I must be talking to the wrong people. Pepperidge Farm told me they clean well between products and will label if they feel there is cross contamination despite thorough cleaning but that they do not have any dedicated lines or facilities. In fact I was told this by all Campbell's brands, all of which we avoid. We also avoid Ragu (which is Unilever?) because of the same thing and I think Chef Boyardee is Con Agra which we mostly avoid (same issue). Pepperidge Farm has also told people (including me) that if the concern is peanuts or tree nuts, none of their products contain peanut (not true-the refrigerated biscuits contain peanut flour) and that nearly everything else BUT graham goldfish are safe. Only thing is, graham goldfish have no warning and PF themselves are telling people they aren't safe. So the only way to know is to call? No thanks. Here's what they sent me in the past:
Pepperidge Farm follows all government regulations regarding the labeling of our products. In the case of the top 8 allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, fish, wheat, soy and shellfish) we list those ingredients in the product ingredient statement, no matter how small the amount might be. We do not include any of those items under the broader listings of "spices" or "natural flavors". We recommend that consumers always check the ingredient statement and evaluate the product based on the statement.
If your concern is with Peanuts and Tree Nuts, I can tell you that at this point in time, none of our Goldfish Crackers(excluding Goldfish Grahams), Bread, Hamburger and Hot Dog Rolls, Croutons, Stuffing, Turnovers, Garlic Breads and Puff Pastry products currently use this ingredient. A few of our Cookie and Layer Cake products do contain Tree Nuts, but no Peanuts.
Our company policy is to clean and sanitize production equipment to minimize the risk of cross contact with any top allergens. In the case of just a handful of products, where we feel that despite the application of good manufacturing practices there may be some risk of cross contact, we will use a "may contain" statement on the label. Our decision to use a "May Contain" statement is made on a product-by-product basis with consumer safety being the ultimate goal.
So as a summary, if the ingredient statement does not list the allergen, and there is no "may contain" statement in the ingredient statement, you can be assured that we have done our best to eliminate cross contact and are not aware of any top allergen in the product.
For cheese we use sargento. They told me their natural cheeses are made in a peanut and tree nut free facility.
Last time I checked with Mondelez (Nabisco) they told me they do not have any dedicated lines but usually plain and double stuff oreos are on their own lines. No dedicated facilities whatsoever. The time before they told me something totally different. We do use any oreos without a warning though, with caution. I believe there's a recent write-up about oreos at snacksafely.com. We avoid all other Nabisco/Mondelez other than the occasional splurge on fig newtons and I will get their graham crackers if I can't find Keebler ones.
We trust any Hostess EXCEPT for anything made in plant 23000, which has walnuts in it.
Kellogg's/Keebler's will label for shared lines for peanut and tree nut only. They do not label for shared facilities.
We trust Frito Lay's labeling for peanut/tree nut.
