Nut Free Facility Requirements

Hello!

I have some questions about being a nut free facility that I can't seem to find the answers to, so I thought I might make an account and ask here. We already manage allergens from our suppliers and have verified that no peanuts or tree nuts are present in any of our raw materials from all of our suppliers, but there are a few other things I'm not sure about.

1. Are there any requirements or other guidance from the FDA (or other food safety bodies) on a "nut free facility" declaration?
2. Do we need our suppliers to guarantee they are a nut free facility as well, or just that their materials we purchase are nut free?
3. Do employees need to be forbidden from bringing food containing nuts/peanuts in the breakroom?
4. For vending machines, do foods that have "may contain" statements for nuts/peanuts need to be removed?

Any help or insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I'll answer 3 & 4 - YES, not allowed and pull all offending items.

I'll answer 3 & 4 - YES, not allowed and pull all offending items.

Thanks, Glenn! I thought that would be the case, but wanted to make sure.

The No Nut November is going to a next level here.

Hi,

1 - Not sure about FDA 

2 - You can ask for NUT policy, risk assessments, staff trainings, cleaning regime and validation results & documents in your supplier questionnaire etc  -   just make sure there are no may contain statements. 

3 - Forbidden

4 - Removed and inform vendors about your rules, ask them for a confirmation signature  

Other ; 

Check the visitors & contractors register questionnaire, add info there as well 

Add posters with bars like Snickers (and most popular food snacks) to your induction and in the canteen 

TACCP - consider this in TACCP risk assessment 

;)

To my knowledge, "Nut Free Facility" is not a regulated term by FDA or other international bodies (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that); and therefore interpretation is rampant in the community.  This organization takes some of the most common phrases I've heard of and defines what they should mean to their audience:

6 Different Kinds of Nut Free Labeling and What They Mean - Nut Free

Using the phrase "Nut Free Facility" on your product label seems like it can get into the realm of misleading label claims if you don't fully de-nut your facility: from ingredients and supplier approval to controlling what people eat on break.  People like me who aren't allergic often grab products not realizing they may contain a nut ingredient, and you're going to have to actively police people's lunch boxes and office desk drawers should you go to the level of enforcing no nuts in your whole facility.