Nestlé Canada Allergy and Sensitivity Concerns

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2023

If you need to advise us of a product safety or concern, click here

At Nestlé Canada, we take food allergies seriously; and the health and safety of our consumers is always our #1 priority. We want you to feel confident that the ingredient lists of our products and the details on our packaging are transparent and easy to understand – it’s important to us.  

 

All Nestlé products are required to follow the regulations by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). We always recommend that you check label ingredient lists or the “May Contain” statement.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In case of emergency, please connect with a health care professional. 

Should you have any further questions regarding your allergy, we invite you to connect with one of our Consumer Ambassadors for further information. 

Please provide as many details regarding the product as possible:  

  • UPC (Bar Code) 
  • Manufacturing code (series of numbers)
  • Best Before date 
  • Store name and location of purchase  
  • Photo  

Q. What are the top priority food allergens?  

In Canada, there are eleven (11) priority food allergens and 2 sensitivities that must be labelled on all packaging: 

Peanuts 

Tree nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, hazel nuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio, walnuts) 

  • Sesame seeds 
  • Milk 
  • Eggs 
  • Fish 
  • Crustaceans and Shellfish 
  • Molluscs 
  • Soy 
  • Wheat 
  • Mustard 
  • Sulfites (any more than 10ppms) 
  • Gluten (from oats, barley, triticale and wheat) 

These priority allergens and sensitivities have been shown to account for more than 90% of severe adverse reactions related to food allergens and must be declared on the ingredient list when they are added to pre-packaged products or on precautionary allergen statements if there is a potential for cross-contamination.​

Q. What does “May Contain” mean?  

Priority allergens and sensitivities must be declared on the ingredient list when they are added to pre-packaged products or on precautionary allergen statements if there is a potential for cross-contamination.​ The “May Contain” statement on a label is meant to warn consumers of the possibility of cross-contamination. 

At Nestlé, we make all possible efforts to eliminate the potential of the cross-contact of priority food allergens on our processing lines and in our factories. Some of our factories may handle products containing priority food allergens, but through comprehensive management programs we minimize the risk of undeclared priority allergens.  

In circumstances where more than one product is processed on the same equipment and the equipment design makes it impossible to 100% guarantee the removal of all traces of these allergens after cleaning, we will use precautionary labelling to warn consumers of the possibility of cross-contamination ("May Contain" statement).​