Talking Allergies

http://sunrype.com/viewgroup.php?id=2

Sunrype "fruit to go" have been a big hit with my kids for a while. I now discovered fruit source with two serving of fruit/bar, and fruit source + veegies with 3 servings fruit and veggies/bar. My daughter even seems to think that they are a "cool" snack.

I was looking for better dairy free choc chips than the PC ones. They shared equipt. with dairy containg choc chips, but they assured me that they washed the equipt. really well. My daughter is quite sensitive to milk, and the more I find products that are "guaranteed" safe the better off we all are.

http://enjoylifefoods.com/cart/department.asp

They have choc. chips!!! I found a store 4 hours away willing to carry them. My husband travels for work, so he can grab them for me when he is in the area.

I have only ordered online from goldaskitchen.com which sells an enormous selection of kitchen items...and my experience with them has been fantastic. I may be willing to expand my online shopping to include "enjoylife foods". They begin online orders and shipping in canada march 1, 2006 through gluten free mall. Since their (enjoylife foods ) products do not need refrigeration the shipping rates are probably reasonable.

To add to the PC margarine discussion. I also called about the PC margarine when it changed labels and ingredients in the summer. It was advertised in one of the Loblaws flyers as milk free. I was told that there was dairy on the same line but that there was a cleaning process between lines. After reading the latest email responses here I called PC again today. This is the brand of margarine we use with our milk allergic daughter.

I explained the discussion from this forum with the woman from PC. I asked her to clarify what the cleaning process was and if there were any quality control processes in place. She phoned the manufacturer and found out that this brand of margarine is made on Monday only. This line is closed down on Friday for the weekend and cleaned. There is a rinse of cleaning chemicals and then steaming and then swabs are taken from the machines which are sent to labs to check the cleaning process. I spoke with Lauren and her reference number is 602594 if anyone else wants to follow up with more information.

I don't know if this is helpful to anyone now. Just a little more information.

I was concerned that they still chose to include the word "dairy" on it. What would be required of them in the event of milk protein being discovered in the margarine, would they recall it, or would they consider their "dairy" word to have already alerted consumers that it is not guaranteed dairy free? When they told me about testing the marg for milk, they told me they tested for "lactose" not casien, whey or milk in general.

I guess that with milk allergy, since most kids (probably will not include my daughter ) outgrow the allergy by age 5, the level of severity and tolerance in a child can vary. Ones comfort level with companies washing equiptment would vary as well with their childs severity. My daughter has never had an anaphylactic experience, but I know the potential is there as she is really sensitive to skin contact from "too small to see" amounts left on surfaces.

I also really want her to outgrow it. I can not even begin to imagine the huge sigh of relief our family would feel! I hate to get my hopes up that someday she could be allergy free, but I really like to avoid possibilities of even small traces in an effort to not hinder her outgrowing this allergy...it is so overwhelming. Lately, I have replaced some items our family enjoyed no problem with more "guaranteed allergy free" items whenever a suitable alternative is acceptable. We have been using the choc chips ( made on washed equiptment ) for 2 years no problem, but finding the "enjoylife foods" ones that do not share with dairy, is a better alternative for us. We also like to camp, and I would hate for any bad experience to happen while away from the city.

the reason the word dairy is on the pc marg right next to the kosher (cor in a circle symbol) is because it is a made on the same line as dairy items - there are a whole bunch of jewish laws pertaining to food ( what is allowed to be eaten with what)that kind of thing.

I find the jewish laws confusing, I have been trying to learn about them lately in an attempt to understand what they mean on products. The jewish laws are actually pretty handy for people allergic to dairy. Some jewish people eat dairy ( I believe ) and others avoid all animal products. The words "kosher" and "parve" do not necessarily mean an item is safe...but they are an indicator. I have heard sometimes rabbis are present during manufacturing and I am not sure if it is to oversee that there is no dairy contamination, or to bless it incase it is.

Kosher dairy...means the item is free of certain meats ( but sometimes blessing a meat product makes it okay ), but not free of traces of dairy. "Certified Kosher" usually means that the product is free of all traces, the equiptment was clean...and the process may have been supervised by someone to be sure that their was no cross contamination (but may be blessed if their was, you can not trust it 100%). For an item to be "kosher dairy" the item either contains dairy or has not been certified to be "certified kosher", because of the equiptment used, and the possibility of traces of milk in a product. Being "kosher dairy" means that a company will not guarantee that a product is free of milk, and therefore those with strict religious beliefs should avoid the product because traces may be present...lucky for us that there is another group of people strictly avoiding traces of milk. It seems like a good idea to avoid ALL kosher dairy products if you have a milk allergy. It gives us info on the manufacturing and "may contains" that are still unfortunately not required by canadian laws. If a company believes in their cleaning process so much, and is aware of jewish law, and does not cerfity it appropriate for those who do not want to comsume traces, it is a good indicator that you may want to avoid it.

Keep in mind here for any of you that are okay with it that my child is EXTREMELY sensitive to trace amounts and I may have to be more dilligent in avoiding any possible traces than those with kids who are not as sensitive, or in the process of outgrowing their allergy.

bump

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Saskmommy, where in saskatoon did you find the Nutrawhip? Also the vegan soy cheese?

As for the Kosher laws, as far as I know a Rabbi does need to be in the factory in order to be certified kosher. They are there to check that the company is following kosher laws and to bless the food as it goes down the line.

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Moi: Pineapples, Turkey and Asthma.
Fiance: Ana. to Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts/Nuts and Horse. Also has asthma.

Just a reminder on Kosher Law as it applies to dairy allergy.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4208

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Nutriwhip is available at superstore. The vegan soy cheese at Dad's Organics. While you're at Dads check out all the tofutti products including tofutti cuties.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

Tofutti cream cheese is not as sweet as Yoso cream cheese which my daughter says tastes like think warm ice cream.

SolCuisine makes a great yogourt!

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb