1-800-NABISCO
Called on Februsry 26, 1999 spoke with Sharon
Overall impression: Didn't want to spend a lot of time with me. She told me she could answer two questions about two specific products. I asked her if I could talk to her about her general manufacturing process and she said no. See then gave me an example on labelling of Ritz Bitz and I asked her was this their labelling procedure for all products and she said yes. Then I said that was the kind of info I wanted for my general information. She said that was a specific question and I said but it is a question about all your products and she finally agreed but offerred me no more info and is sending me out some free coupons. (oh thanks). See info below on Ritz bits
Information: Cheese Ritz bits can be made at different facilities, ones with nuts and ones without. If it is made at a nut facility it will list peanut as the last ingredient even though the product itself does not contain peanuts. So you could have two boxes of ritz bits, one with peanuts and ones without, so you must read everytime. I asked her if this was done with all their products and she said yes. At least we know we can buy ritz bits if it doesn't say peanut.
Just a note as I do this. Everyone know that this information is valid for only the moment I write it and we must constantly check. I just wanted to have a better idea of companies handled their labelling and if they were compassionate to pur peanut allergy plight.
Patti
I called Nabisco 2 weeks ago (i was checking on oreos). And the rep I talked to was very helpful. She said Nabisco was a "food allergy sensitive" company. They will use the label may contain pn on items where there can be cross-contiamination.
Regarding oreos, I got the same info as you did for ritz bits.
Patti,
Don't hoard all those coupons for yourself now!!!!!
Seriously, thanks for your research; Brenda too!
Connie
Brenda, I am glad you posted that you had a helpful person. That is why I hope other people call and share their information. I too get the impression that Nabisco is very good at their labelling, but their customer service reps must be very busy so that they have to limit you to two products. Were you also told you could only ask abut two products? Or did you only call about the oreos.
Speaking of Oreos, does anyone exclude all chocolate from their diets. I think I read an old post from Mary(?) that said their were only 4 chocolate suppliers and the risk of cross contamination was risky. It is an even harder job when you start to think about a 3rd party supplier. Nabisco might be good about labelling, but what about the chocolate they get? Anyone else have an opinion on that?
Patti
Brenda, In that last post I assumed that Nabisco got their chocolate from a supplier. did they give you any information on the chocolate portion of their cookie. This chocolate thing confuses me. General Mills said they would not vouch for their chocolate chips because they bought them from a supplier. But if a company buys say the cocoa(or whatever the chocolate part needs) is that safe. Did anyone ever look into this before? I have been avoiding all chocolate anything lately. Am I being to cautious?
Patti again
Patti,
I only called about the oreos, so they didn't tell me about their "2 item rule".
Those are interesting questions about chocolate. Maybe FAN or an allergist can comment on that for us. If we have to worry about chocolate from 3 party supplies then wouldn't we have to worry about alot of other ingrediants too?
I personally wasn't going to get them for my dtr to eat. I was getting them for her playgroup--it was making me nervous seeing the other kids eating cookies I didn't know what was in them, so I was going to supply them with something I felt safe about. (cuz of course there's no such thing as a pn free playgroup--that would be too easy) :-)
Brenda,
You can start to make your head spin if we worry about every possibility. I started to do the same thing (well if they use this but get this) the possibilities are endless. I have to draw the line somewhere and say ok I have done my best and if she has a reaction I will be prepared. I do think the risk of a 3rd party supplier with chocolate might be worth considering, but as far as other suppliers, my opinion would be that the risk of contamination would be small or none. I think just so much is done with chocolate and nuts.
Patti
P.S. I just came from a play date - tell me about it!!! I am still unsure how to handle these. She doesn't eat anything there but what about all those toys?? Here my brain goes spinning again with the what ifs.
Hi Patti and Brenda,
I now avoid all chocolate for my son because of the cross-contamination problem. He also had eczema and chocolate would really irritate it.
Patti, I don't think you are being overly cautious. You are a parent who is worried sick about keeping your child safe! You are right about the "what ifs," they can drive you crazy. You and Brenda are doing a great job in the research department and I, personally, appreciate it.
Patti,
I agree its not necessary to get worried about 3rd party suppliers--except for maybe the products with chocolate. And for now I'll just have my dtr. do without chocolate, luckily now she's too young to care.
As for playgroup, while all the other mothers are kicking back sipping coffee and chit chatting, I constantly have my eyes peeled on my child making sure she doesn't pick up any pieces of food. I follow her around throwing out all the half-eaten snacks the other kids have left on the floor. And I wash her hands a few times during the 1 1/2 hour group. I asked everyone not to eat snacks with pn. I've decided not to get worked-up about the residue issue on toys, I'm drawing the line there because I'm there to watch over her. Its stressful for me to be there and it would be easier for me not to go, but I go because I have to remember that my dtr. needs to enjoy herself. Oops, sorry I got off the original topic--but glad I'm not the only worried at playgroup.
I have a good friend whose sister works in the legal department at Nabisco. She is going to look into my claim of service reps being to busy and only answering two questions. She will also see what she can do for us to gather information relating to our peanut allergy.
Patti
Overall, I've found Nabisco to be a pretty allergy conscious company. There's one thing everyone should be aware of. THE SMALLER SIZED PACKAGES (pre-packaged individualized serving sizes) of the regular sized boxed goods DO NOT HAVE THE SAME INGREDIENTS.
Take fig newtons for example. Look at the big box. Read the single serving packets. Like 8 or 9 ingredients vary. I called the company about this, and was told that smaller sized packages have different recipies for texture purposes. This is true for Lorna Dunes and Cameos also. WATCH OUT. Beware!! This is especially important at Halloween when your child gets these things in their trick-or-treat basket.
For example, this Halloween my son got a packet of Cameos. There was nothing on the label about peanut. I checked the big box at the store which had peanut. Needless to say, I did not give them to him. Just beware - there may not be consistency - even though the product has the same name!
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