May Contain .....

[J23]

Hey.

I was talking to a friend about labels that say, may contain sources of nuts, wheat etc.

She has a deadly sesame allergy and was saying that they only but such labels on products for legal reasons. She eats products that say that about sesame. Anyone have similar experiences in regards to gluten?

Cheers!

-J

[NicoleAJ]

I think that some companies do put those on there for legal reasons so if there is a slight chance of cross contamination, they will not appear at fault. That being said, I steer clear from those products that say they may contain wheat. If a product says that it is produced in the same facility that processes wheat, I usually call the company to see what their policies are. In my mind, it's never worth taking a gamble with my health. Your friend make take risks with sesame, but I'm sure she's got an epi-pen nearby in case she has a reaction. Unfortunately for us, we can't do much of anything to lessen the effects of a gluten reaction.

[BRUMI1968]

Another reason some foods say "may contain" and then say corn, soy, wheat, whatever, is because companies will use whichever thing is cheapest at the time of manufacture. This is especially true between corn and soy, since both of those foodstuffs can be made into virtually anything. Basically, a recipe can handle various ingredients in a slot - soy protein or corn protein or wheat protein - since when they come from Midland or whatever company turned the "crop" into "ingredients", they are basically all the same "element".

Similarly, if their facility processes anything with wheat, nuts, corn, soy, etc., they may say "may contain" in case of cross contamination. I avoid those products entirely. I feel strange about eating something made by folks who aren't sure what's in it.