Comment by xoa

>Not exactly. A business that produces no products containing sesame will not have risk of even trace contamination, so it would have every incentive to not include "may contain sesame" on the label.

But that was already the case, that's the point. If a business produces certified/assured allergy free food, then they can advertise that as an explicit product feature, and those who need it (or those buying on their behalf or with them in mind) can then pick it out vs competitors. That's "white list" in action, by default things aren't medical grade, and consumers can be confident in those that claim they are.

>Allergies are weird in that a "plain and obvious" production process would probably be fine. A normal breadstick, made at home, would probably not contain sesame flour and thus would be perfectly safe. However, efficient industrial production results in not-strictly-necessary cross contamination and unexpected allergen exposure.

My understanding from family with serious allergies is that this definitely isn't true. Real effort needs to be made avoiding cross contamination in a home kitchen too, and indeed cross contamination at home is more, not less likely because most people are much more casual and have less space and equipment. Unless it's an allergy sufferers home (or their family) and there simply aren't any allergy ingredients there at all. But that merely makes the home a "dedicated facility" in essence too.

>Since allergies can lead to deadly-if-not-treated anaphylactic reactions, isn't this an argument for whitelisted ingredients?

No? Banning sesame (or peanuts, or dairy, or a vast array of other potential allergens) in general is unacceptable to an overwhelming supermajority of the population. It's not a reasonable accommodation, and in a democracy it's not happening. Whitelisting products is the solution. Ensure that anything labeled as allergen free is, and then that anyone with the need can get access to it.