Sesame seeds, allergen labels and unexpected outcomes of government regulations

From todays edition of Matt Levines' Bloomberg Opinion column

Congress passed legislation intended to make life better for people allergic to sesame seeds. Instead, it made things worse. 

The bill, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by President Biden in 2021, requires manufacturers to label sesame on their products starting this year. 

In response, some companies began adding sesame to products that hadn’t included it in the past—saying it was safer to add sesame and label it, rather than certify they had eliminated all traces of it.

People with sesame allergies say the result is fewer sesame-free food options, as well as new and unexpected risks from sesame in foods they used to eat without worry. 

What do you think is the lesson here?

In one of my earlier blogposts, I outlined the "8 things a government can do" framework of thinking about public policy. Regulating an industry to place allergen labels feels like "Drastically change incentives" because the costs associated with adhering to this regulation are larger than adding sesame, in whatever quantity, to every food item.

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