PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Federal food safety regulators have issued a warning to Bimbo Bakeries USA, the company behind brands including Sara Lee, Oroweat, Thomas’, Entenmann’s and Ball Park buns and rolls, to stop using labels which states that the products potentially dangerous allergens when they don’t.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors found that Bimbo Bakeries USA, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, had labeled ingredients such as sesame or nuts on products that did not contain them.
Under FDA regulations, such products are “misbranded,” FDA officials said in a warning letter sent to company officials in Horsham earlier this month.
“Food labels must be truthful and not misleading,” officials said. The warning followed inspections late last year at Bimbo factories in Phoenix, Arizona and Topeka, Kansas, where Sara Lee and Brownberry breads are made.
The FDA emphasized that food labels must be truthful and not misleading and clarified that proper allergen labeling is “not a substitute” for preventing cross-contamination in manufacturing facilities.
Advocates with the nonprofit FARE, Food Allergy Research & Education, said such labeling “does a disservice” to the estimated 33 million people in the U.S. with food allergies. According to Sung Poblete, CEO of FARE, consumers must constantly be aware of foods that can cause potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.
“Our community relies on accurate product labeling for their health and safety,” Poblete said in an email. “These findings about Bimbo Bakeries products undermine their confidence and further limit their choices.”
Bimbo, based in Mexico City and the largest commercial baking company in the US, responded in an email saying that they “take very seriously their role in protecting consumers with allergen sensitivities” and that they are working with the FDA to address the to solve problem.
Concerns about allergen labeling have increased since a 2022 law required sesame to be listed as a major allergen on packaging.
Because keeping sesame in one part of a baking plant from another can be difficult and expensive, some companies began adding small amounts of sesame to products that previously did not contain the ingredient to avoid liability and costs. FDA officials said this violated the spirit, but not the letter, of federal regulations.
Some companies, including Bimbo, began listing allergens such as sesame on labels as a “precautionary measure” in case of cross-contamination.
Although the FDA acknowledged that the claim that a product “may contain” certain allergens may be truthful, Bimbo officials have until July 8 to address the labeling issue or justify their practices under FDA standards.
