Weetabix, now free of shellfish?

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I'm from the USA, and ran across a reference to Weetabix, so I looked it up. On Amazon, it is listed for sale and for some strange reason, it is certified allergen free of Abalone? Why in the world would breakfast cereal need to be certified to be shellfish free, and for that matter, why free of just Abalone?

https://www.amazon.com/Weetabix-Cereal-Whole-Grain-Biscuits/...

Here's the link in case you want to take a look.

Couldn't resist letting people see this one, not bad for my first ever blog entry anywhere.

Added May 27, 2021:

Just in case you can't see it, here is a copy and paste of part of the item description from Amazon:

Flavor Name: Whole Grain

Organic Whole Grain

$7.37

($0.53 / Ounce)

Whole Grain

$4.29

($0.31 / Ounce)

Size: 14 Ounce (Pack of 1)
Brand Weetabix
Flavor Whole Grain
Ingredients Whole Wheat, Barley Malt Extract, Organic Dehydrated Cane Syrup, Salt, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine, Hydrochloride (B1).Whole Wheat, Barley Malt Extract, Organic Dehydrated Cane Syrup, Salt, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine, Hydrochloride (B1). See more
Allergen Information Abalone Free
Weight 1.2 Pounds
Package Information Box
Package Weight 0.56 Kilograms

(Italics added by me)

Comments

Ah, Weetabix

Maddy Bell's picture

As a child we lived just a few miles from the factory at Burton Latimer, the fleet of bright yellow trucks a common sight on local roads, the smell of the biscuits a familiar thing - needless to say, locally it was by far and away the most popular breakfast 'cereal'!

Things have changed over the years, the truck fleet has gone, most stores do their own brand inferior version, given free choice though, most people still prefer the original.

I guess you could list a whole range of stuff that they are free from given the major component is wheat, not sure why you would single out just one or even need to mention it tho.

Here are the actual ingredients Ingredients. Wholegrain Wheat (95%), Malted Barley Extract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid.


image7.1.jpg    

Madeline Anafrid Bell

There is an obvious answer...

Lawyers.

My guess is that someone with a shellfish allergy had a reaction after eating some Weetabix and sued. This statement is the makers covering their you know whats...

Samantha
IANAL and don't play one on TV.

Now free from "Free From Shellfish"

Iolanthe Portmanteaux's picture

Looks like they took that phrase away. I checked the page and couldn't find it.

I do see, though, that they assert that it's Kosher, so it was probably connected with that.

- io

That's odd,

it still shows up the same way for me, maybe it only says that here in the USA?

World-wide abalone

Iolanthe Portmanteaux's picture

My mistake. I read too quickly. I was looking for "shellfish" not "abalone". It's there -- it was always there.

- io

We Have A Very Similar Cereal

joannebarbarella's picture

In Australia and New Zealand, but it's called "Weet-Bix". I've never heard of anyone claiming that it contains shellfish. In fact it's marketed as being vegan.

Vegan Shellfish

Interestingly I triggered a shellfish vs vegan "discusion" some years ago that I'd forgotten until this came up. I was out with some new and old acquantices down on the gulf coast and the topic turned to where to eat. One person touted a new establishment that served fresh shrimp dishes. I interjected that I didn't eat shellfish. (Severe shellfish allergies, very severe). This prompted another new acquantice to enquire if I was a vegan. Before I could reply yet another observed that it was perfectly fine for vegans to eat shellfish. That was quickly disputed by another, and that argument had legs, let me tell you!

To this day I still dont know if shellfish is vegan or not. My concern begins and ends with avoiding long disgusting conversations with Ralph on the great white telephone as well as the price of epipens.

Beef, it's what's for dinner!
Oklahoma Beef Producer's Institute


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

As far as I know, the only

As far as I know, the only reason the word 'vegan' was coined was to push the "No animal products at all, period" agenda.

Vegetarians come in a lot of strains. I have a friend who will eat some cheese, dairy, and fish, but no heavier meat products. Not out of any sense of meat is murder, but because her body doesn't process it well. They have 'ovo-lacto', fish.. etc.

Vegans won't touch meat (or leather, etc). Which makes them susceptible to a lot of nutritional disorders, just like folks that _only_ eat sea salt. (no iodine) There are ways around it, but without our modern transport system for all the unusual fruits and vegetables? We wouldn't have vegans. Just dead skinny people.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Asbestos-Free Cereal

Daphne Xu's picture

There is a TVtrope called Asbestos-Free Cereal. It's probably an example of that. Something is advertised as being free of something practically nobody would even think of it having.

The trope may be more general. It appears to encompass something such as "Fluoride-Free Toothpaste!"

-- Daphne Xu

Fat Free

The example that I like best is that a package of Twizzlers states that Twizzlers are "Fat Free".

Very Common

Daphne Xu's picture

"Fat Free" is very common.

-- Daphne Xu

"Fat Free Fig Newtons!" Of

"Fat Free Fig Newtons!" Of course, they never _had_ fat in them, so...


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Whale Away!

Iolanthe Portmanteaux's picture

You've reminded me of a (fictitious) product called Whale Away, which was guaranteed to keep whales out of your garden.

The advertisement featured a picture of Captain Ahab in a garden with an upraised stick.

- io

Adelbert A. Baloney

erin's picture

Abalone is almost certainly the first item in a list of possible allegens. Sounds like someone failed to account for an accurate nil input, defaulting to the first item on the list. So, if you're not allergic to anything, you must be allergic to Abalone.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Nice

Now that makes sense of it, thanks!

I'll stick with my Flintstones cereal

laika's picture

I'll stick with my favorite Flinstones-themed
cereal, Fruity Pebbles...
It's trilobite free!

As someone who ate a lot of abalone when I was growing up
(and who probably unwittingly contributed to the 2 tastiest species
being on the endangered list, and the other 5 pretty scarse too...)
I miss it and would have it any way I could, even in a cereal;
although a ceviche tostada seems like a much better
place for this delicious Pacific mollusk....

The last time I checked (early 90's...) abalone steaks were
over $50 a pound, way more than I can afford. So it goes.
~hugs, Veronica

I'm part of the test

Lynda shermer's picture

I'm part of the test population that inflicted Captain Crunch upon the world (it was unlabelled at that point, but the shape was the same.)

But these days I just eat Cheerios, plain, out the box or with milk.

Latest_me.jpgLynda Shermer

It's required

It's required to get certified as kosher, shellfish are not kosher

Anne Margarete