Talking Allergies

I'm posting this for a member of my local support group:

"My three year old son has a life-threatening allergy to
sesame.

I've been reading a lot of articles in the media lately about sesame...
as you know it's become one of the top nine allergens in Canada. I'm
quite concerned with notations I've been reading that band-aids/bandages
may contain sesame. Do you know of any brand (I don't care what
they cost) of band-aids/bandages that are certain to not have sesame in
them? I tried a search on line, totally in vain."

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Karen

Hi - I am new to the list (only recently discovered allergic living)
I had NO idea about the bandaids. Have you found a safe one outside of this forum? My daughter has a life threatening allergy to sesame as well.
Also - have you encountered safe sun screens or margarine?

Hi renie,
Welcome to the forum! You're going to love it! I can't comment on the bandaids (we've been using various bandaids without incident with our son, but now that we've been alerted to this possibility, we're also waiting to hear from others on the forum), but I can give you the name of a sesame-free sunscreen that we use for our 3 year old son: Coppertone SPECTRA3 for kids. It's expensive (~$15 for ~175 ml), but I found it at Walmart. I can't help you with the margarine issue either. Our son has multiple food allergies, but dairy is not one of them.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the one asking the question. I asked on behalf of a member of my local support group. I hadn't actually heard about the problem with bandaids and sesame seeds either.

For sunscreens, here is some info that I've sent to others in the past (but keep in mind that I'm not dealing with sesame seeds).

My allergist's office gave us the following info:
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"SUNSCREEN ALLERGY:

Skin rashes from sunscreen can be due to the active ingredients which are chemical sunscreens. The most common cause is paraaminobenzoic acid (PABA). Other causes may be cinnamate, oxybenzone, benzophenone or Parsol 1789 (Butyl Methoxydibenzoyl-Methane). If you have reacted to a sunscreen with one of the above, try a different brand without the active component you seemed to react to.

The least likely to cause any rashes are those sun blocks without a chemical sunscreen, i.e. those with Titanium Dioxide and/or Zinc Oxide. We recommend sun blocks with only these active ingredients. These include Neutrogena Sensitive Skin UVA/UVB Block SPF 30, and Marcelle 25."

-----------------------------------------

I have bought Neutrogena Sensitive Skin UVA/UVB Block SPF 30 in the past and quite like it. I do not know about sesame oil though. Obviously it'd be a good idea to check.

We also used a spray this year that I really liked called KINeSYS Kids SPF 30 Sunscreen with Parsol 1789. We bought it a Mountain Equipment Co-op (http://tinyurl.com/d46hb). Obviously the Parsol 1789 didn't cause us problems. There are also adult versions (http://tinyurl.com/d7rt7 and http://tinyurl.com/99u2y) of this product.

For the most part, we use sun suits and sun hats (with a big flap at the back to protect their necks) on the kids so that we minimize how much sunscreen we put on them. They each have two sun suits and that's about all they wear all summer. (A nice present for grandparents to buy!)

For pics, check out
- http://www.nozone.ca (which we have bought, both 1 pc and 2 pc suits)
- http://www.sunfriendlyproducts.com

I've been lucky enough to make them each last 2 summers. My guys love the one-piecers. (They consider them to be superhero outfits...!)

NOTE: Before, when I was really nervous about my youngest child's skin (lots of eczema and very sensitive skin), I didn't put ANY sunscreen on him -- not until he was 3 1/2. In the past I would just use wide-brimmed hat, sun suit, and avoid going out between 10 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.

Hope this helps a bit.

Karen

I've started a new thread regarding sunscreen in the Sesame seed allergy forum.

http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603

*************

Karen, I'm not sure where this person got information regarding sesame risk in bandaids. Does she know of any brands that actually have it? I am extremely sensitive to sesame seeds - but I've never had any problems with any bandaids.

First I want to thank everyone for their support - I'm new and feel welcome already!

After seeing the post about the risk, I looked into it and if you look at the documentation released by the Government of Canada, they list adhesive bandages as a non-food source of sessame seeds - so it's reasonable credible but always at a risk of being out of date. I am going to call companies in the future...

renie, are you talking about the cfia site?

My daughter is allergic to sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts and nuts. I had no ideas that Band Aids could even be something to worry about!! Fortuneately the brand we have been buying has been fine.

Thank you so much for posting that information!
Rosie

The person on whose behalf I posted was also talking about the CFIA's "Sesame Seed" allergy brochure.

I emailed my contact at the CFIA and was told this:

"According to the Medical Devices division of Health Canada, bandages are regulated as medical devices. But they are a Class I category (a lower risk category) so there is no requirement to register ingredients and processing aids, etc. They do not have the information that we are seeking. They recommend that the individual manufacturers should be contacted to get the information."

I find it very frustrating that the CFIA would put that on their brochure and then not be able to back up WHY they did so. But as someone else mentioned, it is likely best to call.

If those who have called to confirm that the bandages are okay, could you post the info here? It may be a tempest in a teapot, but obviously if it's been included in a national, federal brochure, there must have been some reason for them to do so!!

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

I've heard that some adhesives use sesame oil. This must be the problem. If you do a Google search on sesame and adhesive bandages, a study comes up about contact reactions to testosterone patches containing sesame oil.

I've heard of several people that react to bandaids that are not allergic to latex. But I've seen nothing specific about which products use this.

Hope this helps,
Daisy

Sorry - I had lost my log in information for a while...

I was in fact talking about the CFIA site (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fss ... sese.shtml)

After seeing this, I contacted several adhesive bandage manufacturers. The response I got from all of them was essentially that they do not monitor and can not confirm the safety of their products for people with allergies. FUN. No clue what I am going to do when my toddler needs one but I won't be making her a guinea pig! She's 4++++ for sesame (and egg/dairy) and we have had enough of the 911 ambulance rides!

If anyone has or directly knows of a person/child with anaphylaxsis that has safely used a particular brand, I would love to hear of it....

Renie - my dd is ana to sesame and she has succesfully used the Johnson & Johnson (Dora) Band-Aid. ALOT! LOL

J

_________________
4ye old DD allergic to sesame, peanut, raw egg , and mulitple environmental & seasonal allergies

2 yr old DS -no known allergies!

I'm anaphylactic to sesame seeds - I've have severe reactions to trace amounts, and I've had at least one bad reaction to touch.

I have never had a problem with any brand of band-ade. And last year I was wearing giant band-ade patches on my leg for two months.

On a recent trip to Mexico, my son cut his chin in a fall near the pool. The wound was dressed by the hotel doctor, using no ointments or anything else. The following day, I changed the bandage to a clear plastic waterproof bandage from home and applied some LB Triple Action Antibiotic ointment. Over the course of those two days, his chin erupted into a terrible rash that eventually crusted over in spots.

He wasn't diagnosed with a sesame allergy until this week and now I'm realizing that it must have been one of the dressings that caused the reaction, likely because of sesame. The Health Canada website lists ointments as another possible hidden source.

While looking at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website under sesame I see that bandages are listed as a non-food source for sesame??

I tried to look up bandages containing sesame etc. but can't seem to find anything? Has managed to find information regarding sesame and bandages?

_________________
DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish