I recently contacted Nature’s Path, a brand I love and support, about their products and labeling.
You see, they have some awesome looking gluten free products (cereals mainly) that I’d love to buy for P as an infrequent “treat” option. It’s hard to make my own everything, so I’m being honest and acknowledging the fact that it may not be the “hippie”-est of things, but it’s realistic. Thus far I haven’t really given patty-cakes much in the way of prepared food because of the risks of cross contamination, but I fear his meals are getting boring and repetitive. Unfortunately, all of Nature’s Path gluten free products say “produced in a facility that uses peanuts, the nuts, and soy” right on the box. Curious as to whether this was for protection against our litigious society or a true contamination issue, I wrote to the company.
[I’ve been contacting companies one by one to inquire about their facilities and allergens and their cleaning methods, etc. because I don’t want to end up having to make my own marinara sauce, or ketchup, or sausage…you get the point…there’s a reason grocery stores exist.]
I figured it would be helpful to share the company’s response because I wish I could have simply googled it myself. If this post (or any others, because I plan to share all the feedback I get) saves some other mama a few hours of time then I think it’s worth it.
From Nature’s Path:
Dear Elise,
Thank you for your comments on Nature’s Path Organic products. We take each comment seriously and we endeavor to always provide a good quality product. Nature’s Path is committed to producing quality organic foods, using the best ingredients available, while adhering to strict quality control procedures.
North American Government Regulators have advised us that because we utilize allergens in some of our facilities we are strongly recommended to print a disclaimer underneath the ingredients listing. In the United States, the warning statement ‘Produced in a facility that uses …(peanuts, tree nuts, dairy or soy)” and in Canada, the warning statement ‘May contain …(peanuts, tree nuts, dairy or soy)’ is printed on Nature’s Path products made in those factories. Government regulator opinion is that if there is a remote chance of cross contamination that the consumer should be advised of this possibility. These allergens are not indicated in the warning statement if they are already listed as an ingredient of the product.
At Nature’s Path we have an extensive planning and cleaning schedule -which includes protein testing- for all our production facilities in order to prevent any cross contamination of our products with non-declared ingredients. All of our products that do not contain peanuts, tree nuts, dairy or soy – as listed on the ingredient label are theoretically peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and soy free. However because of the remote chance of contamination from machinery or peanuts, nuts & soy or dairy in the plant we can not imply that there is no possibility of minute amounts of these allergens in our products.
After handling any product that contains allergens, we do a full allergen clean-up on the production lines. We use various cleaning methods such as rinsing, hot scrubber machines, vacuums and organic compliant cleaning solution followed by protein tests on the equipment. Cleaning is supervised and checked off by Q.A.
No matter how small the chance, we feel it is our obligation to inform customers of this possibility. Our main concern is the health risk to any of our customers who may have a life-threatening allergy. We feel that consumers must make the final choice in consultation with their healthcare provider about eating Nature’s Path products.
Please note; it is advisable to check ingredient labels periodically as recipes can change over time. Please also visit Food Allergy for allergy information. Please visit Nature’s Path for more information on our company and our products.
Thank you for being a valued Nature’s Path customer.
Kind regards,
Jalal Darrach
Consumer Services
Nature’s Path Foods
9100 Van Horne Way
Richmond BC V6X 1W3
or 2220 Nature’s Path Way
Blaine WA 98230
Like most companies I’ve contacted, they are so amazingly thorough and detailed in how they address allergen concerns, it makes me very happy. I’m not sure if it helps put me at ease enough to buy some of their products for P, but I am considering it.
i love that they followed up with thoroughness! well done nature’s path!
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I’ll check this company off of my list of “need to contact”.
Have you ever tried the Enjoy Life products? They make completely allergy free products in an allergen free facility. My son loves their cookies as a special treat and I can give them to him without fear of any reaction.
i haven’t looked into their products yet but thanks for the reminder – a friend brought some of their chewy GF cookies to a birthday party because she knew P had allergies and i tried one and OMG was it delish. i should definitely look into their products for him though. do you have nay favorites you could rec?
seriously! such an awesome company.
The cocoa loco bars are my favorite and all of the chewy cookies are amazing! The Plentils are awesome too, they melt in your mouth so they are good for the little ones.
awesome! thank you so much, i know I’ve tried the plentils way back when but thats a brilliant idea for P, especially since he’s not keen on lentils 🙂
Thanks for sharing their response! I’m very happy to read thay they do protein test, although I’m not sure if that’s still enough guarantee for me either. I’m in the same boat as you – tired of repetitive cooking and preparing every single thing from scratch. I do love cooking for him, but as it is I work full time and we are toying with the idea of having another. I don’t even know how I would manage cooking every day through the first trimester again. UGH.
We also love enjoy life products. So far Mason has had all the chewy cookies (OMG the snickerdoodles are amazing) and the plentils.
Completely unrelated to this post, but I was thinking over what I ate today and I couldn’t help but think – I ate like Elise by accident today! Breakfast was oats and bananas and such, lunch was eggs and kale and a little ham, dinner was spiralized zucchini and I finished it off with yogurt and dark chocolate covered ginger. 😀
You’re becoming a one woman company allergen statement database! (This is something the world needs! Imagine just clicking the company’s name for all of their allergen info!)
Honestly i dunno if with how serious Ps allergies are that their cross contamination potential is worth the risk….
I buy the enjoy life choco chips all the time since they are dairy free, they’re really good! Bob’s red mill makes a few gluten free granolas and hot cereals, and i know they are crazy militant about allergen cross contamination issues.
It is awesome to hear that there are companies who care about this as much as we do!
I am neurotic about allergies (my husband teases me all the time about this) but I won’t let my best friend have cake at weddings after she once had a piece with almond frosting and almost died – so now I make her a cupcake for every wedding she goes to and I put it in a cupcake carrier. This was my long winded way of saying I’m not sure I could trust np either! Thank you for sharing all of your info
My son was recently diagnosed with a tree nut allergy. I got the same response from NP as you, along with the following detailed product information, just this evening:
The following products do not share equipment with peanuts or tree nuts;
Nature’s Path Toaster Pastries ( Frosted Toaster Pastries contain dairy. Unfrosted Toaster Pastries share equipment with dairy. No egg in facility).
Nature’s Path Frozen Waffles (Share equipment with dairy, egg).
Nature’s Path does manufacture some of its products in a dedicated nut free facility. Here is the list of Nature’s Path products made in a peanut free factory;
Nature’s Path Puffed Bagged cereals – Puffed Rice, Puffed Corn, Puffed Millet, Puffed Kamut are made in a peanut free facility. (Share equipment with wheat. No egg or dairy in facility).
Nature’s Path Organic Hot Oatmeal is made in a peanut free facility. These products share equipment with or contain tree nuts.
Please visit Nature’s Path for more information on our company and our products.
Thank you for being a valued Nature’s Path customer.
Kind regards,
Chloe
Consumer Services
Nature’s Path Foods
9100 Van Horne Way
Richmond BC V6X 1W3
or 2220 Nature’s Path Way
Blaine WA 98230
Nature’s Path
Thanks so much!!
Thanks so much for the info on the toaster pastries being made in a peanut / treenut facility. Very happy to find another reliable and safe option! I wish they had this kind info on their website though as it wasn’t easy to find (very minor complaint!).
i agree it’s a nicely written letter but it translates into “we use shared equipment that we sanitize.” For someone with a serious allergy, only a dedicated line will do.
Let’s not get too warm and fuzzy about Nature’s Path.
Today, my 6yo son who has a medically diagnosed life-threatening peanut allergy, ate a small amount of their Chocolate Koala Crisp cereal (at a playdate at a friend’s house).
He experienced a severe reaction (fortunately full anaphylaxis was averted with rapid administration of medicines).
Although this particular cereal is not made in their peanut-free facility, its ingredients list does not contain anything peanut related.
So beware of the company’s phrases such as “full allergen cleanup”, “extensive planning and cleaning schedule” . “protein testing” etc when ultimately their disclaimer statement essentially absolves them of any responsibility for these claims.
And my family, possibly other families, has experienced a close call with one of their products.
Is the company really doing what they say? – maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. If they aren’t, they may not really care – it’s just part of marketing – as they have a DIS-claimer.
OH MY GOSH! I’m so so sorry! That is very scary indeed and will make me think twice about the claims various companies make about their cleaning practices. Again, I am SO sorry for what you guys went through…and so glad you guys were on top of it with the epi pen.