The Impact on Food Manufacturers if FDA Adds Sesame to List of Allergens

Stoel Rives attorney Anne Glazer discussed with Foodnavigator-use.com the impact on food manufacturers should the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) add sesame to the list of major food allergens identified in the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protections Act (FALCPA) of 2004. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) submitted a petition to the FDA on November 18, 2014, calling on the agency to require that sesame be labelled clearly when in foods and when products are made on the same machinery as foods with the ingredient, as is already required for milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans.

If the FDA decides to issue a new rule to include sesame as one of the major food allergens, Glazer says this could pose new regulatory burdens on food manufacturers. Specifically, food producers would be required to implement allergen testing and control measures for sesame. In addition, since there are no established threshold levels for any allergen, food manufacturers would also be responsible for tracking trace amounts of sesame in “flavorings” and other small amounts of blended ingredients for labeling purposes.

However, voluntarily labeling sesame as sesame by its common or usual name and adding allergen warnings in a “responsible way” to packages could be a smart move for manufacturers regardless of whether FDA approves the petition, Glazer added, noting: “No company wants to sell a product that results in hospitalization or death, so from that standpoint it is in a company’s interest to warn consumers if their product contains a serious allergen, and it is sufficient to do that by calling it out in the ingredient list.”

“CSPI asks FDA to add sesame to list of allergens, mandate labeling” was published by Foodnavigator-use.com, November 20, 2014.