Talking Allergies

Where do you buy your dried herbs and spices? The Spice House of I think Milwaukee (sp?) USA is supposed to have X contam-free stuff that "couldn't possibly have sesame X contam." Penzeys told me to call and that some of their stuff is packaged on shared equip with sesame and some isn't.

I grow some and buy some and dry it out in the summer but other stuff I buy. I plan to order from The Spice House and just got their catalogue. I worry about sesame X contam and would like to know what has been fine for the rest of you. Thank you!

lakeswimr -- I use McCormick Spices -- I can't be sure about sesame cross-contam. but when I called about peanut/treenut here in Canada, they assured me that there was no problem with their individual spices (spice blends were not necessarily safe). The woman I spoke to was very informed. Perhaps you could start with a phone call or email to them?

I took the above quote from their US website: http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?id=10595

I use McCormick too. But for some spices which I go through more quickly I buy no name brand. Not sure if that is a good idea. probably not.

I've noticed more companies are starting to label their spices for "may contain" which includes soy & sesame. I'm really starting to think about growing my own herbs to use in recipes.

Mygirlsyd, Are you able to tell us which companies and which spices you have seen this "may contain soy or sesame" information? This is really scary!

Sorry I don't remember the brand name. I'm a compulsive label reader now So even when I don't need something I'll still glance at labels to see if they list allergens. I was at A&P though. And I know my Mom bought some from someplace that listed cross contamination with peanuts/nuts.

I'm not surprised - it's always been a fear of mine. I'm sure most dried spices are at risk of cross contamination but companies are just starting to label for it.

I have a chilie powder by "Smart Choice" (I belive it is the IGA store brand) and its warnings include: may contain traces of wheat, soybean, milk, eggs, sulphites and sesame seeds!
Wow -- talk about cross contam. -- 6 of the 10 top allergens!
The problem could be that the chilie powder is a "spice blend" and not a "true" spice -- I've noticed that "spice blends" tend to be more likely to be contaminated with trace amounts.

Whenever I see labels like that, I figure that the spices or spice mixtures are all run on the same production line and so they just can't guarantee that there isn't traces of the various allergens in each product.

Don't you sometimes wish you could visit the manufacturing facility so that you could see what is going on, and understand why they are putting the various warnings on? I do.

K.

I called Club House about a month ago, and they left a message on my voice mail telling me that their products are made on shared lines, and that they couldn't guarantee that there wasn't sesame cross-contamination.

Is Club House the same company as McCormick? If so, I wonder which of the messages we've heard is correct.

In any event, I also grow my own herbs. It took a while to get the hang of it, but I grew a lovely garden consisting of a number of annuals and perennial herbs, and clipped off a few leaves at a time when I cooked. I also harvested the leaves several times, freezing them in freezer bags for the winter.

The herbs I grow are: Sage, sweet basil, dill, oregano, thyme, peppermint, spearmint, rosemary, parsley, and chives.

Andrea - I found this info on the Club House web site ( http://www.clubhouse-canada.com/content.cfm?id=10254 ) :



So it looks like they are the same company, but perhaps the issue of cross-contamination depends on which product line is involved ... ? I guess you should ask a customer service rep your question.

K.

I contacted McCormick / Club House Canada via their website a while ago and just received this response. While my query was specifically for peanut/nuts I thought others would also benefit from the info. I made a follow-up call to ask about cross-contamination issues and the rep. I spoke to said that you won't find any "may contain" statments on their products because they have very strict guidelines for manufacturing. Some of which include: yearly allergen training for employees, all raw materials are labelled for allergens, each allergen is given it's own specific symbol and employees are trained on identifying them, their lines always run spices/spice blends that do not contain any top 10 allergens first (start of the day) and then those that contain allergens run thereafter. Once the line has been used with any of the top 10 allergens, the line is completely disassembled and washed thoroughly - she said that they don't control for airborne particals beyond their mixers having large curtains around them. I feel that they "get" the whole allergy thing and have a strict schedule for processing so I suggest that it's worth giving them a call to discuss your allergens specifically.

That's useful to know--they do seem to get allergies. I will trust them!

Thank you for posting that ethansmom. Very useful!

Thank you Ethans mom! That really helps a lot. So far, we've never had a reaction due to cross-contamination of spices, but we will be buying McCormick/Club House from now on.

Thanks ethansmom. As you said, they do seem to "get" the allergy thing.

K.