Food Safety Focus | New Allergen – Sesame

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Food Safety Focus

Hello All Team Members!

I hope this message finds all of you and your families safe and well,

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone! It’s hard to believe that it is already 2023. A lot of things happened to keep us busy in 2022, to say the least, so don’t feel bad if it seemed to go by fast for you. One thing I have been mentioning throughout 2021 and 2022 is finally here… Sesame has been added to the Big 8 allergen list in the U.S. to make it the Big 9! From here on out, sesame has to be listed on all food labels containing the allergen and must be included as a potential allergen in the food safety programs at each site.

I’ve included a link here for you to read more about sesame as the new allergen on the Big 9 list from the FDA, for your reference:

https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-reminds-manufacturers-effective-date-sesame-major-food-allergen

The good news is that the FDA has confirmed that foods containing sesame that are already on the shelves or in storage do not have to be relabeled or thrown away to comply. So, you may not see this change reflected on store shelves or on inbound shipments until after the current food product supplies have expired. It is important to note, however that any food products produced from January 1st, 2023 and going forward have to note sesame as an allergen on the labeling if it has sesame in it, so keep any eye out.

Some examples of foods that may contain sesame are:

• Asian foods, as sesame oil is commonly used in cooking
• Baked foods such as bagels, bread, breadsticks, hamburger buns and rolls
• Bread crumbs
• Cereals such as granola and muesli
• Chips such as bagel chips, pita chips and tortilla chips
• Crackers such as melba toast and sesame snap bars

For a recap, all allergens on the Big 9 allergen list in the U.S. are: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and now, sesame.

I hope all of you and your families have a 2023 year full of joy and health and as always thank you so much for all that you do each and every Day!

Justin Straka – Food Safety Manager

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