Hello everyone, I just joined because it is driving me nuts trying to figure this out. This is my last ditch effort before having to reach out myself, but I’m leaning towards yes, due to Worcestershire sauce. America is allowed to be SUPER shady with their ingredients and don’t have to put where ingredients such as enzymes are derived from in cheese or what “natural flavor” is. Which, as a vegetarian, drives me absolutely insane. My biggest concern with this question is that where it says “contains wheat” shouldn’t it legally say that it contains fish for allergy purposes ??????
*I’ve read conflicting responses and all date back at least 6 years saying both yes and no, so wondering if anyone else has run into this AND BRING LIGHT TO HOW SHADY THE AMERICAN FOOD INDUSTRY IS ALLOWED TO BE
by According_Top_5700
5 Comments
I’ve never heard of dried Worcestershire sauce, but I’m assuming it’s made from regular Worcestershire sauce. So I would assume it does have anchovies in it. Since it’s under the 2% or less ingredients list maybe that’s why they’re able to get away with not listing Fish as a major allergen like they list Wheat? It is so exhausting and confusing trying to figure out all the little sneaky ways meat is incorporated into so many foods
They do not. Multiple people have contacted the manufacturer directly with this question.
A food product in the USA that contains any fish at all must have it listed as an allergy warning.
There are multiple brands of worcestershire that contain no fish and are vegetarian or vegan.
I know this may be unpopular, for a couple of reasons, but out of laziness/don’t have time for this shit, I just drop a quick note saying I’ve stopped buying their product due to unclear labeling, tell them the issue, and then move on. It’s a little tougher when there isn’t an easy/ready replacement, but this is done by design, and if they don’t see a pushback/decrease, they assume it’s fine. Make them do the work of fixing their messaging.
Food scientist here. If it contained anchovies they would be required to declare a “Contains: fish” allergen statement.
Please don’t demonize the food industry. It’s not perfect, but it is a very big complicated system to feed billions of people around the world. I recognize that capitalism can muddy its integrity but know that big food companies will not lie on their ingredient declarations and violate FDA regulations because they would never risk the lawsuit.
If you want to understand how ingredient labels are regulated look up FDA’s 21CFR. Big food companies have teams of people who know it inside and out and review and approve ingredient declarations before they’re sent to the packaging producers. They aren’t lying, they follow FDA’s standards of identity, food safety regulations and ingredient specifications provided by raw material suppliers.
It doesn’t. The ingredients for the Worcestershire are listed directly after it in parenthesis. This one uses tamarind in lieu of anchovy; it’s a common substitute. It’s vegetarian.