Allergen & Dietary Information
Nut-free Fruit Processing
If you work in foodservice, you know how important it is to cater to customers' dietary needs and restrictions. Whether it’s nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, halal suitable, vegan, or vegetarian, it is essential to have options available for everyone.
At Barker's Professional, we take pride in maintaining a nut-free production site at our Shaw Road factory. This means that all our products (excluding Dulce de Leche, which is made offsite) are manufactured at a site free from any traces of nuts, making them safer for people with nut allergies. Food allergies can be life-threatening, and for people who have a food allergy, the only way to manage it is to avoid the allergen; therefore, New Zealand laws enforce mandatory labelling requirements to help.
Our strict nut-free processes aren’t the only dietary requirement we cater to. In this blog, we talk through the other specialty dietary requirements we aim to cater to, what they mean, and how you can tell which products are made to standard so you can make an informed purchasing decision.
Food Allergens,
Dietary Requirements,
and Our Standards
As a manufacturer of quality foods, we have a responsibility to help our customers by providing information on allergens and ingredients that may be present in our products. To provide clear and accurate product information an effective allergen management plan is in place in our factory.
All our products meet the labelling requirements of FSANZ standards and therefore all allergens are identified in the ingredient listing on the label according to the following codes:
GF = Gluten-Free Product
DF = Formulated not to contain dairy (formulated as Dairy-Free)
HS = Formulated as a Halal Suitable Product (uncertified)
HC = Halal Certified Product
VE = Vegan Suitable
V = Vegetarian Suitable
Dietary Label Breakdown 👇
Gluten-Free Products
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for gluten-free foods. This demand is being driven by rising awareness of celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and a general interest in healthy eating.
As a result, we continuously strive to make as many of our products gluten-free as possible. Recently, we have adapted the recipe of our Anathoth Farm Chef Series Tomato Relish to become gluten-free.
Dairy-free, Vegan,
and Vegetarian
Dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan are all dietary patterns that involve avoiding certain types of food or food ingredients, but they are not the same:
Dairy-free refers to avoiding the consumption of foods and beverages that contain dairy products, such as milk, cheese, butter, cream, and yoghurt.
Vegetarian suitable excludes meat, poultry, and seafood but may contain other animal products such as eggs and dairy.
Vegan-friendly excludes all ingredients that are derived from animals, such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, honey, dairy, etc.
While vegan products are automatically dairy-free and vegetarian friendly, some vegetarian products may not be dairy-free or vegan. Additionally, some dairy-free products may not be vegetarian or vegan friendly, so it is important to take note of the allergen information initials on our products to ensure you understand how each product complies with the above allergen definitions.
Halal Suitable and/or
Halal Certified
"Halal" is an Arabic word meaning "lawful" or "permissible". Muslims around the world, as part of their religious belief, are extremely concerned that the food they eat and the products they use are "Halal", rejecting anything containing or contaminated with alcohol or pork as "Haram" (not permissible).
Besides the ingredients, it is also the process of manufacture that makes a particular item "Haram" for Muslims. To help you determine whether a product is "Halal" or otherwise, there are several Islamic organisations around the world that certify such products.
Many of our products are labelled as Halal Suitable*, meaning they comply with being Halal but have not undergone the official process for certification. If Halal certification is necessary for a market or a customer, we rely on distributors discussing this with us. As the certification process is a long and costly one, we need to understand the potential in your market and the products anticipated annual forecast before we apply for Halal certification. To certify our products, Barker’s Professional collaborates with the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ).
*Please be aware the Halal Suitability of our products is determined on a product-by-product basis and does not extend to encompass our whole manufacturing site.