When I’m at the grocery store I’ll pick up many different products for a variety of different reasons.

As the grocery shopper for a family with 6 different food allergies, I’m always reading the labels on products that I want to buy.  I check out new products to see if they’re suitable and I review old favorites to be sure that nothing has changed since the last time I purchased them.

But as the owner of a food company, I’m also perusing the food aisles for a whole different set of reasons.  I notice packages that I love the coloring or the artwork, perhaps the size or convenience of something makes me stop to take note or maybe a competitor has changed how they’re packaging their product.

Imagine my surprise when I picked up a new product at the grocery store last week simply because I liked its packaging and got quite a shock when I read the allergen information.  Right off the bat, I’ll tell you it was a natural snack with nuts in it which I already knew was off limits for my family but I read the allergen information anyway and that’s when I saw it:  “Contains nuts.  May contain other allergens not listed.“  Huh?

Since when can companies simply put a blanket statement on that they may have allergens of any kind but don’t need to list them?  I know very well this doesn’t meet the guidelines for any government label I’ve ever seen either here in North America or in Europe.  And this product was from a US company on the shelf at a well known North American chain grocery store. 

While the CFIA in Canada and the FDA in the USA are mandated to review labels, unless there is a complaint, they just don’t have time to review them all.  It’s highly unlikely that the CFIA will find this label by random checking.  Is this kind of labeling dangerous or just apathetic (we don’t know how to do this and rather than learn, we’ll just put this statement on…)?   Let me know what you think or share a “bad” label story of your own.