it could not meet the second requirement of trace foods causing an allergic reaction and therefore would have to be labelled. This was dated June 1996 by the food and drug administration. I have included your link to this page because it is an old post and won't appear unless you put in to show older posts. Could other people read this letter and tell me their impressions. Do we have a legal right to force companies to label a highly allergenic substance such as peanuts if they are in a natural flavoring or spice category. I know we have to work out cross contamination labelling issues, but I still believe that according to this letter they are required to state this ingredient if it is included at no matter how insignificant the amount. Maybe I am misreading the article and I would like other opinions.
Thanks Patti
A U. S. Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,
June 10, 1996,... [url="http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/allerg7.html"]vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/allerg7.html[/url]
Stay Safe,
[Note: This message has been edited by Chris]
Chris
I don't know how to make the url able to be read right from the post. Can you put it in again. I think it is important to look at this post, and it is so much easier if you can just hit it.
Thanks Patti
Hi Patti,
I edited your post and put the [url="http:// before the address and "]before the address and[/url] after it to make it a link you can click on. This and many other features can be found on the FAQ (frequently asked questions) on these boards. Just go to the top right of any board and click on faq
Stay Safe,
[email]"Chris@PeanutAllergy.Com"[/email]
Note that I can make my email address work as a click on also by putting [email]before it and[/email] after it! Both the [url] and [email] etc. have no space between them and the address at either end, check out the faq and don't forget you can also edit your own messages if you mess up. Have fun.
[Note: This message has been edited by Chris]
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