A top U.S. commercial bakery is pushing back on a Food and Drug Administration warning to stop using labels that say its products contain sesame — a potentially dangerous allergen — when they don’t.
Bimbo Bakeries USA, which includes brands such as Sara Lee, Entenmann’s and Ball Park buns and rolls, appears to be defying an FDA warning sent in June that said the several of the company’s products are “misbranded” because the labels list sesame or tree nuts even though those ingredients aren’t in the foods. In a response to the FDA, Bimbo officials said they wouldn’t change their sesame labeling. The company said it has plants where some products are made with sesame and some are not.
But when it came to labeling, the company said it declares sesame as an ingredient and uses the same packaging for all of the products to prevent people from inadvertently eating foods that can trigger potentially life-threatening reactions. “We think our approach is the most protective of sesame-allergic consumers,” the company wrote in a July 1 letter obtained by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest and shared with The Associated Press. Bimbo officials confirmed their position in an email to the AP on Wednesday, calling it a “conservative approach” for consistent labeling of nationally distributed products.
FDA officials declined to comment, saying they would respond directly to the company. By law, the agency can take actions ranging from recall.
