Talking Allergies

Does anybody know how well President's Choice label's their products? Thought I'd ask the experts before I called the company.

laurensmom,

I find President's Choice very good at labelling. They always state the allergens and have warnings in bold letters. The same goes for their No Name products.

Is there a particular product that concerns you?

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15-year-old son: peanuts, nuts, raw egg whites, asthmatic
Self: allergic rhinitis, fragrance/chemical sensitivities, oral allergy syndrome

President's Choice Mini Chef line has come out with some new healthier snacks. One was called See Ya Later Alligator cheese puffs...they looked cute but I saw no bold labelling and wasn't sure if they labelled at all.

Although a lot of President's Choice products do have "may contain" statements, they do not label consistently. When I called them to inquire, they told me that I must call for each individual item. When you call, they are very informed and are able to tell you if your allergen(s) can be found on 1) the same line 2) or in the manufacturing plant at all.
Any store brand products, (PC, Equlity, Smart Choice, Our Compliments, etc.) are not manufactured by the company itself. They have deals with other manufacturers to put their store label on their product (for example, they might get Christie to make their PC Decadent Cookies, and General Mills to make their "Raisin Bran, etc.) and because manufacturers don't label consistently across the board you need to call about everything.

I'm not familiar with the cheese puffs but I did notice that the Mini Chef Cheddar Gators Baked Crackers (similar to Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers) have a peanut warning. If in doubt about the See Ya Later Aligator snacks, do call the company and ask... and keep us posted.

By the way, here is a link of all the Mini Chef products: http://www.lechoixdupresident.ca/FoodAn ... rowse.aspx

Specifically Cookies & Crackers: http://tinyurl.com/m5hq8

You can click on each product and get the list of ingredients and warnings. For example, Cheddar Gators: http://tinyurl.com/kh36w

See Ya Later Alligator: http://tinyurl.com/hszzt
No warning so call and ask to make sure. Are you checking for nuts and peanuts or other allergens?

They do state that product ingredients and information may change from store to store and to refer to the labelling of the actual product.

Ethansmom, you make a good point... I did mean to say to always call and ask when in doubt.

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15-year-old son: peanuts, nuts, raw egg whites, asthmatic
Self: allergic rhinitis, fragrance/chemical sensitivities, oral allergy syndrome

Just to add to what Ethansmom said, I was told that even if I buy the same product, I should call each time. If you give them the code number (the number written under the bars they scan for the price) they can give you an answer, immediately for the top 10, or if for an allergen not in the top 10 they can usually call you back with the information.

I have found PC good about getting me the information quickly. And I sometimes call with a list of product numbers.

I agree with ethansmom and AnnaMarie. I have found their labelling to be inconsistent in the past. (Two years ago at Christmas I called about candies that looked safe for dairy/egg/pn/nut, and was told that they were run on a line with peanuts and nuts - but there was no "may contain" label on this package, which I would have liked to have seen.)

However, I also agree that they are very good with their customer response. They have also started to include their 1-800 number on their packaging, which they didn't do even a year ago. This makes phoning from the store a lot easier!

So we do buy some of their products, but we call a lot.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I always read the ingredients on product each time we buy them. Once when we buy it, once when we put it away and once when we open it to use. (Easy to miss the fine print)
I usually call/e-mail to inquire about the production lines, vague ingredients ("natural" flavourings) and may contains when we first concider purchasing. I don't tend to recheck this but maybe I should.
Should I be calling periodically? How often?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I don't know if anyone is experiencing this too, but, the last few times I've called President's Choice inquiring about allergens "on the same line" or "in the same facility" for their products, I'm getting a different "standard response" from them if they don't have the info available to them.
Before, if they didn't have the information available to them, they'd tell me they'd contact their vendor and then get back to me.
Now -- the past couple of times they haven't offered to do this for me and they insist that their vendors must provide detailed information about the risks of cross-contamination and if there is a risk, must list it on their packaging via a "may contain" statement. (Allergens could still be on the same line or in the facility but if they have shown PC that they have "adequate" cleaning practices/procedures in place, no cautionary warning.) Basically I'm being told I should trust their packaging and if there isn't a "may contain" statement, then no risk of cross-contam.
I really had to push and insist that they contact their vendor on one of the products I was calling on -- it was only after I really persisted did she say she would contact the vendor and get back to me. (and it was well over a month by the time she was able to get back to me -- I'd actually forgotten about it)
They have always been so accommodating in the past with providing this type of info. -- anyone else notice this change when dealing with PC customer service?

Every time I call, they tell me if it's on the same line or facility. I am always calling for casein and gluten, and they tell me right away.

However, I don't buy pre-made things - these are generally things like nuts to make sure the facility was safe. That might be different.

I called regarding a vegetable lasagna (there were no warnings on the label) and they said it was made on the same line as...who would have thought? a vege lasagna and nuts?
Ang

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6 1/2 year old son - anaphylactic to tree nuts, allergic to dust and moulds
5 1/2 year old son - no allergies
15 month old son...allergies unknown

I can see that this thread is quite old but I felt I wanted to jump in. PC is a staple for us - not really prepared foods but even things like Organic Red Lentils. In our situation I always need to call and even when a a product is OK I call a few times a year in the hopes that nothing has changed.
Only one time out of many, many phone calls have I had one person who I wasn't comfortable with. They almost always have the ingredient & line & facility information available unless it is a new product. In those cases, I haven't been told to read and trust their labels but they always call me back after obtaining allergen statements/policies from the original vendor (oh, I'd so love to know the actual companies!)

Anyway, in my books, PC is a hall of famer, at least for ease of access to information!

That I totally agree with - they definitely provide the info, either right away or by getting back to you in a reasonable amount of time.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma