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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning letter to one of America’s biggest bakeries, asking the company to stop claiming there are allergens such as sesame or nuts in products when in fact they are not there. In a statement released Tuesday, the FDA said that Bimbo Bakeries, which includes brands such as Sara Lee, Oroweat, Thomas’, Entenmann’s and Ball Park buns and rolls, has included known allergens such as sesame, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts in their ‘Contains’ ingredients list — even though “those ingredients were not included in the product formulations,” as determined by FDA inspections conducted in late 2023. For example, Bimbo products such as Brownberry brand Whole Grains 12 Grains and Seeds RTE bread loaf product listed the three types of nuts as ingredients, even though they were not actually there. And Sara Lee brand Artesano Brioche, Delightful Multigrain, Artesano Golden Wheat and Artesano Smooth Multigrain all listed sesame as an ingredient, even though no sesame was present. Why would companies like Bimbo run erroneous ingredients lists? The FDA does require that food manufacturers list any potential allergens on packaging ingredients lists. However, properly separating known allergens such as nuts or sesame in one part of a baking plant from other areas can be labor-intensive and expensive. So, some companies work around the regulation by claiming the allergens are in most or… read on > read on >