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FASTER Act Adds Requirements to Manage Sesame as Food Allergen. What to Know for 2023

December 22, 2022 - from Food Quality and Safety

"On Friday, April 23, 2021, President Biden signed the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act of 2021 into law. The law contains two main components. First, sesame is added as a major food allergen, marking the first official change to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) since its passage. Second, the FASTER act requires reports on selected food allergy topics to be delivered to Congress, including those on how to establish and implement criteria for future updates to the list of major food allergens.

"The FASTER Act amends Section 201(qq) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321 (qq)) to read:

"(qq) The term “major food allergen” means any of the following:

"(1) Milk, egg, fish (e.g., bass, flounder, or cod), Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, or shrimp), tree nuts (e.g., almonds, pecans, or walnuts), wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame.

"The amendment to include sesame as a major food allergen is effective as of January 1, 2023. With this change, sesame and sesame-derived ingredients will need to follow all FALCPA labeling requirements. Specifically, all sesame and sesame-derived ingredients must be declared as sesame either in the ingredients list or in a “Contains” statement. If a “Contains” statement is used, all major allergen ingredients must be included. As noted above, one common sesame-derived ingredient used in foods is sesame oil. While FALCPA does exempt highly refined oils derived from allergenic foods from labeling, much of the sesame oil used in food production is not highly refined and is therefore not exempt from labeling. FALCPA does not provide a specific definition of highly refined oils, but industry best practice would indicate that processing should include refining, bleaching, and deodorizing. Sesame-derived ingredients must also be declared by their common or usual name; tahini may still be used on the ingredient list, but sesame must appear either parenthetically or in a “Contains” statement."

New Label Law Has Unintended Effect: Sesame in More Foods

December 22, 2022 - from Yeshiva World and AP News

"A new federal law requiring that sesame be listed as an allergen on food labels is having unintended consequences — increasing the number of products with the ingredient.

"Food industry experts said the requirements are so stringent that many manufacturers, especially bakers, find it simpler and less expensive to add sesame to a product — and to label it — than to try to keep it away from other foods or equipment with sesame.

"As a result, several companies — including national restaurant chains like Olive Garden, Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A and bread makers that stock grocery shelves and serve schools — are adding sesame to products that didn’t have it before. While the practice is legal, consumers and advocates say it violates the spirit of the law aimed at making foods safer for people with allergies.

"The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, requires that all foods made and sold in the U.S. must be labeled if they contain sesame, which is now the nation’s ninth major allergen. Sesame can be found in obvious places, like sesame seeds on hamburger buns. But it is also an ingredient in many foods from protein bars to ice cream, added to sauces, dips and salad dressings and hidden in spices and flavorings.

"Advocates for families coping with allergies lobbied for years to have sesame added to the list of major allergens. Congress in 2004 created labeling requirements for eight: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans.

"More than 1.6 million people in the U.S. are allergic to sesame, some so severe that they need injections of epinephrine, a drug used to treat life-threatening reactions. Cases of sesame allergy have been rising in recent years along with a growing number of foods that contain the ingredient, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University.

"Under the new law, enforced by the Food and Drug Administration, companies must now explicitly label sesame as an ingredient or separately note that a product contains sesame. In the U.S., ingredients are listed on product packaging in order of amount. Sesame labeling has been required for years in other places, including Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

"If the ingredients don’t include sesame, companies must take steps to prevent the foods from coming in contact with any sesame, known as cross-contamination."