The FASTER Act & Sesame: What US Food Producers Must Do
In 2021 the United States added its first new major food allergen in well over a decade. The FASTER Act made sesame the ninth allergen that must be declared on packaged food, effective January 1, 2023. The change sounded simple, but it triggered an unexpected industry response that left some allergic consumers with fewer safe options, not more. Here is what the law actually requires, why some producers chose to add sesame rather than keep it out, and the cross-contact controls that let you label honestly and protect your customers.
What the FASTER Act is
The FASTER Act — short for the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act — was signed into law in April 2021. The name covers a broad set of goals around food allergy research, data collection, and federal reporting, but for food producers the headline change was narrow and concrete: the Act declared sesame a major food allergen under US law.
Before the FASTER Act, US allergen labeling was governed by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, known as FALCPA. FALCPA recognized eight major allergens and required them to be clearly declared on packaged food. Sesame was not on that list, even though sesame allergy affects a meaningful share of the population and can cause severe reactions. The FASTER Act closed that gap by adding sesame as the ninth allergen, effective January 1, 2023.
If you sell packaged food in the US and you have not revisited your labels since this change, this is the single most important US allergen update of the decade to understand. For a fuller picture of how the underlying framework works, see our guide to FALCPA and the Big 9 allergens, and our overview of US compliance software.
The Big 9: how the list grew
With sesame added, the US now recognizes nine major food allergens, commonly referred to as the Big 9. The eight original FALCPA allergens plus sesame are:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish
- Crustacean shellfish
- Tree nuts
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
- Sesame (added by the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023)
These nine are the allergens that must be declared on packaged food. The labeling mechanics are unchanged: when a major allergen is present, it must be made clear to the consumer, either through the common name in the ingredient list or through a separate Contains statement. We will look at exactly how to do that for sesame below.
FASTER Act timeline
The unintended consequence: adding sesame on purpose
A law that adds a safe-labeling requirement should, in theory, make food safer for allergic consumers. The FASTER Act produced the opposite effect in part of the market, and understanding why is essential for any producer trying to do the right thing.
Sesame is unusually pervasive in shared manufacturing environments. Sesame seeds are small, light, and easily airborne; sesame flour is fine and clings to equipment; and many bakeries handle buns, breads, and snack products on lines that also run sesame-topped or sesame-containing items. Once the FASTER Act took effect, a producer of, say, a plain dinner roll faced a choice. Either they could guarantee that sesame does not cross-contact the product — which requires segregation, scheduling, deep cleaning, validation, and sometimes dedicated equipment — or they could take a shortcut.
The shortcut some manufacturers and commercial bakeries chose was to deliberately add a small amount of sesame flour to the product and declare it on the label. From a narrow regulatory standpoint, declaring an ingredient you actually added is straightforward and permitted. It is almost always cheaper and operationally simpler than proving, run after run, that an allergen is absent. So rather than invest in costly cross-contact controls, some producers added the very allergen the law was meant to help consumers avoid.
Is it legal? And what does the FDA say?
Intentionally adding sesame as an ingredient and declaring it is not, on its own, prohibited. That is precisely why the practice spread: it is a legally available path that sidesteps the cost of allergen controls. However, the FDA has publicly stated that it does not support the practice of adding sesame to foods that did not previously contain it, because doing so reduces the number of products that are safe for people with sesame allergy. The agency continues to encourage manufacturers to implement allergen controls to keep sesame out, rather than adding it to simplify labeling.
So the honest framing for a producer is this: adding sesame is tolerated by the letter of the law, but it runs against the spirit of the FASTER Act, the FDA's stated position, and the interests of your allergic customers. Treat it as a last resort, not a default. You can read the FDA's own guidance on the sesame allergen page.
How to declare sesame correctly
If your product genuinely contains sesame — whether as a deliberate ingredient or because it is part of the recipe (tahini, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sesame flour) — you must declare it. There are two accepted mechanisms, and many producers use both for clarity.
1. In the ingredient list
The simplest method is to ensure sesame appears by its common name within the ingredient list. If sesame is itself an ingredient, list it as "sesame." If sesame is part of a compound ingredient, make its presence clear, for example "tahini (sesame)" or "sesame flour." The consumer should be able to find the word "sesame" without ambiguity.
2. In a "Contains" statement
You may also add a separate Contains statement immediately after or directly adjacent to the ingredient list, such as "Contains: Sesame." One important rule: if you use a Contains statement, it must list every major allergen present in the product, not only sesame. A statement reading "Contains: Wheat, Soy, Sesame" is correct when all three are present; listing only sesame while wheat and soy are also present would be non-compliant.
The better path: cross-contact controls
If your product is not supposed to contain sesame, the goal is to keep it out — not to add it. Doing that reliably means building an allergen management program around documented, verified controls. The table below summarizes the main measures.
Segregation
Keep sesame-containing ingredients separated from everything else: store them in sealed containers, ideally in a different area, and handle them with their own utensils. Because sesame flour is so fine and seeds so light, segregation is as much about preventing airborne and surface transfer as it is about physical mixing.
Scheduling
Where one facility runs both sesame-free and sesame-containing products, schedule the sesame-free runs first — at the start of a shift or on dedicated days — so there is no sesame residue from a prior run to carry over. Production sequencing is one of the lowest-cost, highest-impact controls available to a small producer.
Cleaning and validation
Thorough cleaning between runs is essential, but cleaning that is merely visual is not enough for an allergen as potent as sesame. Validation — confirming through testing or a validated cleaning procedure that sesame protein has been removed — is what makes the control defensible if you are ever asked to demonstrate it. Document your cleaning procedure and your validation evidence.
Dedicated equipment
The most robust control is to dedicate equipment, tools, or whole lines to sesame-free production. This is also the most expensive, which is exactly the cost pressure that pushed some producers toward the add-sesame shortcut. For your highest-risk or highest-volume sesame-free products, dedicated equipment may still be the right investment.
Supplier verification
Your controls inside the facility are only as good as the ingredients coming in. Verify with each supplier whether a bought-in ingredient contains sesame, and whether it is produced in a facility that also handles sesame. A spotless in-house line does nothing if your flour blend already carries a sesame cross-contact risk you did not know about. Keeping supplier allergen declarations current is a core part of any allergen program — and software that ties each ingredient to its declaration makes that practical.
What this means for your labels and your software
The FASTER Act did not change the mechanics of allergen labeling — it added one allergen to the list you must watch. The practical work falls into three buckets: identify every product that contains sesame (intentionally or through a sesame-containing ingredient), declare sesame correctly on those products, and decide, for products that should be sesame-free, whether you will invest in controls to keep it out rather than adding it.
Software helps with the first two by keeping ingredient-level allergen data accurate and current. FoodCore stores an allergen profile for every ingredient, propagates allergens through nested recipes, and — with the Compliance Region set to US or Both — flags sesame as the ninth major US allergen across affected products. This assists your review; it does not replace your judgment, and it does not auto-enforce formatting rules like descending-weight ingredient order, dual net-quantity statements, or "Distributed by" wording. Those remain your responsibility to get right.
If you produce US Nutrition Facts labels alongside your allergen declarations, see our FDA Nutrition Facts label software, and for the full label workflow our guide to creating an FDA-compliant food label. If you sell into both markets, our comparison of FDA vs UK food labeling and the Nutrition Facts requirements for small businesses are useful companions. You can explore the full platform on the product page, review pricing, or start a self-serve trial at signup.foodcore.io — a 7-day free trial with no card required. You can also get started here.
The FASTER Act and sesame: frequently asked questions
What is the FASTER Act?
The FASTER Act (Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act) is a US federal law signed in April 2021. Its most significant practical effect was to declare sesame a major food allergen, adding it to the eight already recognized under FALCPA. As a result, from January 1, 2023, sesame must be declared on the labels of packaged foods sold in the US in the same way as the other major allergens. The Act also directed federal efforts on food allergy research, data collection, and reporting.
When did sesame become a major US allergen?
Sesame became the ninth major US food allergen effective January 1, 2023. The requirement applies to packaged foods manufactured on or after that date. Because there was no sell-through exemption for finished product already in the supply chain, food containing sesame and labeled before that date could still be sold, but anything produced on or after January 1, 2023 had to declare sesame. This created the Big 9: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.
How do I declare sesame on a food label?
Sesame is declared the same way as the other major allergens. When sesame is an ingredient, it must appear by its common name (sesame) in the ingredient list, or its presence must be made clear — for example sesame flour or tahini (sesame). Many producers also add a separate Contains statement adjacent to the ingredient list, such as "Contains: Sesame." If you use a Contains statement, it must list every major allergen present in the product, not only sesame. The declaration must reflect the food as actually formulated.
Why are some bakeries deliberately adding sesame to their products?
After sesame became a major allergen, some manufacturers and commercial bakeries found it difficult or costly to guarantee that sesame did not cross-contaminate products never meant to contain it, because sesame seeds and flour are pervasive in shared facilities. Rather than invest in full segregation, cleaning validation, and dedicated equipment, some chose to intentionally add a small amount of sesame flour and then declare it. Declaring an added ingredient is permitted and is generally easier and cheaper than proving the absence of cross-contact. The practice has been widely criticized because it removes safe options for sesame-allergic consumers.
Is it legal to add sesame instead of controlling cross-contact?
Intentionally adding sesame as an ingredient and declaring it on the label is not itself prohibited, and that is part of why the practice spread. However, the FDA has publicly stated that it does not support adding sesame to products that previously did not contain it, because the practice makes fewer foods safe for people with sesame allergy. The agency continues to encourage manufacturers to implement allergen controls rather than add the allergen. Treat the added-sesame approach as legally tolerated but ethically and commercially questionable, and weigh the impact on allergic customers.
What cross-contact controls keep sesame out of a product?
Effective controls include physically segregating sesame-containing ingredients and storing them separately; scheduling sesame-free runs first or on dedicated days; thorough cleaning between runs with validation confirming sesame protein has been removed; using dedicated equipment or utensils for sesame-free lines where feasible; and supplier verification so you know whether bought-in ingredients carry a sesame cross-contact risk. These controls are documented within an allergen management program and verified on an ongoing basis.
How does FoodCore help with sesame and FASTER Act labeling?
FoodCore stores an allergen profile for every ingredient and reasons under frameworks including FALCPA and the FASTER Act when its AI assistant helps you review a product. With the Compliance Region set to US or Both, FoodCore can flag sesame as the ninth major US allergen and surface it across affected recipes, helping you see where a declaration is needed. FoodCore assists with this review and label preparation, but it does not guarantee compliance and does not auto-enforce every formatting rule. Final responsibility for an accurate label always rests with the food business. FoodCore offers a 7-day free trial with no card required.
Further resources
- FDA: Sesame Allergen guidance
- FALCPA & the Big 9 Allergens: US labeling guide
- How to create an FDA-compliant food label
- FDA Nutrition Facts label requirements for small business
- FDA vs UK food labeling: a comparison
- FoodCore FALCPA allergen labeling software
- FoodCore US food labeling software
- FoodCore FDA Nutrition Facts label software
- FoodCore US compliance software
FoodCore is kitchen management software for food businesses. It stores ingredient allergen data, reasons under frameworks including FALCPA and the FASTER Act, and helps you prepare US and UK labels. FoodCore assists with compliance — the food business stays responsible for it.
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