Food recalls and allergy alerts: Sign up now for life-saving information

Food may contain ingredients that can cause adverse reactions in very sensitive individuals. Most adverse food reactions are caused by the following food and products made from them:

eggs

milk

peanuts

seafood (fish, crustaceans and shellfish)

sesame seeds

soy

sulphites

tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts/filberts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pinenuts, pistachios, walnuts)

wheat

These items may be listed differently on food labels. For example, casein is derived from milk. So if you have a milk allergy, one word to look out for is “casein”.

When the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) becomes aware of a potential hazard associated with a food, an investigation is launched to gather further information. The CFIA’s investigation may lead to a food recall if products are found to represent a health risk to consumers. CFIA’s inspectors work with the food company involved in the recall to make sure that all affected products are removed from store shelves.

In cases where the consumer needs to be aware of a serious health risk related to a food product, the CF issues a public warning, called “Allergy Alert” or “Health Hazard Alert”, to advise consumers through the media. These public warnings are also available on the CFIA Website.

To sign up for the CFIA’s free “Food Recalls and Allergy Alerts” e-mail notification
service, visit www.inspection.gc.ca.
Being informed about food recalls is helpful, and in some cases, can be life-saving!

For more information, visit the CFIA Website at www.inspection.gc.ca
or call 1-800-442-2342/TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time,
Monday to Friday).