Nuts
At Herbie’s Spices we maintain a strict regime of quarantining our nut products (hazelnuts and pistachio nuts) and sesame seeds, so they do not come into contact with other spices. We also thoroughly clean equipment after the nut products and sesame seeds have been packed. We have no peanuts on the premises.
We also operate an audited food safety management system called HACCP, and have obtained additional data from our suppliers as to the allergen status of the materials we purchase from them. Some of the sources of spices are relatively primitive by our standards, making absolute guarantees difficult. For this reason, if we are at all unsure about the chances of cross contamination with other crops, some of our products may bear the statement “May contain traces of nuts due to agricultural practices”.
While the easy way out for our business would be to put the “has been packed on the same equipment that is used for nut products” or “may contain traces of nuts and sesame seeds” on all our labels, we do not believe this is the responsible approach, as it limits consumer’s options to an unreasonable degree.