My wife recently ate a whole large bag of PapaJack Sweet and Salty Popcorn and decided, with a prickly popcorn-filled tummy, to email the Ottawa-based company about their nut/peanut policies.

We were happy with their reply:

Hi B*,
I am happy to hear that you enjoyed our popcorn.
All of our PapaJack products are 100% peanut and nut free.
We do not allow any nut products into our facility, not even for the employees lunches.

Thanks,
C*

YAY!

Deans Sweets offers elegant, extraordinary, hand-dipped truffles created from the finest imported dark chocolate. Luscious flavors include brandy, rum Myers Dark, scotch single malt, orange, raspberry, coffee, peppermint, ginger, plain, and cayenne!. All with a rich dark chocolate coating. Please see the Orders page for a complete list of our many chocolate choices.

For the chocolate connoisseur, what makes these truffles so unusually fine are their uncommonly good ingredients – centers are made with a delectable 56% cocoa content excepting of course the white chocolate and the coating is a rich 70%.

Please make special note that we use no nuts or nut products when creating these truffles. Anyone with allergies to nuts of any sort can rest assured that there are no tree or ground nuts in products from Deans Sweets. Also of special note: Our chocolate stout truffles are dairy-free. Delectable and yummy, this also makes them vegan. Most of our truffles are also gluten-free. Email us if you have dietary needs or questions.

Truffles are available all year, though in the peak of the summer months, delivery times and costs may be affected by warm weather.

For special events and corporate gifts, delivery times will depend on the size of the order. Please email us with your wishes and we will work to meet your deadlines. Special orders are gladly accepted and every effort is made to supply you with your ideal flavor choices.

via Deans Sweets | Elegant Chocolate Truffles.

SunButter® Sunflower Seed Butter Receives National Taste Test Award at IFT ’11

Offers Innovative and Flavorful Ingredient Option for Peanut-Free Products

Fargo, ND (August, 2011) – SunButter® received third place in Mintel’s IFT 2011 taste test under the flavor and ingredient predictions for 2011 category. Mintel announced the winners of their IFT 2011 taste test, naming SunButter sunflower seed spread an example of the seed ingredient trend.

via SunButter® Sunflower Seed Butter Receives National Taste Test Award at IFT ’11 | Cision Wire.

Even companies with the right intentions are taking the crossed-out peanut to mean they can include nuts in thier ingredients.

Be vigilant when reading labels!

A registered nurse is sounding the nut allergy alarm over potentially confusing allergy labels on packaged foods.

While the red circle with a line through it is an internationally recognized symbol for ‘no,’ the symbol with a line through a peanut doesn’t necessarily mean no nuts.

Rob Cimaglia, who has a severe allergy to tree nuts, was shocked to discover that a package of granola bars he purchased at IGA had the no-nut symbol on the front, but contained almonds in the ingredient list

 

Read on at CTV British Columbia – Misreading nut labels a potentially deadly mistake – CTV News.

We have been buying Sunbutter regularly because both my husband and I love to eat it; and a few months ago, my son asked to try it again. He said that he loves it, and he really meant it this time.

Every day, he wants a Sunbutter and jam sandwich. He also often asks for a snack of Sunbutter on crackers or cookies.

A five-pound tub of it is starting to look like a good idea.

Erica at Bubble Child Blog has a great recipe for Nut, dairy and gluten-free pesto. She also has a great site that is a lot of fun to read. Her personal touch to her posts sets it apart and adds a new dimension to the news and recipes (and there are lots) she tells us about.

Presto! Nut, dairy, and gluten-free PESTO.It’s no wonder Italians are so happy– basil is apparently a natural serotonin booster.  You know what?  The way I feel right now eating this nut, dairy, and gluten-free pesto pasta, I sure believe it!For anyone who doesn’t suffer from a deadly nut allergy like me and other nut bubble children, they probably did not know that pretty much all pesto is made with nuts, be it pine nuts most common or walnuts a little bit more gourmet.

via bubblechild | Banishing the Bane of the Food Allergy.

Food manufacturers have 18 months to adhere to tighter rules dealing with the labelling of food allergens, Health Canada announced Monday.

The amended rules would target food allergens, gluten sources and sulphites, which will have to be explicitly identified on packaging.Manufacturers will be required to list what type of allergens, gluten sources or sulphites are present in a product or in any of the ingredients used to make that product.

For example, a food product that lists “spice” or “seasoning” as an ingredient would have to specify whether the ingredient contains allergenic substances.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Monday the new labelling requirements do not include beer and wine, which are being dealt with separately, because the government needed to move on food now.

The revised rules were first introduced in 2008 by then-health minister Tony Clement.

Most of the new regulations were published officially Monday in the Canada Gazette, the government publication that lists all laws and Orders-in-Council.

Read the full article via CBC News – Politics – Stricter food label rules target allergens.

We’re happy for the good news about the boy and hope that Quaker gets to the bottom of this soon!

Read the article here…

From the Quaker website

IMPORTANT PRODUCT NOTICE

The health and safety of our consumers is our highest priority. Accordingly, Quaker Canada has initiated a voluntary recall of our 14 count Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Value Pack cartons that may have been mis-labeled. No other packages of Quaker bars or Quaker products are affected.

Quaker Canada is taking this action out of an abundance of caution because the outside packaging erroneously states that the boxes should contain Chewy Chocolate Chip and Chewy S’mores bars, both of which are made in a peanut-free facility. The individually-wrapped bars are clearly and accurately labeled.

Consumers who have purchased a 14 count Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Value Pack carton with a UPC Bar Code ending in 10742 should inspect the contents of the carton to ensure it contains the correct product (Chewy Chocolate Chip and Chewy S’mores bars). If the carton contains Dipps Chocolate Chip and Dipps Caramel Nut bars and a consumer has a peanut or tree nut allergy, they should return it to the retailer where it was purchased for a refund.

No other packages of Quaker bars or Quaker products are affected.

There is NO health risk associated with handling the mis-labeled product for disposal, however this product should not be consumed by those in a peanut or tree nut-allergic household. The company is working closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Anaphylaxis Canada to notify the public.

Consumers with questions may contact us by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-800-267-6287.

This is not so much an attack at Applebee’s but hopefully someting that will bring attention to what the food-allergic community can potentially bring to a food chain. Applebee’s is a good starting point, being the largest casual food chain in America, and the largest food chain in America that does not cater to the food allergic.

What? How can someone so engrained in the U.S. be so standoffish? Apparently they don’t seem to care enough to provide Paul with a suitable answer. Not enough to give him a few minutes of time with an Operations Officer to discuss what they are missing out on. Were no’t just talking about the charming people who will not eat there now, were talking about the MILLIONS of dollars per year that they could be filling thier coffers with.

REad on to hear what Paul has to say, then send an email to the Applebee’s office and tell them to get off thier duff and do something about it.

Again, this should not just apply to Applebee’s. Insert the name of any restaurant, chain or not, that is not noticing the growing throngs of people who might like to eat there if only your staff were aware of how to manage our plates. It’s not really that difficult, it just takes awareness.

Al little piece of what Paul has to say:

The saga started on August 17 when we posted an AllergyEats Blog entry entitled “Guest post – Applebee’s disappoints!,” which detailed the story of one disappointing customer experience.  This opened up a flood of comments on our blog and Facebook page.  The posts showed that a tremendous number of food-allergic diners have had negative experiences at Applebee’s.  Given this response, and seeing that they had a poor AllergyEats allergy-friendliness rating (2.3 on a scale of 1 to 5), I decided to call and allow them to address the issue.

READ ON, it’s a really good read.