“Because it can be difficult and expensive to keep sesame in one part of a baking plant out of another, some companies began adding small amounts of sesame to products that didn’t previously contain the ingredient to avoid liability and cost.”
A 2022 law put sesame on the list of major allergens that must appear on packaging. Bimbo Bakeries, the outfit behind Sara Lee, Oroweat, Thomas’ and Entenmann’s, answered by printing sesame and tree nuts on labels for breads that contained neither. Bakers who dumped sesame into the dough to dodge cleaning costs broke the spirit of the rules, the FDA says, but not the letter. The 33 million Americans with food allergies lost a pile of safe bread so a food giant can skip the cleanup.