One of the things I struggle with as both the mother of a food allergic child and as a manufacturer is changing ingredients in our products.  This could be removing products, bringing in new ingredients or changing a recipe.  Believe me, every choice is carefully reviewed, often put out to our customers for feedback and truly agonized over.  I walk in your shoes and know exactly how our family feels when a favorite gets put onto the unsafe list.

In April 2007 when we moved to pure oats so that we could respond to customer requests for a gluten free product, it was a Catch 22.  Moving to gluten free would allow so many more people to enjoy Nonuttin products.  Unfortunately, the only way to do that was to move to a gluten free crisp rice from a new supplier, just as that supplier decided to put sesame on the same line. 

Although we’ve always had the crisp rice tested by a lab for sesame before coming to the Nonuttin’ facility and the testing has always been negative, I felt that a sesame warning must still go on our granola labels (bars and clusters).  So we labelled and carefully outlined why we were doing so on our website.  All the while, I’ve been looking for a crisp rice that could meet all of our allergen requirements and remove the sesame without requiring a 10 000 lb custom order.

I’m happy to say that we’ve finally done it.  No more sesame warning!  The crisp rice that we’re moving to over the next few months has no sesame in the facility at all.  And, of course, the Nonuttin facility remains sesame free, as it has always been.

We will be moving to the new labels for the USA only at first.  This should take place within the next 8-10 weeks and will occur with all of the granola bars and clusters at the same time.

Canadian labels are expected to be changed within the next 4-6 months.  Why?  Health Canada has been promising changes to the allergen and gluten labeling for some time but most recently they have indicated that the new regulations will be posted in Spring 2010 which could be all the way until June.  So that we can make sure that we meet all new regulations, we will be waiting on Canadian packaging changes until those announcements take place.

In the meantime, be sure to read your Nonuttin labels.  If it still has the sesame warning on it, the formula is still containing the current crisp rice, NOT the new.  All new labels will only say:  Contains: soy (chocolate varieties) or May Contain:  soy (fruit varieties).

In addition, all new Nonuttin’ labels will be quite different with an updated logo, new food allergy icons and other minor ingredient changes as outlined in a different blog post (that will not affect the major allergen declarations).  If you have any questions or concerns, our team is happy to help you at info@nonuttin.com or toll free 1-866-714-5411.