Safe Snack Guide
Who is the Safe Snack Guide intended for?
The Safe Snack Guide is intended as an aid for parents, teachers, school officials, club organizers… anyone responsible for people with allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs or sesame seeds. When there is an occasion when snacks may be brought in, distribute the Snack Guide and instruct your group to restrict their selections to those found specifically on the list.
Remember, even when snack items appear in this guide, their individual ingredient lists must always be checked to ensure that ingredients or manufacturing processes have not changed since the guide was published!
How can I be notified when the Safe Snack Guide is updated?
You can subscribe to our mailing list by clicking here. We will notify you whenever we add products, issue a product advisory, or change the list content for any reason.
What are the dates on the cover of the Safe Snack Guide for?
We include three dates on the cover of the Safe Snack Guide:
- “Last Updated” Date – The date the content for your copy was last updated.
- “Downloaded” Date – The date your copy was downloaded from the site.
- “Discard” Date – The date you should discard your copy and download a fresh copy.
As manufacturers often change their manufacturing processes, we include these dates to make sure you never rely on an out-of-date copy of the guide that may not include recent updates and product advisories.
What allergens are covered by the Snack Guide?
The Snack Guide steers clear of products that contain the following common food allergens:
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Eggs
How is the Safe Snack Guide researched/created?
We rely on the ingredient lists for each specific product contained in the guide. These ingredient lists are collected in one of two principal ways:
- We visit supermarkets and food stores in our area (Northern New Jersey) and photograph/catalog the ingredient lists directly;
- We obtain feeds of ingredient lists from participating manufacturers.
We also rely on manufacturers’ statements as advertised on their products, in print/on the web, or in writing directly to us.
Food Labeling in the US
What is the Food Allergen Labeling And Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004?
The Food Allergen Labeling and consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004 is an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It requires the label of a food containing an ingredient or a protein from a major food allergen must declare the presence of the allergen in the prescribed manner
The FALCPA took effect on January 1, 2006.
What is the purpose of this Act?
This Act was passed to make it easier for consumers to identify and avoid foods that contain major food allergens.
What are the major food allergens covered by FALCPA?
FALCPA identifies eight food groups as the major food allergens:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
- Crustacean Shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp)
- Tree Nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
Are all food allergens covered by FALCPA? Aren’t there many more than eight?
Over 160 foods have been identified to cause food allergies. That said, the eight major food allergens covered by FALCPA account for over 90 percent of all documented food allergies in the US and represent foods most likely to result in severe or life-threatening reactions.
How are manufacturers required to label products containing the eight major allergens?
FALCPA requires food manufacturers to label food products that contain an ingredient that is or contains protein from a major food allergen in one of two ways.
The first option for food manufacturers is to include the name of the food source in parenthesis following the common name of the major food allergen in the list of ingredients in instances when the name of the food source of the major allergen does not appear elsewhere in the ingredient statement. For example:
| Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and/or cottonseed oil, high fructose corn syrup, whey (milk), eggs, vanilla, natural and artificial flavoring) salt, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), lecithin (soy), mono-and diglycerides (emulsifier) |
The second option is to place the word “Contains” followed by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived, immediately after or adjacent to the list of ingredients, in type size that is no smaller than the type size used for the list of ingredients. For example:
Contains Wheat, Milk, Egg, and Soy
Hi there,
I was wondering why Kelloggs Rice Krispie Treats are not included in this list as it does not contain any nuts of any kind, nor does it contain eggs.
Also, there is a brand of popcorn called Angie’s kettle corn and its great, its also nut and egg free.
Thank you so much for this guide…its wonderful!!
Rice Krispie treats are on the list, its under nutritional bars and cereal bars
Do you have any plans to add brownie and/or cake mixes to your list? If not, can you recommend a site that might keep such an up-to-date list like yours? BTW, my extreme food allergies came on in my 40′s. Your website has been a god-send. Thanks!
I am a school nurse in the Hamilton township public schools, Mercer county nj. Your snack safely list is the only one from which we are allowed to choose school snacks from. I cannot find any puddings listed as safe on your list and yet have found them on other lists, namely Hunt brand snack pack puddings, jello brand pudding and Kosy shack puddings. Is there a reason these products have been left off your list or may we have them added?
Nurse Natal, Puddings and yogurts are on our to-do list as we have received a number of recent requests to include them. We hope to add them before the end of 2012.
We appreciate the trust the Hamilton Township school system has placed in us.
I was asked to bring donut holes to a function at my child’s school. Could you tell me if there are any brands that are safe. I didn’t see donut holes listed on the snack list. I checked Hostess powderd donuts and they don’t list any allergens on the package but I wanted to be sure they were safe. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hello,
I found your website a few years ago and sent you an email thanking you for all the information you provide. You responded and included the name of a cookbook with a wonderful chocolate cupcake/cake recipe that everyone likes. I cannot remember the name of the cookbook and was hoping that I could get it from you again. Thank you for your time. Great website!
Sincerely,
Jared Galle
Jared, That cookbook is “Bakin’ Without Eggs: Delicious Egg-Free Dessert Recipes from the Heart and Kitchen of a Food-Allergic Family” by Rosemarie Emro.