Meant to Bean!

ALLERGEN INFO

BANZO BRANDS CARES

Our intent is to be transparent and provide a trusted snack for everyone. The biggest goal we have had since the start is to work toward obtaining a facility where we can produce this product free-from the top 14 food allergens. Unfortunately, timing and finances have not been on our side in attaining such a facility, and we felt that after two years of searching, Banzo Butter needed to be shared with the world. We changed our goal with the intent to sell jars until we produce enough money to sustain ourselves in an allergen-free facility (which we found, hooray). We implore you to follow along on this journey, and we sincerely cannot wait and will not stop until our friends with food allergies, no matter the severity, can have their first bite. 

Our co-founder and CEO Amy is a food scientist with a passion for allergy-friendly food creation. She has taken a well-known food safety course and is PCQI-certified (PCQI = preventive controls qualified individual) to ensure we are following FSMA protocols and to demonstrate to consumers that we care and take all steps necessary to avoid any contamination/allergen cross-contact and food safety risks.

If you have any questions, please reach out! Safety is our first priority.


FACILITY

Our manufacturing facility is a commercial kitchen where companies may share equipment. For this reason, we do not recommend that people with severe anaphylactic reactions eat our product until we move facilities (working on it as fast as possible!) This manufacturing space is audited by the FDA and Ohio Department of Agriculture to ensure they follow good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and put safety at the top of their priority list.


SOURCING

We acknowledge that not all of the ingredients we source are from allergen-free facilities. Although our initial intent was to only source from allergen-free facilities, it became a stubborn obstacle that impeded any growth. Often the taste and textures of those ingredients were unsatisfactory. We know that taste is often overlooked for allergen-free foods, and that is not a factor we will ever compromise. So, we are still actively working to find non-allergen facilities that provide ingredients up to our standards for safety and taste.

We require extensive paperwork from the suppliers that do have allergens in their facilities regarding allergen control plans, segregation of allergen ingredients, cleaning aids, and equipment sharing. These facilities are audited and work thoroughly in order to avoid cross-contact. We do not purchase ingredients that are shared on a line with any Big 8 food allergen.

 




x