Lindt Oat Milk Chocolate

 Allergens can pop up in the wildest ways. Added to packaged food products and recipes in ways that would never trigger you to check the ingredients.

Some packaging is designed in a way to draw attention to one ingredient but next thing you know you take your eye off the ball and eat it without fully checking the ingredient panel for allergens.

None of the items featured here have done anything wrong but they are worthy of drawing attention to their ingredients in relation to allergens. The more awareness and knowledge you have, the safer your world.

  You gotta give the big traditional brands a round of applause for adding dairy free options to their product lines, even if it’s baby steps. But just because something is dairy free, doesn’t mean it is allergen free. It’s easy to get excited about something that at first glance looks safe. I spied this recently at a grocery store in Sacramento. While it screams “Oat Milk” loud and proud on the front label, it also contains almond paste and soy lecithin. 

Pop and Bottle makes some delicious, canned coffee products with functional ingredients. I grabbed this product off the shelf because oat milk and collagen caught my eye. But the collagen is marine based, which is made from the skin, scales and bones of fish. I chose the mocha instead, which was awesome.

The AAAAI has a great article noting the following: collagen is an important allergen for approximately 20% of fish-allergic individuals, some of which tested negative to other known fish allergens. Click on this link to read the short article.  Quite frankly, not enough research on fish allergies has included marine collagen. My opinion is that the front of the can should call out marine collagen.

Who isn't familiar with these hotdog and hamburger rolls? Pillows of soft, squishy picnic classics with a distinct aroma unique only to them. When you pick up a bag, you have no choice but to give them a gentle squeeze to make sure they're fresh. 

If you have a sesame allergy, you'll really need to hunt and peck for a bun that doesn't contain sesame. When you look at this pic, there's not a sesame seed in sight. But a lot of hamburger and hotdog buns call out sesame flour, sesame seeds or just plain sesame as an ingredient in the dough. It's easy sleuthing when sesame seeds are sprinkled on top but putting them in the dough requires extra digging.