I agree with what Rachel said.  I don't think there is a "standard" for "free".  stuff is labeled dairy free, but has casien or milk deriviatve....

Quote from: nameless on September 03, 2012, 12:10:07 PM
To be advertised as "whatever free" I do believe there are regulations for that as well for your state and the FDA rules. That's why we don't see so much peanut/nut "free" advertised in the states on manufactured foods.

Nope. This has come up before WRT both Whole Foods and Dryer's/Edy's. They're totally unregulated terms, for the most part, with a couple specific exceptions.

Quote from: Mfamom on September 03, 2012, 06:29:13 PM
just did some research, selling cookies/baked stuff out of your home is illegal in my state
http://triboro.patch.com/announcements/nj-home-bakers-legalize-sale-of-home-baked-goods

It could be she does her baking in a commercially rented kitchen, like in a church basement or off-hours restaurant or a larger facility that you rent time in.

It's not clear from that announcement if you have a second residence (like in-law or basement apt) that is NOT lived in but listed as a business address w/ a dept of heath certificate that it's ok. That's what you have to do in most states...business license + address and health dept. certificate.

Adrienne

just did some research, selling cookies/baked stuff out of your home is illegal in my state
http://triboro.patch.com/announcements/nj-home-bakers-legalize-sale-of-home-baked-goods

This is downright scary.

I wonder if it would help to emphasize that she is inviting herself to be sued?  She doesn't seem to understand that many major corporations produce items without nuts, on dedicated lines and still don't market them as such because they know they are setting themselves up for liability.

Well if she's not got a business license and certified kitchen she's breaking the law. All sorts of fines and whatnot.

And yes - if someone got ill or had a reaction off her goods she could be sued. And if she doesn't have a business license/certified kitchen she's in double doo-doo...and probably doesn't have liability insurance.

But - she might have another kitchen. It's easy to ask her, she may or not respond. You could flat out ask her if she's doing the baking/etc. in her home kitchen where regular household foods and cooking can mingle with allergen free.

Or you could just write up something talking about cross-x, talking about labeling laws...that many severely allergic and well-aware allergic have to not only read labels but call to find out about cross-x in manufactured products.  That trace amounts can be in the products and can cause reactions. You can preface it all saying that you are very concerned about her recent marketing and she may now see more food allergic individuals...which will up the ante for her and how well she avoids cross-x in her own kitchen let alone the raw materials she is buying. 

I think all you can do is give her information. Just send it to her --- she reads it or she doesn't but you've sent it and might have more peace of mind.

The alternate is call the dept of heath in your area and get her possibly in trouble and her business shut down. I don't think there's a way to just get her to stop saying gluten/nut/pn free on things without getting her whole operation in trouble if she's not certified/licensed.

Depends how far you want to take it, and then be enemy #1 and possibly get sued for harassment.

My vote is to just inform her. One more email with information on labeling, cross-x, and documentation of reactions from cross-x. Might make her think twice about this re-branding.

Adrienne

what freaked me out one day a long time ago is I was at my sil house and she kept insiting she could bake for my ds.  (I tend to resist more when i feel I'm being pushed into something) anyway, I raised the arm of her kitchenaid mixer and there was dried "batter" on the underside where the beater goes, it was actually pretty gunked up. 
I showed her....all it would take is for some of it to break off when she put the arm down into her "peanut free" creation.

do you think a person doing home baking and selling it could be sued if a peanut allergic kid bought one of her pf creations?

Exactly...so many people dont understand labeling laws
So many dont understand it just takes s tiny bit to cause reaction.  She obviously thinks nut free means she didn't add nuts to the recipe. 

Who even knows if she is using generic ingredients that generally don't even label for possible cross contamination or shared facilities. I hope nothing bad happens to any of her allergic customers.

i guess it just irks me and concerns me when people try to bake for allergic individuals.  irks me too when so many parents are trusting of people like this to bake for their kids.

devil's advocate --- it might be she is doing prep-work and cleaning correctly and there is minimal risk.

When I go home to visit family - we re-wash by hand w/ a new sponge anything I use or we cook with and I buy new baking items (flour, butter, etc.) b/c my sister has nuts and peanuts out all the time.  I've done ok with that and it seems the way to do it correctly. Washing w/ a new dish sponge and towels, thoroughly clean counters, etc.

Now there's a whole other issue with her raw materials --- like...what chocolate chips would she use? Do they come w/ a warning and she's just using them saying nut/pn free?  There are those issues too.

I think you'll just have to let this one go, though it's annoying and you are worried about safety for others. You've put concerns on her radar and maybe she'll take pause on it, even if she's not saying that to you.  Everyone has a different comfort zone, so you just have to let people do their own thing. Hopefully no one learns a fatal lesson...that's the concern.

I guess if you want to pursue you could ask the board of health about her license/kitchen. Else -- maybe print out some of the In memory stories that show cross-x as the culprit, and mail them to her.

Adrienne

that's what makes me upset....I can assure my clients...
like hell you can. 

here's her latest reply:

I appreciate you inquiring and your concerns. The products I make are nut-free and I can assure my clients that the products they receive will be just that. I never stated that the facility is a nut-free facility and I will state that to anyone who asks. Again, I have never had any problems, issues or concerns raised thus far with any of my products and I have been in business for 7 years.
..

Well --- the laws (pretty much in each state or county) are that in order to have a home-food business you have to have a separate kitchen, 2 separate sinks, pet-free, non-residential kitchen to cook/bake in in order to sell. The health department certifies the kitchen.  She also would need a business license to have any homebased business where she makes any money from it at all, before cost deductions.

Sounds like a hobby kitchen that may not be certified. It's possible she could have a basement second kitchen or an in-law apt. that got certified to bake in. Probably not.

If you are that concerned you could wait a little while and then report her to the health dept.  To be advertised as "whatever free" I do believe there are regulations for that as well for your state and the FDA rules. That's why we don't see so much peanut/nut "free" advertised in the states on manufactured foods.

Adrienne

I understand that but I think a lot of us are here because we are the "elite" among allergies.  I know other's with peanut allergies that don't go to the lengths that I do and I know those here that would consider my approach lax.

So for us?  Yeah that kitchen is a no go given that there are huge factors.  Heck, I have thrown out most of my old cookware because things like teflon hide gluten proteins.  And the few things I kept are able to be covered safely (parchment paper) to make me feel comfortable. 

I have a really nice stand mixer that I used pre-gluten allergy that no matter how well I clean, there are too many factors that would make cross contamination a risk.  Could I use it to make something for my MIL who is avoiding gluten for health reasons but not anal retentive about it, sure.  But not for DS1.