Got Food Allergies? Think Twice Before Ordering Custom Cakes From Walmart's Bakery

For a shopper with a long and varied list, Walmart can be a good one-stop shop. Thanks to the store bakery, this includes custom cakes. But for anyone with food allergies, the convenience of Walmart selling basically everything is actually a detriment to its delicious desserts.

Walmart's website warns that any custom cake may contain a laundry list of common allergens, including peanuts, eggs, soy, tree nuts, sesame, wheat, and dairy. Any of these things could conceivably be in a cake recipe, but that's not the end of the allergy warning. Walmart custom cakes may also contain fish or shellfish.

Shellfish allergies in particular are common among both children and adults, and reactions can range from a stuffy nose to severe, life-threatening anaphylaxis. Walmart's bakery has no known products that intentionally contain fish or shellfish; the warning is likely present out of an abundance of caution against cross-contamination from other departments that do handle these allergens, including any employees who may spend time in both kitchens.

Custom cakes may be some of customers' favorite items from the Walmart bakery, but they might be less favored by people with allergies. Some folks may think that different phrases for allergy warnings convey different risk levels, but this is not true. Allergy warnings are required, but the specific wording they use is unregulated. If anything, labels like Walmart's, which say "may contain," are clearer than others.

Walmart would have good reason to be on its toes about potential allergens. Two of the worst grocery store bakery recalls came from Walmart, and both were due to undeclared peanut allergens (in one case, the product was also mislabeled).

One of the most annoying things that bakery employees put up with is customers being vague about their orders, especially allergies, but it's frustrating when stores are vague too. Neither Kroger nor Costco lists allergen warnings for custom cakes online, though customer experiences at Costco suggest an all-encompassing "may contain" similar to Walmart. Meanwhile, other big bakeries like Publix explicitly state a warning similar to Walmart's. But warning or not, allergen cross-contamination is always a concern at bakeries.