Tag: sesame

  • Look Beyond the Label: How the FASTER Act Impacts Food Manufacturing

    By Anna El-Zein and John Johnson III Sesame is the ninth Major Food Allergen with the passage of the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act (FASTER) Act on April 23, 2021. Starting on January 1, 2023, any food “introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce” must appropriately declare the presence of “sesame”…

  • FDA Issues Guidance on Sesame Labeling

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance “encouraging food manufacturers to voluntarily declare sesame in the ingredient list on food labels.” The guidance notes that “sesame can, in some circumstances (such as when ground and used in a spice blend), be declared in an ingredient statement as simply ‘spice’ or ‘flavor,’…

  • Sesame Allergen Labeling Expands in UK, US

    Allergen labeling grabbed headlines in the United Kingdom in 2019 as the country faced pressure from consumers concerned that prepackaged foods lacked mandated ingredient disclosures. Following the 2016 death of a teenager who consumed a premade sandwich packaged without notification of potential exposure to sesame, the U.K. Food Standards Agency launched a public consultation that…

  • NPR Compares Allergy Accommodations in US, UK

    NPR has published a writer’s comparison of his experiences eating at restaurants in the United States and the United Kingdom while living with a peanut allergy. “Restaurants in the United Kingdom are generally far more vigilant, in this regard, than restaurants in the United States,” the author observes. He recounts his experience being turned away…

  • Illinois Adds Sesame to Allergen-Labeling Regulations

    Illinois has passed a law requiring businesses to indicate on food labels whether a product contains sesame. The amended law deems a food misbranded if “it contains sesame, is offered for sale in package form but not for immediate consumption, and the label does not include sesame.” The state representative who sponsored the legislation told…

  • FDA Accepting Data Submissions on Sesame Allergies

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested comments on “the prevalence and severity of sesame allergies in the United States and the prevalence of sesame-containing foods sold in the United States that are not required to disclose sesame as an ingredient.” The announcement cites a 2014 petition submitted by the Center for Science…