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Sesame gets a seat at the food allergy table

Restaurants must call attention to menu items containing sesame.

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April 30, 2021 by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Up until now, the Big 8 allergens have been (in order of prevalence in the U.S.): shellfish, peanut, milk, tree nuts, egg, fish, wheat and soy. Another allergen, however, joined the list this week when President Biden signed into law as part of the FASTER Act (S.578) making sesame the ninth major allergen in the U.S.

This addition means restaurants must now clearly call out when sesame is in a dish. Jan. 1, 2023 will be the go-live date with this legislation throughout the country. The law thankfully gave us a period of time to get all of our ducks in a row as this will impact so many things. It's clear that we will see big changes in this arena, but why now?

What made sesame come to the table?

Thanks to a study published in 2019, we saw a firm increase and stronghold on those who are allergic to sesame. The number of folks in the U.S. with a sesame allergy hit 700,000 individuals. That's a great deal and, to be honest, it was a huge concern.

In 2011, when we began teaching the country's first ANSI accredited Food Allergy Training course, AllerTrain, we called out sesame as likely being the 9th major allergen in the U.S. It was already prevalent, and often a requested column in our allergen charts we provide and maintain for the awesome brands we get to work with.

The challenge with sesame is three fold:

Sesame is an ingredient that is in all kinds of foods due to its flavor profile. A great deal of the time it has been found in ingredient listings like spices or flavorings. That leaves those with a sesame allergy unsure of what is safe to eat.
Over the last few years, we have seen the word sesame appear on more ingredient statements, but it has not been mandatory, only suggested by the FDA up until now.
The rollout period of time is less than 24 months and that will seem like a nanosecond to manufacturers, restaurants and nutritional help desks like ours at MenuTrinfo. However, it will feel like a lifetime to those who are allergic to sesame.

What do restaurant brands need to do to comply?

To stay relevant, refer to your allergen charts, which must include sesame by January 2023. You should also:

Firm up your brand's expectations of disclosure from your providers/distributor.
Have your allergen policies checked by experts in this area.
Ask for help to clear up any confusion.
Take on a consulting company to complete this project.
Plan for accredited allergy training.

States like Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island as well as Montgomery County, Maryland and New York City all require training already. Today, we are rolling out AllerTrain, our food allergy training courses, everywhere from liquor store chains, c-store groups, university dining, pizza chains, QSR and of course fast casual.

I expect this first-ever addendum to the listing of food allergens in the U.S. will bring more state laws to the table for discussion, and we will see them passed and adopted in 2022 and beyond. My last tally of pending laws was more than 24 states that had bills introduced and discussed beyond the states that have current legislation. Think about what we went through with menu labeling. It was first just a few areas, then more than 15, and finally, a nationwide standard was set.

What will this cost your brand?

This is the area where I have heard the term, "Restaurant Ending Event," used, and my heart just drops. It is the wrong reason to be in the news.

Keep in mind, lawsuits for mismanagement of a food allergy cost on average $150,000 to an institution like a college campus or non-commercial foodservice locations, and approximately half of that to a restaurant brand as long as no life has been lost. Food allergic reactions resulting in death are usually settled in the 7-figure range.

Compare those numbers with rolling out training and due diligence across your organization.

Be a brand that is ahead of this trend and is training key staff or all staff at every location. It can be as easy as a virtual trainer until in-person can happen again or rolling out the training on your own learning management system. It is simple, easy and costs much less than a horrible outcome. Emotionally and financially.

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About Betsy Craig

To date MenuTrinfo is responsible for menu nutritional information at over 100K US restaurants, food allergy and gluten free ANAB accredited training for hundreds of thousands of food service professionals. AllerTrain is the chosen food allergy training by NEHA providing continuing educational credit hours for those that take and pass its course. Finally, MenuTrinfo delivers food allergy confidence and allergen transparency to today’s food allergic consumer through its onsite division offerings, AllerCheck, Certified Free From allergens for spaces and food products which is an ISO 17065 certification and expert consultation and incident response support when needed.

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