Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies Will Now Carry Peanut Allergy Warning
BOSTON (CBS) - A label change could have some Girl Scout cookie lovers rethinking what they buy this year. ABC Bakers, one of two bakeries licensed to make Girl Scout cookies, has updated their allergy labeling.
Thin Mints made by ABC Bakers now carry the warning "may contain milk, peanuts, and coconut." The new warning is a result of a labeling update required by the FDA.
The bakery says nothing about the recipe has changed, but the updated labeling is to ensure transparency that allergens, including peanuts, may be present during the baking process.
Meghan Neri is the parent of a child with a peanut allergy and appreciates the transparency.
"It creates a more transparent label, so that a consumer who in the past may have eaten a cookie and had a possible risk, now they may choose not to eat that cookie," Neri said.
"Consumers can be assured that all safety protocol around adhering to allergens and safety of allergens and safety protocols around cross-contamination of ingredients are adhered to," said Caitriona Taylor, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts.
ABC Bakers is the company that supplies cookies to Girl Scout troops in Massachusetts. The other company licensed to make Thin Mints, Little Brownie Bakers, does not list peanuts as an allergen risk in their Thin Mints.
Dr. John Leung, Director of the Center for Food Related Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, recommends parents play it safe.
"I always tell them avoid food that may contain the allergen or may [be] processed in a facility that process[es] the allergen, because we never know how severe the reaction could be, even with a small amount," he said.