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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think Cadburys have done a shit job of labelling which Roses Chocolates contain nuts

85 replies

SinisterBumFacedCat · 12/12/2015 15:29

Almond Caramel bite - CONTAINS MILK, SOYA

Brazilian Darkness - CONTAINS MILK, SOYA

No mention of nuts on either wrappers, but there is a nut warning on the other chocolates (Hazel whirl)

AIBU to think this is very irresponsible?

OP posts:
Original poster
SinisterBumFacedCat · 12/12/2015 18:22

Can you explain why they put the same message on Apple Juice then? Hmm

OP posts:
HicDraconis · 12/12/2015 18:36

As someone with a nut allergy - you can eat non nut containing chocs from a selection box. They're usually processed on different machines / separate lines and only mixed at the wrapped stage. However as someone who also has taste buds I would never eat Cadbury chocolate 😄

Anything which hints of nutty contents (whether it says CONTAINS NUTS or not) I avoid. The one time I was assured that something was nut free but the server couldn't remember the name of the dish it turned out to be chicken satay (and the server said - after hearing I was in ED on adrenaline - "but it doesn't have peanuts in! Only peanut butter!") so I don't eat in the hospital canteen any more either 😁

So YABU. And I agree that if we really need to be stating the nutting obvious, oysterbabe put it very well.

Enjolrass · 12/12/2015 18:44

Can you explain why they put the same message on Apple Juice then

I already have. It's easier to put on to be in the safe side.

NuggetofPurestGreen · 12/12/2015 18:45

Jesus Hic that's terrifying.

That must be a new thing OP as I'm sure they were correctly labelled last year.

SpangleDragon · 12/12/2015 18:51

So you would avoid a walnut whip but not an almond dream?

bruffin · 12/12/2015 18:53

but the allergy gets progressively worse every time your exposed to nuts

no it doesnt, that is a myth.
Sometimes they get worse and sometimes they get better, ds has grown out of peanut allergy but not tree allergy. But if i saw a chocolate that said brazilian delight i would assume it had a brazil nut in it, it is common sense.

Maryz · 12/12/2015 18:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotMyMonkey · 12/12/2015 19:34

you expect something called almond caramel bite to carry a more specific warning? Seriously?

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 19:44

I work in the food industry and we put it on everything because we don't know what's happened to ingredients before they get us. They may have been contaminated further down the chain even if nuts aren't listed

So if you are labelling as 'may contain nuts', are you also labelling your products with may contains for the other 13 legally declarable allergens?

Gruntfuttock · 12/12/2015 19:47

bruffin I have never heard of tree allergy. How do you avoid trees?

manamanah · 12/12/2015 19:48

I've always wondered what special kind of fool needs warnings like 'contains nuts' on peanuts, or 'contains milk' on milk or even the 'contents may be hot' on coffee cups. This sort of concern a always smacks to me of a sense of 'I am different and therefore important. My difference must be pandered to'.

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 19:53

www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/maycontainguide.pdf

From page 9 of 63

There is general agreement between the food industry,consumer
support groups and enforcement bodies that excessive use of advisory
warning labels about the possible presence of allergens, not only unnecessarily restricts consumer choice, but also devalues the impact of
the warning labels. Unlike the situation for deliberate ingredients, there
are currently no statutory controls governing labelling for the possible
low level presence of allergens due to the cross-contamination of foods
along the food supply chain

Advisory labelling should only be used when, following a thorough risk
assessment, there is a demonstrable and significant risk of allergen cross contamination.

Loraline · 12/12/2015 19:53

The ingredients of each of those sweets will clearly state the nut it contains and you say you read all the ingredients so where is the problem. In fact they'll be in bold to comply with EU legislation. The additional CONTAINS SOYA tends to only be used if that ingredient or derivative is not obvious.

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 19:57

Gruntfuttock, tree allergies do exist! I've had allergy testing in the past (RAST and SPT testing for those in the know, not any of this hocus-pocus arm waving type of stuff), and willow/chestnut trees have come back as positive for me. I think its got more to do with the pollen as I have fairly hardcore hayfever.

As for managing it, the answer is simple. Dont sit under or downwind from a willow/chestnut tree really. And if I have been anywhere near one of them, change my clothes when I get back to the house and wash my face/hands e.t.c.

Loraline · 12/12/2015 19:58

Also I don't eat anything that is labeled as a cross contamination risk and have a far from bland diet. I've previously reacted to chocolates that didn't contain nuts ethic must have had a trace as a result of cross contamination so it's definitely a risk. To judge your own risk though

HamaTime · 12/12/2015 20:00

For people who think it shouldn't be labeled, where would you draw the line? No labelling at all? No labelling in 'natural state' i.e. a bag of brazil nuts shouldn't be labeled but a sweet containing brazil nuts should? No labelling if 'nut' is in the name or it's obvious (which leaves you a bit nowhere with nut flavoured or nut 'associated' nut free things).

Whats the point in having a system where you have to label allergens if there is an arbitrary 'but that's obvious' get out clause? How do you know if the labelling has been missed because it's obvious or because the thing actually doesn't contain nuts? Obvious is extremely subjective. Lots of people don't associate marzipan with nuts, for example, or satay, or bakewell tart but they are obviously nutty (but may not contain nuts).

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 20:03

Loraline, chocolate is well known for cross reactivity.
My boy has dairy 'ishoos', and has had a few reactions to dark chocolate fed to him by well meaning relatives. Its got a lot to do with production methods and in particular the way the lines are cleaned down between the production of different batches.

Like you said though, each to their own. Whats safe for one person may not be safe for the next person.

SavoyCabbage · 12/12/2015 20:03

Peanuts say 'may contain nuts' if they are processed in a factory that also processes nuts. It's because of cross contamination. A person who is allergic to almonds can happily eat a bag of peanuts, but if there is a bit of almond in there, they are buggered.

Not all factories process all nuts. So if I want to make something with hazelnuts in, I can if I use a brand which doesn't also process peanuts. Some people need all of the information.

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 20:10

HamaTime.

If the product contains nuts or any of the other 13 declarable allergens then it has to be labelled by law.

However labelling of 'may contains' is entirely voluntary. IMO, if a product has been made in an environment that has a definite x-contamination risk, then it should be labelled as such using wording such as
Made in an environment that handles xxxxxxxxx
Ive also seen occasionally on things 'before making this product, the machinery was also used to make a product containing xxxxx'. That kind of statement is actually genuinely helpful to me as a parent of a child who has several allergies. However there tends to be a fair bit of knowledge between people in the various allergy communities and notorious 'may contains' tend to beknown about

However what isnt helpful is blanket labelling of things in the way tesco used to label things for nuts (which I dont agree with btw), or as a poster described above they blanket label all their products in case of a contamination risk from potential ingredients from their suppliers. Either it does or doesnt contain something end of.

iWipemyass · 12/12/2015 20:14

Food ingredients that must be declared as allergens in the EU

  1. Cereals containing gluten, namely: wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats or their hybridised strains, and products thereof, except:

(a) wheat based glucose syrups including dextrose
(b) wheat based maltodextrins
(c) glucose syrups based on barley
(d) cereals used for making alcoholic distillates including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin

  1. Crustaceans and products thereof
  1. Eggs and products thereof
  1. Fish and products thereof, except:

(a) fish gelatine used as carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations
(b) fish gelatine or Isinglass used as fining agent in beer and wine

  1. Peanuts and products thereof
  1. Soybeans and products thereof, except:

(a) fully refined soybean oil and fat
(b) natural mixed tocopherols (E306), natural D-alpha tocopherol, natural D-alpha tocopherol acetate, and natural D-alpha tocopherol succinate from soybean sources
(c) vegetable oils derived phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean sources
(d) plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil sterols from soybean sources

  1. Milk and products thereof (including lactose), except:

(a) whey used for making alcoholic distillates including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
(b) lactitol

  1. Nuts, namely: almonds (Amygdalus communis L.), hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), walnuts (Juglans regia), cashews (Anacardium occidentale), pecan nuts (Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch), Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa), pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera), macadamia or Queensland nuts (Macadamia ternifolia), and products thereof, except for nuts used for making alcoholic distillates including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
  1. Celery and products thereof

  1. Mustard and products thereof

  2. Sesame seeds and products thereof

  3. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre in terms of the total SO2 which are to be calculated for products as proposed ready for consumption or as reconstituted according to the instructions of the manufacturers

  4. Lupin and products thereof

  5. Molluscs and products thereof.

From here

Interestingly, coconuts are NOT labelled in the EU as containing nuts, despite their name. Yet in the USA, they are.

bruffin · 12/12/2015 20:15

Grunt
Apologies meant treenutBlush

HamaTime · 12/12/2015 20:39

If the product contains nuts or any of the other 13 declarable allergens then it has to be labelled by law

I know that but as people are implying that the OP is hard of thinking for wanting accurate labelling I was wondering where people would draw the line.

I don't understand why these sweets aren't labeled, given the law.

And while we're on, it's pretty obvious that Almond Caramel bite contains milk, but milk is labeled and almond isn't. That's just crappy labelling, unless they don't have almonds in. I wouldn't know as they aren't labeled properly - or they are and they are almond free Confused

Kanga59 · 12/12/2015 20:54

YANBU. As a nut allergy sufferer, I have just cracked opened a box and have had the same thought. The labelling is shit! I was actually saving the Brazilian darkness one for later as there's only one in my box. I thought this was a dark chocolate on. I don't understand why they haven't put contains nuts on the almond one, very odd. My other thought on opening the box and seeing the chocolates labelled with "contains milk, soya" was, wow, what an anal society we have become, obsessed with soya and milk allergies (to name a few)!whoch were not a big deal years ago. Jus have a bit of milk ffs and build up your tolerance. You're not gonna die from it

FuzzyWizard · 12/12/2015 21:01

Neither Brazil nuts nor almonds are actually nuts though. Like peanuts... That's why peanut packets say may contain nuts. Not because people are morons but so that people with allergies to actual nuts but not to peanuts know that they might be contaminated with actual nuts.
People allergic to Brazil nuts might not be allergic to actual nuts and vice versa.