Talking Allergies

Good instincts, PAmum. In case anyone didn't see the recall notice:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/cor ... 225e.shtml

ALLERGY ALERT - UNDECLARED PEANUT PROTEIN IN NESTLE COFFEE CRISP WAFER BAR SOLD IN PEANUT FREE ASSORTED SNACK SIZE PACKAGES

OTTAWA, February 25, 2006 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Nestle Canada Inc. are warning people with allergies to peanut protein not to consume the Nestle Coffee Crisp Wafer Bar described below. The affected product may contain peanut protein which is not declared on the label.

The affected product, Nestle Coffee Crisp Wafer Bar, is sold as a snack size bar stamped with a code beginning with 5180 followed by a series of number and letters.

These bars are known to have been sold in a 247g " Nestle Fav*rites" package of assorted peanut free snack size bars bearing UPC 0 59800 20958 8 and best before date 2006AL29. These individual coffee crisp bars may have also been sold as part of other snack size bar packages. Consumers are advised to check the individual Coffee Crisp bars to verify if they have the affected code 5180XXXX .

The affected product has been distributed nationally. There has been one reported reaction associated with this product.

PAmom, way to go!!! Even though I am sure everyone was obviously skeptical as to peanut in "peanut free" coffee crisp, you still trusted yourself enough to persist and have others look into your concerns further. Much to the shock of everyone, coffee crisp has been recalled. Thanks PAmom.

A very disturbing recall. If peanut gets into "peanut free" chocolate bars, you have got to really wonder how.

Hi everyone, first of all, I would like to thank you for all your support. I typed a few long posts yesterday and they were all lost due to problems in posting. Now I am trying my best to retype everything that I wanted to say.

I am shaking as I type because I am absolutely outraged by what happened! The minute I hung up the phone with CFIA this morning, my heart has been pounding since. I am angry, I am sad, I am disturbed, and I am disgusted because this has proven to me that I can trust no one. Our safety zone has officially been destroyed.

As much as I know my instinct was right(which I am!), another part of me didn't want to believe it because of the possible consequences of this outcome. Just because I reported this, it doesn't mean no others has been affected. For one, all of us have been affected emotionally.

To answer your question AnnaMarie, when I spoke to CFIA this morning, I was told that the other two unopened coffee crisps in the same package that I had given to them in fact contain peanut protein from testing. I don't think they would put out a recall without actual proof in this case(complaint from a consumer). I was also told that the other bars namely Kit Kat, Smarties, and Aero were free of the protein. But so what? I am never going to buy them again....

In regards to Nestle, I wonder if they'd ever taken labelling that seriously as we thought! No matter where the fault is, at employees' or the suppliers', ultimately, aren't there tests supposed to be done before the products are released to be sold? Obviously in the case, there wasn't.

I have lost my trust entirely. It doesn't matter whether the manufacturer tell me a certain product(processed or unprocessed) is free of allergens or not. Until I can get a test kit for my own use, from this point onwards, my dd's life will be determined by faith, it will be like russian roulette. There's nothing I can do to make her life any safer. The only thing I can do is to make sure Epipen is at arm's reach at all time.

I think they say "may contain" because it's impossible to know for sure how many bars are affected - especially if they don't know the origin/cause of the peanut contamination in the first place (although they might). It seems unlikely that Nestle would issue a recall as a precautionary measure unless they actually tested and found some peanut protein. It would cost them far too much - in terms of money, bad publicity, consumer's trust, etc. You would think that there would have to be some sort of check in place to substantiate claims (the CFIA's job?) or else anyone at anytime could cause major upsets to companies.

I just looked through recalls at the CFIA website. Five out of five recalls that I checked said *may contain*.

PAMom, I'm lost for words.

Karen, thanks for the update about AC. I just got a pile of mail from medic-alert and was wondering if there was *someone* who would get officially involved in investigating - or at least realeasing information. Something. Glad you were on the ball.

Here is the allergy alert I received:

Le texte français suit le texte anglais.

ALLERGY ALERT - UNDECLARED PEANUT PROTEIN IN NESTLE COFFEE CRISP WAFER BAR SOLD IN PEANUT FREE ASSORTED SNACK SIZE PACKAGES

OTTAWA, February 25, 2006 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Nestle Canada Inc. are warning people with allergies to peanut protein not to consume the Nestle Coffee Crisp Wafer Bar described below. The affected product may contain peanut protein which is not declared on the label.

The affected product, Nestle Coffee Crisp Wafer Bar, is sold as a snack size bar stamped with a code beginning with 5180 followed by a series of number and letters.

These bars are known to have been sold in a 247g " Nestle Fav*rites" package of assorted peanut free snack size bars bearing UPC 0 59800 20958 8 and best before date 2006AL29. These individual coffee crisp bars may have also been sold as part of other snack size bar packages. Consumers are advised to check the individual Coffee Crisp bars to verify if they have the affected code 5180XXXX .

The affected product has been distributed nationally. There has been one reported reaction associated with this product.

Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with allergies to peanut protein.

Nestle Canada Inc., North York, Ontario is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call one of the following numbers:
Nestle Consumer Services at 1-800-387- 4636
CFIA at 1 800 442-2342 / TTY 1 800 465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on peanut, one of the nine most common food allergens, visit the Food Allergens web page at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labet ... erge.shtml.

For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

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woops, sorry for the double post -- I just scanned all the previous messages and didn't see the alert posted at the top -- duh.

You did a good thing PAmom. It is upsetting and at what point can we trust the labelling.

I didn't realize that the standard was to say *may contain* when in fact they know that there are some out there that DO contain peanut protein. Very frustrating.

Voluntary Recall of
One Batch (5180XXXX)
of COFFEE CRISP SNACK SIZE BARS
Manufactured June 29, 2005
Sold in various Nestlé Assortment Packages

February 25, 2006

Dear Nestlé Consumer,

We wanted to inform you that Nestlé Canada is voluntarily recalling one batch of COFFEE CRISP SNACK SIZE BARS, manufactured on June 29, 2005 and sold in various Nestlé Assortment Packages, as a result of one consumer complaint.  This one batch of COFFEE CRISP SNACK SIZE BARS may contain peanut protein which is not declared on the label and should not be consumed by people with allergies to peanut protein. 

Consumers are advised to check individual COFFEE CRISP SNACK SIZE BARS to verify if they have the affected code - beginning with 5180 followed by a series of numbers and letters (found on the bar package under the fold).

We believe this to be an isolated incident and no other brands or bar sizes are affected by this recall.  We are working closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to thoroughly investigate this matter.  At the same time we are making every effort to quickly remove affected product from store shelves and to communicate with Canadians with peanut allergies.  We have been in contact with both the Allergy and Asthma Information Association and Anaphylaxis Canada to advise them of this situation and gain their support in communicating to the allergic community.

We apologize for any worry this may have caused and assure our consumers that we have taken immediate action.  At Nestlé we are focused on consumer safety and product quality and are committed to providing SNACK SIZE peanut-free labelled confections.

We ask that you not use the recalled product and that you contact 1-800-387-4636 to arrange a refund.


We thank you for your understanding.


Sincerely,


Bob Leonidas
President, Confectionery
Nestlé Canada Inc.

This has been available for nearly a year. I'm surprised nobody else has reacted. Or, maybe they just didn't report it - that actually seems more likely.

*********

I think Nestle should have that information easier to find on their web-site.

To be honest, most of you did not think it was possible when i first posted this topic. It's absolutely understandable because of our trusts in Nestle's labelling in their products in the past. Why would a company go through all these hassle by using a dedicated facility to produce such products and let this one slip? It wouldn't be right...

Someone else must have had reaction. But they probably ruled this out right away and went on to investigate something else instead.

I agree with you PAMom. In fact, it was myself I was thinking of. No, I never reacted to a Nestle product. But, if I did - I would not have believed it. I would have looked anywhere else - and if I couldn't find anything else to blame, I would have just figured it was one of those *mystery hive* reactions.

You really did a great thing PAMom.

You know AnnaMarie, the reason that my instinct took over Nestle's track record was because I am still quite new to this whole allergy thing. As much as I read from various sources(including this forum) that they are very good at labelling, my actual experience are limited with these products. Therefore my trust is not as deep as many of yours and others.

Yep, that's what I probably would have done! I react to so many things though that I tend to question my reactions. I definitely had a reaction to Erewhon Rice Twice cereal--it made my throat slightly itchy. I wonder though....could it be the honey (which sometimes bothers me..but not so much when cooked)? Or could it be the cereal which is processed on the same line as nuts? It crossed my mind that I could call the CFIA, but I had a bad experience with them this summer so I thought why bother. Probably should have called

I don't eat chocolate, but I find this recall troubling--it really makes me question everything. Which is a good thing I guess if it will make me less likely to dismiss reactions!