Talking Allergies

Hi,
I am new to this board. I have a daughter aged 2 who is PA. We have been living with this diagnosis for a little over 1 year now and I am trying to lessen my paranoia as life progresses. My question to everyone is do you allow your PA child or yourself if you are PA to eat from manufacturers that have this warning on their label? Thanks for your input.
Karen

Our daughter is also 2 and she was diagnosed with her PA less then 6 months ago. We do not buy, eat or allow food in our house that have "manufactured in the same facility" or "may contain" warnings. I'd just rather not take that chance personallyl. I know that as she gets older she'll potentially be exposed to those things - but right now, as much as we try, she just doesn't understand. I'd hate to be eating something that "may contain" and then have her ask for some!

That's what we do. We want our home to be our safe haven.

We don't eat any may contains either. I don't find that this really limits the foods we eat too much. It really only limits things like cookies, dessert type baked goods, granola bars and some types of ice cream treats. For the most part, things that are not very healthy!! Why take a risk!

Hi Karen. In my family it's me with pa (and sesame allergy) and it's been about 15 years now. (Man, I'm getting old. ) I don't eat anything with a warning. There's so much available without that warning. Of course, no warning doesn't mean I'll eat it. If I'm not familiar with the company's policies I will call to find out.

Just to support what others have been saying---the problem with "may contains" is that they sometimes *do contain*. Doctors recommend that people with allergies should avoid the may contains.

Our family also does not eat "may contain" foods. Our 4 year old son's allergist told us that we should heed these warnings, and not allow our son to eat foods that indicate "may contain".

Our son is 3 and is PA. We don't bring "may contains" into our home either. We haven't had a problem with finding stuff to eat that doesn't have the warning.

I often hear non-allergic people say things like, "Everything nowadays says may contain nuts, it's just a legal thing they put on there to protect themselves, it doesn't mean anything" Since when does a legal statement not mean anything?? People can be so ignorant! Just giving you a heads-up that you will hear people say this. Probably best to ignore it.
If the manufacturer isn't taking a chance, then neither am I.

We do not let our children consume "may contains" of any kind. A study was done awhile ago (in the U.S. I think) that showed that of a certain number of foods with a "may contain" warning on them, approximately 16% of the foods did contain the allergen being warned about. That was enough for me.

My husband and I do not consume "may contain" peanut/nut products or even let them in the house. It is not worth the stress.

We do allow a few "may contain milk/egg" products in the house, but we do NOT let the kids consume them and we are very careful. (It is a bit stressful, but my kids have so many allergies, and their allergies are not the same, that we have to allow some allergens in the house or there would be nothing for anyone to eat.)

The new anaphylaxis guidelines say this:



Reference: http://www.allergysafecommunities.ca/default.asp?catid=19&catsubid=36

K.

_________________
Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

Sorry about my last post regarding non-allergic people having a tendency to disregard "may-contain" labels. It was a little grumpy of me.


Maybe I should have saved it for the "ignorant people" thread.

Catherine, I think it's good to vent once in awhile...and I too find it annoying when non-allergic people assume that I'm just being overly cautious about label-reading... (The worst is when people get actively annoyed when I ask to read the label...it's like they feel that I don't trust them to provide "safe" food....and these are precisely the people whom I can't trust!)

I agree - I don't think you said anything too terrible Catherine. If you can't vent to your fellow allergy friends, who can you vent to? (The non-allergy people REALLY don't want to hear it. )

And the good thing is - we now have national guidelines accessible to all that you can use to back yourself up, if you feel the need.

K.

_________________
Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

We don't eat "may contains" either and will call manufacturers to verify their policies with regards to listing "may contains".... but I was wondering. The statement "manufactured in a place that processes peanuts / nuts" -- might not qualify as a "may contain" statement for a company. What I'm getting at is .... I call Company A and they tell me that the product I'm calling about is made on a line that does not process peanuts or treenuts but there are peanuts on other lines in the facility (pretty detailed information). I call Company B and they tell me that their company has a policy of listing "may contains" and if there was a concern on their part of cross-contam., their product packaging would list it (for example Kraft). How do we as consumers know what companies consider a concern of cross-contam.? Is it only if products containing peanuts/treenuts are manufactured on the same line? or in the same facility? For others that feel they would not eat a product that is "manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts / nuts" are you verifying with companies, like Kraft that list "may contains", if they even have peanuts/treenuts on the premises? What I'm struggling with is, if a product is manufactured on a peanut/treenut free line, but there are nuts in the facility -- does this pose a risk to the allergic individual. Do companies that list "may contains" also see it as posing a risk and warranting a "may contain" statement on their packaging....

I never take a chance with anything that has a warning that says "may contain" or "processed in a facility..." - it just isn't worth it. I know I'm not super severly allergic, but my kids may be - and even so, Doctors always warn that you never know when you may become ana to nuts - any nuts. Yes, I know it really limits food choices and treats for kids but I'd feel terrible if one of my kids had a severe reaction to something I said "should be okay". It's a personal choice because only you know your child's or your own limitations.

To the lady who was upset about non-allergic friends/relatives being annoyed at her constant checking - they will never truly understand no matter what you do - just remember, you are doing the best you can for your child or yourself and if they don't see it that way then all the more reason for you to be vigilant. Kudos to you for putting up with them anyway. Non allergics need to see that allergens are like poison and you have to treat them that way - tell them you wouldn't let your child drink Javex so why would you let them eat what would poison them??? Hang in there - we all understand - been there, done that