The Nut-Free Mom Blog: New Peanut Flour Warnings for General Mills Cereals

Jenny at Nut-Free Mom has sent us this warning, and all should read!
This just goes to show you that our everyday foods can become unsafe for those in our homes. 

New Peanut Flour Warnings for General Mills Cereals

I just got an alert from my local food allergy support group and wanted to pass it along.

Please check the ingredients lists of your General Mills cereals very carefully. The company is adding peanut flour to Cocoa Puffs. Some of their other cereal products contain new allergy warnings for nuts as well as for other foods including gluten.

The link above contains an exchange in the comments section of the blog between someone at General Mills and the Allergy Moms web site readers. The General Mills exec maintains that you can trust the labels on General Mills products and that they explicitly list allergy warnings wherever appropriate.

I know that Frosted Cheerios (a General Mills cereal) contain almond flour despite the fact that the name of the cereal contains no reference to nuts–we found that out just as our daughter was about to eat Frosted Cheerios at a relative’s house. This was about a year ago and as I recall, there was no “called out” allergy warning. Almond flour was simply listed as an ingredient. The labels may have changed since then–I’m sure we’ll all check our cereal boxes now!

We still eat the plain Cheerios without incident at my house but it just goes to show you that you must read all labels, all the time. As ingredients labels continue to evolve, I’m sure we will all be faced with new decisions about old standby foods.

via The Nut-Free Mom Blog: New Peanut Flour Warnings for General Mills Cereals.

PEANUT ALLERGY ALERT – Market Pantry Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars

PEANUT ALLERGY ALERT

May 6, 2009

LeClerc Foods is recalling “Market Pantry Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars” due to undeclared peanut.

The product was distributed to Target stores nationwide.

The 15.2-oz. boxes have a “best by” date of 18JAN2010 with UPC 85239 20124.

Consumers may return the product to Target for a full refund. Consumers with questions may call (800) 463-6144. 

via Special Allergy Alerts.

ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED MILK, SESAME SEEDS, SOY AND ALMONDS IN CERTAIN FOODS FROM KOREA

UNDECLARED MILK, SESAME SEEDS, SOY AND ALMONDS IN CERTAIN FOODS FROM KOREA

OTTAWA, April 3, 2009 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to milk, sesame seeds, soy and almonds not to consume the various food products described below. The affected products contain milk, sesame seeds, soy and almonds which are not declared on the label.

via ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED MILK, SESAME SEEDS, SOY AND ALMONDS IN CERTAIN FOODS FROM KOREA.

ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED WALNUTS IN BRIGHTON BEACH GOLDEN CHOCOLATE CANDY

ALLERGY ALERT

UNDECLARED WALNUTS IN BRIGHTON BEACH GOLDEN CHOCOLATE CANDY

OTTAWA, March 16, 2009 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people with allergies to walnuts not to consume the Brighton Beach Golden Chocolate Candy described below. The affected product contains walnuts which are not declared on the label.

The affected product, Brighton Beach Golden Chocolate Candy, product of U.S.A., comes in individually wrapped pieces and does not have UPC or any lot code. This product was sold from bulk from the following retail stores in Ontario:

Aurora Deli, 15408 Yonge Street, Aurora, ON

Center Deli (Quality Deli & Gourmet), 783 Steeles Ave. W., North York, ON

Elena Deli, 12977 Yonge St., Oak Ridges, ON

Knish Deli (Knish N Co & Deli), 1102 Centre St., Thornhill, ON

Tania’s Deli, 2116 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON

Ukranian Store, 96 King St. W, Dundas, ON

Vatra Cheese & Deli, 1092 Islington Ave., Toronto, ON

There have been no reported illnesses in Canada associated with the consumption of this product.

Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with allergies to walnuts.

The importer, InterCanada OGS, Aurora, ON is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For the allergy alert including the product label, issued by the U.S. manufacturer, Golden Chocolate International Inc., Brooklyn, NY, please visit the following web site:  http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/goldenchocolate03_09.html

For more information consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on Tree Nuts, one of the nine most common food allergens, visit the Food Allergens web page at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/allerg/nutnoie.shtml

For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

via ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED WALNUTS IN BRIGHTON BEACH GOLDEN CHOCOLATE CANDY.