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Kitchen 3-5 / Week 04 / Wednesday
3/6
Week 04 · Allergy Aware

Wednesday

Kitchen Lab: Label detective
// Read the label, ask before you share
⏱ about 15 min

Wednesday: Kitchen Lab: Label Detective

Oliver the Owl lines up three packages on the table. "Detectives, gather round," he says.

Lizzy hands out paper. "What do you notice on the back of each package?"

Bennie squints at the small print. "I see a Contains line!"

Riley taps the table. "Here is a hint," he says. "Check every package, one at a time."

Your mission

You will read three real food labels with a grown-up.

Find the ingredients list. Find the Contains line, if there is one.

Write down every major allergen you find.

  • Three closed food packages from your kitchen
  • A pencil and paper
  • A grown-up helper
Safety first
Leave the packages closed. This lab is for reading only.
Nothing is tasted in this lab.
Put each package back where it belongs.
Allergy label words
Nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame.
  1. Wash your hands with all five steps.
  2. Pick up the first package. Turn it over.
  3. Find the ingredients list.
  4. Look for a Contains line near it.
  5. Write each major allergen you see.
  6. Do the same for the other two packages.
  7. Count the allergens on each one.
PackageContains line?Allergens I foundHow many?
1
2
3

Copy this table on paper. Fill it in as you read.

MAKE A PREDICTION
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Before you read, predict. Will every package name an allergen?

Detective math

Add up your counts to find the total.

Bennie found 2, then 1, then 0 allergens. How many in all?
Lizzy found 3 on one label and 1 on another. How many more on the first?
Detective checkTrue or false?
Labels can name allergens in the ingredients list.?
Every food has a Contains line.?
You should taste the food to check it.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEReading, not tasting, is how cooks check a label.
What do you read to find allergens? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe label tells you what is inside the food.
For a grown-up
Choose three closed packages and read them with your child.
Point out your family's allergens if anyone has a food allergy.

Case solved, label detective! Tomorrow you read the dip card and learn to ask before you share.

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