Bimbo Bakeries’ response letter to an FDA warning letter about intentionally adding sesame to its products and falsely listing sesame as an ingredient on products has been revealed by consumer protection groups. In short, the company defended its practice.
UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) surveillance of food purchased at retail in 2023–2024
found 87 percent of samples to be compliant with food safety and authenticity standards. Undeclared allergens, adulteration, mislabeling, and other noncompliances were reported.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking stakeholder comment on a proposed guidance for industry regarding best practices for providing allergen information on non-prepackaged foods, such as in restaurants or at deli counters.
A recent sampling assignment conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Pennsylvania and Michigan found milk in 6.2 percent of dark chocolate and chocolate-containing products labeled as “dairy-free,” although all positive samples were also labeled with an allergen advisory statement.
A recent study explored how the use of uniform, threshold-based precautionary allergen labeling could increase food safety for allergic consumers, as well as enhance the number of foods available to them on the market.
Providing food manufacturers with a standardized methodology for determining whether precautionary allergen labeling is appropriate for their products, the Allergen Bureau has introduced the latest version of its risk assessment tool, Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labeling (VITAL®) 4.0.
Beginning in September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) will implement a new sampling program to verify allergen label claims on ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc. for listing “contains” statements for major food allergens on the labels of products that do not actually contain the listed allergens. The warning letter follows an FDA statement denouncing a trend of food manufacturers attempting to circumvent allergen cross-contamination requirements by exploiting loopholes around “may contain” label statements.
According to the latest recall data published by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), from 2019–2023, undeclared allergens were the leading cause of food recalls in Australia. FSANZ has identified the root causes for these recalls.
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