I contacted Quaker Oats and received a letter that contains the following information. I *think* it means that a peanut ingredient will appear in the ingredients list, and that they "are currently implementing" a policy that will include potential trace amounts in the may contain section. So it's possible that trace amounts will currently not be listed.
What do you think?
From the Quaker Oats letter:
"Our allergen policy at The Quaker Oats Company states that any of our food products that contain potential life threatening allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, egg, wheat, milk and soy) will include these allergens in the ingrediant statment.
We are currently implementing a program that highlights any of these allergens from the ingredients list in a 'contains' statement in consumer friendly language to assist all consumers in identifying products containing known allergens. Furthermore, if we feel that the product poses a potential health risk from incidental exposure to these top 8 allergens, we will put a precautionary statement (may contain) on the label"
Well, I could try to interpret this but it would only be a guess with a strong chance of being wrong. What I would do would be to go back to Quaker and say ok I do not understand this section. This is what I think you may mean. Am I correct? If not, can you explain further, perhaps using specific examples. I have had to do this many times with manufacturers information. They respond. I question. They respond. I have more questions. Ultimately we reach a shared understanding of their meaning.
Markextra, do a search under Quaker you will find that a representative from Quaker had posted on this web site re: allergy labeling after much proding from me and Cindy Spowart Cook. Hope this helps.