Supermarkets changing ingredients on special diet items without notice

bairn7

I find it hard to believe that major allergens would not be listed if present but below a certain percentage GwylimT. As someone with a nut allergy, I would think that you would be the first to appreciate how a 0.1% nut presence could affect someone allergic to nuts.

I'm willing to be proved wrong though.

GwylimT

bairn7 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that major allergens would not be listed if present but below a certain percentage GwylimT. As someone with a nut allergy, I would think that you would be the first to appreciate how a 0.1% nut presence could affect someone allergic to nuts.

I'm willing to be proved wrong though.

That is why virtually all products say may contain nuts, now I'm noticing that some state nuts as ingredients, such as porridge.

kerri_gt

Sorry to hear this OP, my OH is veggie not vegan so we have the Quorn pieces (although for some reason these are rank in pasta dishes). As I'm sure you already know, Frys seem to be the only vegan alternative for the chicken style pieces.

marliepanda

Assuming they're not sold as vegan then they can change the recipe without notice (well the ingredients are your notice)

Saying they're changing the ingredients of 'special diet food' without notice is misleading as you're not buying them for the specific special diet, but your own special diet. They're still veggie, but no longer vegan, but they never claimed to be. It's not as if they now contain meat.

belisha-beacon

GwylimT wrote: »

Until recently ingredients below a certain percentage did not need to be labelled, now they do, so unless the packet said vegan before then it will have always contained egg.

I have coeliacs disease and a nut allergy, for anyone avoiding food not looking at all ingredients and recognised symbols is asking for trouble.

That's not actually true in the UK, Gwylim, in the US you don't have to label products under 2% so that's led to a common misconception over here (normally from people who have read international dietary advice). The guidance is here: https://www.gov.uk/food-labelling-and-packaging/ingredients-list

What has changed recently is the laws about allergy labelling. It used to be OK to list an ingredient like 'cheese' without specifically flagging up that the product was not suitable for people allergic to dairy. Manufacturers now have to list not only the ingredients, but to include a section flagging up any allergens from the government's approved list of allergens (ie. not all allergens but the main ones)

Ivana_Tinkle

I agree with the OP - it's really irritating, and seems really counter-productive, given that I think every vegan I know used to go to Morrisons just for that product!

There's a petition here asking them to rethink, if you can be bothered:
https://www.change.org/p/morrison-s-remove-the-egg-from-your-chicken-style-pieces?recruiter=21761202&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive

bairn7

Thanks Ivana. 3,000+ signatures. At least I'm not alone!

duchy

Unless a product is labelled as suitable for vegans (which apparently it isn't) then I'm not sure what you mean by notify.

How would you expect to be notified (other than on the ingredients list on the pack) ?

bairn7

duchy wrote: »

Unless a product is labelled as suitable for vegans (which apparently it isn't) then I'm not sure what you mean by notify.

How would you expect to be notified (other than on the ingredients list on the pack) ?

I would've hoped for some kind of 'new recipe' packaging, especially when the new recipe introduces a known allergen. As it was, there was nothing. Not even a change in packaging to suggest a change of ingredients.

Luckily, being vegan, ingredients checking is a standard procedure for me so I picked up the change before I purchased.

bod1467

Egg is a specific allergen?