Talking Allergies

I have been struggling to isolate why I have had swollen lips for the past little while.

I wanted to check out if maybe the 'cheaper' olive oil we've been using may be the culprit and I came across this link -

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/News/o ... candal.htm

I'm writing to the company and will keep you posted on the results.

TMcG

That is making me freak out completely. I was using Bertoli Olive oil and my gf buys the extra-virgins from time to time. I have not had a reaction but this is very disturbing. Sometimes I have trouble breathing and I think my asthma might be badly controlled and I take an extra puff. Could it be a reaction to that or some other food that is hidden?

I'm no longer buying anything. I'm moving on a farm and making everything from scratch.

Wow, this really is concerning. I wonder if Canola oil would have the same problem? I know it's not quite as good as olive oil, but is it a safer option? We use both olive oil and canola, and I haven't seen any visible problems with our 4 year old son...

Interesting article, though very US-based (RE labelling, etc). Has anyone contacted Bertolli Canada to verify this information? If so, please post here.

http://www.bertolli.com/ca-en/contactus.aspx

TMcG, are you writing to Bertolli Canada?

The "scandal" they refer to doesn't even mention people with allergies to hazelnut. It's all about deceptively purchasing olive oils with lower nutritional content. I wish there would be more emphasis on the dangers of consuming olive oil with hazelnut for those with allergies. It doesn't even seem to be an issue. In fact, some of the articles I have read even state that "blended oils of hazelnut and olive oil won't hurt you, but they also won't give you the full health benefits of olive oil or your money's worth." Won't hurt you? Are these people really medical experts if they don't even acknowledge that traces of hazelnut could kill an allergic person?

Not much info on labelling either. I also wonder about the objectivity of these articles. The many sites that wrote about the issue seemed to promote their own olive oil. Nevertheless, here are a couple more interesting articles:

http://www.saltonstallestate.com/html/fraud_.html

http://www.aguibal.com/scandal.php

I also noticed that this scandal first emerged in the late 1990's. I wonder if any improvements or changes have been made since?

Hi there.
Yes I have sent an email to Bertolli and will post the results of my correspondence on this forum.

I coudn't find many other similar links to this one to justify the claims in this article, but it is a little scary when you consider if you purchase olive oil from overseas as the labelling laws are much different than here in North America.

Will keep you all postee.

TMcG

Excellent, TMcG. Please do keep us posted!

TMcG, thanks for keeping us posted on the olive oil issue. about the lip swelling--do you think you could be reacting to a food? you might want to make another appointment with your allergist....and to keep a food diary. the first thing that would come to my mind would be....what if it is another legume (like peas, chickpeas, green beans..they're in the same family as soy and peanuts)? or what if it is another seed? like poppy seeds, sesame seeds, even mustard seeds?

The thought did cross my mind on reacting to a different food but I've tried isolating what they could be - I rarely eat other legumes. Thought it may be the dishwashing detergent I used and switched brands, but that didn't do much.

Allergy appointment on Valentines Day. I hope he has some soy/nut free chocolates for me!

Well, you've covered all the angles. I hope your allergist can help with this. A year ago this past October, I was getting hives quite frequently....every day or every other day. The hives weren't that big of a deal in and of themselves---they were small and went away on their own--I didn't need to take Benadryl or anything. My allergist suspected that I had "idiopathic urticaria" (I get hives when my skin is scratched and occasionally have problems with extreme cold weather so he thought I would be prone to having mystery hives.) But he did a lot of allergy testing and I was surprised that I reacted to some foods that I was eating all of the time. Then he put me on a few foods diet. (I didn't get very detailed instructions on this and I found it helpful to follow some of the guidelines in a book I got at Chapters.) I did find out that I was allergic to some more foods, so the few foods diet was worth it for me.

First of all let me point out - I completely admit to being a synic. It's in my blood.

I read the article posted - or most of it, skimmed a bit of the middle. There are a few things I would like to point out:

1. This web-site is *naturodoc*. I tend to have a bit of distrust for naturopathic medical practitioners. I'm sure there are some good ones out there - just saying that I personally have doubts when information comes from them.

2. The last few paragraphs state: It then has a link to order that oil. Have they in some way *paid* for this newsflash?[/i]

It could be bias, true, but we need to look it up for sure. And I agree with you, naturocrap is generally not the kind of people I would trust, therefore why we send emails to Bertoli.

I totally agree Young Vader. It could be full of crap but I would rather research it more and have sent an email to Bertolli to hear their side before I make up my mind.

In the meantime, I've switched back to a more expensive, authentic olive oil - just to be safe.

It's worth it.

Is it Bertoli you sent the e-mail to?

Are you also checking the company that you are purchasing oil from? I'm truly not trying to be difficult. The article mentions three companies that *cut* the oil, but if those three do - then chances are other companies do as well.

Yes. I sent an email to Bertoli and am waiting to hear back from them. One more week and then their Customer Service is getting a call from me.

I am going to contact the importer of the Italian oil I have purchased to see if they have any information however with the differences in labelling standards overseas, it may be best for me to stick to US-manufacturered olive oil...

Well after a bit more research online, I found the following links (more specific to those with soy allergies rather than nut allergies...)


http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?secti ... id=3299354
http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/aoilscndmkz66.htm