Skip the middle man & buy your Olive Oil at the Farmers Market.

As an adult with a severe peanut allergy I have always struggled with finding foods that are safe for me to eat; foods that are peanut free and processed in a peanut free facility. The FDA does not require brands to include a 'may contain' or 'processed in a facility with' section on a food's label. When you see this notice on a product label it is voluntarily placed there by the company. I am always relieved when I see cross contamination risk listed on a food label. Either it reassures me that a food is safe for me to eat, or it lets me know with definite certainty that a food is in fact not safe to have due to the risk of cross contamination.

But, I began to wonder, what do you do when a label does not list anything about any cross contact risk? Is it still safe to eat, does not seeing any 'may contain' notice on the label mean there are no peanuts present in the facility? I used to think that if there was no warning of cross contact on the product's label that the food was safe for me to eat. However, as I reach out to more and more brands to create my No Peanuts Lists I am realizing that nothing could be further from the truth. What I am in fact discovering is that the majority of the time there is a cross contamination risk with peanuts being present in the processing facility, but the company just chooses to not include this vital information on the product's label.

I’ve written on this blog about discovering that many Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil’s are not what they say they are, and are processed in a facility with peanuts, making them not safe for those of us with a peanut allergy to eat. After discovering that the Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil I had been purchasing at Whole Foods is made in a facility with peanuts (you can read about this on another blog post here) I wanted to find an Olive Oil that I could feel safe eating without any risk of any peanut cross contamination. I also wanted to support a company that offered transparency with the production of their Olive Oil and food products.

I love shopping every Sunday at the Santa Monica Farmers Market and I try my best to support local farmers whenever I can. At the Farmers Market I am able to ask any questions I have face to face with the farmer/brand representative. You skip the middle man and get beautiful, fresh, local produce, and food products, without any worry of there being something unexpected in your food, or the processing facility. I decided that this was the perfect place to start my hunt for a Extra Virgin Olive Oil that is processed in a peanut free facility, one that I could feel safe eating and know is 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I visited the Buon Gusto Farms stand and they were incredibly nice, and happy to answer all my questions. They informed me exactly how they make all their products and they proudly let me know that their facility is peanut free, so I didn't need to worry about any risk of cross contamination.

I now use all Buon Gusto Farms​ Olive Oil’s & vinegar's in my cooking, and I am happy to report that they are absolutely delicious. I have been using their Extra Virgin Olive Oil on basically everything, including on salads, and to saute chicken and veggies.

In addition to Olive Oil Buon Gusto Farms also produces wonderful vinegar's, on my daily salads I switch between using their champagne pear vinegar and the pomegranate balsamic vinegar. I also recommend the balsamic vinegar for marinading chicken, I mix balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dried thyme, sea salt and red pepper flakes and pour the mixture over a couple bone in chicken breasts in a zip lock bag and let it marinade in the fridge for 3-4 hours before cooking the chicken, it always comes out super delicious.

As I reach out to more and more companies I’m discovering that the smaller, more local companies offer more transparency than the larger brands, and all these smaller brands have been happy to answer my inquiry if peanuts are present in their processing facility. If you’re struggling like I am to find foods that are free of any allergens and free allergen cross contamination your local Farmers Market is a great place to start.

#buongustofarms #oliveoilisnotalwaysoliveoil #peanutfree #farmtotable

#oliveoil #smfms #santamonicafarmersmarket #nopeanutfoods #fa #foodallergy #peanutallergy #crosscontact #nopeanutoliveoil #crosscontamination #peanutcrosscontact #peanutcrosscontamination

#brandtransparency

Back to Nature Products Made in a Facility with Peanuts

I have been struggling to find foods that are both #peanutfree & processed in a peanut free facility. So I’ve created a website where you can see my lists for No Peanut foods, foods that are safe for those of us with a peanut allergy & Do Not Eat, a list of foods to avoid due to the risk of cross contamination from other foods with peanuts made in the same facility.

I began creating my lists by looking at the food brands I had in my own pantry. I had a unopened box of Back to Nature's Harvest Whole Wheat Crackers. I looked on the box of crackers, and on the Back to Nature website, to see if I could find out if the facility that the crackers are made in is peanut free. The Back to Nature website states that "any items that are labeled Peanut Free do not contain peanuts and are made in a peanut free facility" I visited my local Venice Whole Foods location and checked the Back to Nature products, and I could not find any with the "Peanut Free" label. I reached out to Back to Nature and they responded to my email saying that they needed a "UPC code and photos of the top, bottom, front and back of the package" to answer my question. They did not tell me which of their products, if any, are made in a peanut free facility. I replied to their email, sending them the requested photos of the box of Harvest Wheat Crackers, since this was the only product in my pantry and thus the only box of Back to Nature food that I could photograph. I asked them, 'are the Harvest Wheat Crackers processed in a facility with peanuts? Do you manufacture any products in a peanut free facility? If so what Back to Nature products are processed in a peanut free facility.' I was very disappointed with their response. Here is their response:

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us at B&G Foods.

As per your inquiry, please know that the Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheat Crackers are made in a facility that does produce products that may contain peanuts and tree nuts. To avoid cross contamination, we employ the use of Good Manufacturing Practices which require if any of the top 8 allergens (Dairy, Eggs, Fish, Shellfish, Tree nuts, Peanuts, Soy or Wheat) is run on a line, the line must be cleaned and evaluated prior to running a product that does not contain the allergen. Since ingredients and facilities may change from time to time, always check the label on a specific product for current ingredient and allergen information.

Thank you again for reaching out and for being a loyal consumer.

Sincerely,

Alex Corporate Consumer Affairs B&G Foods, Inc.

The email let's me know that those crackers are not safe for me to eat, and are made in a facility with peanuts. But, they still did not answer if they manufacture any foods in a peanut free facility. It is disappointing that they could not just tell me weather or not any of their products are produced in a peanut free facility. Back to Nature foods are on my Do Not Eat-Peanuts in Facility list because they failed to answer my question.

What I am finding, as I reach out to more and more companies, is that many larger brands do not understand the seriousness of food allergies, or choice to ignore it. They need to leave the choice of risking eating something processed in a facility with peanuts to up to the consumer. They need to always state any cross contamination risk on the package with a 'may contain' list. Informing me that the risk cross contact is low, as Back to Nature and many other brands have, is condescending, and incredibly unhelpful. I do not want even the smallest possibility of going into anaphylactic shock by cross contact. Until the FDA changes the food labeling law when it comes to allergens I choose to not consuming anything where there is any chance, however remote, of any cross contact with peanuts.

#peanutallergy #nopeanutfoods #peanutfreefacility #foodallergy #fdamaycontain #maycontainlist #peanutinfacility #peanutcrosscontamination #backtonature #peanutcrosscontact #backtonaturecrackers #foodcrosscontact #wheatcrackers

Be Careful, there might be Peanuts in your Olive Oil

I started No Peanut Foods because I found out that the olive oil I was using, Montebello Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, was made in a facility with peanuts & “not safe for consumption for anyone with a peanut allergy”. This information is not on the product label or on the company’s website. I found out when I reached out to them directly. This is scary and frustrating.

I started looking into which olive oils are made in a peanut free facility and I found a couple, you can read a separate blog post about that here and these brands are listed on the No Peanut Foods website No Peanuts List.

But, I would like multiple options of safe olive oils so I am still emailing companies. Today I received a response from Colavita Foods. It’s frustrating to receive responses like this. Here is there email to me:

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you for your inquiry.

The raw material oils that Colavita utilizes to produce its olive oil products are sourced from facilities that may also process other food oils. Colavita requires documented authentication of each raw material purchase.

Colavita does not produce, store or distribute nut-based oil products. Colavita production processes are in fact formulated to minimize food safety risks. It needs to be noted however that all of our products are agricultural at their core and as such are subject to a variety of growing conditions.

As for our Colavita vinegars, there is no presence of peanuts in the facility.

We urge consumers who are affected with food-related allergies to exercise the same prudence with Colavita products as they do with other naturally grown products. We also ask consumers to consult with their medical professionals on specific inquiries relating to the advisability of utilizing such products in their diets.

Please contact us if there are any further questions.

Sincerely,

Marisa De Sapio

Quality Assurance

Colavita USA

1 Runyons Lane

Edison, NJ 08817

Phone: 732.404.8300 Ext. 152

Fax: 732.287.9402

They clearly state that their vinegar is safe to eat but are very vague about their olive oil. It is a yes or no question, and not difficult to answer! 😣Because the Colavita Vinegar is safe from any peanut cross contamination I have added Colavita to my Some Products OK list.

#peanutfree #peanutallergy #oliveoil #nopeanutfoods #peanutfreeoliveoil #oliveoilnotjustoliveoil #peanutfreefacility #colavitaoliveoil #peanutinoiliveoil #colavitafoods #montabellooliveoil #crosscontactoliveoil #peanutcrosscontact #peanutcrosscontamination

#foodallergy #foodallergyawareness #oliveoilcrosscontact #oliveilcrosscontamination