Talking Allergies

After years of making my own bread, I have finally found a safe bread that I can buy.

Dempster's has some plants that are peanut and sesame free - so no worries about cross contamination. But so far, I still can't find any safe buns. My hamburger buns are not to bad - but I just cannot form hotdog buns.

Anyone know of a company in the Toronto area that has buns that do not run with sesame seeds?

I have the same problem in Montreal. For hamburger, I use English Muffin** and for hot dogs, I either use pillsburry dough or use panini bread.

**8 Jan 2007: Note from Karen the Moderator - Weston English muffins are no longer safe for those allergic to sesame seeds.

What kind of pillsbury dough do you use? I've tried the weiner wraps. They are OK - but I actually want something bun shaped - traditional.

I don't know of any English Muffins that would be safe with the sesame seed allergy.

Do you also have a sesame seed allergy? I thought it was only peanut you had to avoid, and I assumed breads wouldn't be a big issue with that.

As far as I know, peanuts is what can kill me. But I'm allergic to everything but the kitchen sink... OK, it's not so bad but I have a lot.

The English Muffin I eat is by Weston.**

**8 Jan 2007: Note from Karen the Moderator - Weston English muffins are no longer safe for those allergic to sesame seeds.

For pillsbury, it's the hot-dogs wraps yes. My GF sometimes takes a piece of fresh bread and roll it with a rolling pin. It's actually is pretty close.

I guess I'll be calling Weston bakeries this week.

I'm pretty sure Weston is sold here as well. Though, It would probably be from a different plant, but if they have some safe in PQ, there's probably some in Ontario too.

Thanks a lot.

No problem. This is the purpose of these boards, to help each other out.

I have been buying a safe bread (at least the ingredient list indicates this) for my 3 year old son who is sesame seed/peanut/tree nut/egg/etc... allergic prepared by the Oakville Italian Bakery. They are located at 251 Speers Rd in Oakville... telephone # 905-845-5801. I buy the bread at Loblaws/Fortinos/Great Canadian SuperStore. Maybe you could check them out for hamburger buns. I'd be curious to find a good source for buns too! (just haven't done the leg work yet to find a good bakery)

[quote="AnnaMarie"]I guess I'll be calling Weston bakeries this week.

I was curious if you contacted Weston Bakery yet? I have some Weston Bakery English muffins purchased recently, and the ingredient list does NOT include sesame seed, or traces of sesame seed, so I believe they are safe for sesame seed allergic individuals.** Were you able to confirm this?

**8 Jan 2007: Note from Karen the Moderator - Weston English muffins are no longer safe for those allergic to sesame seeds.

I've found a sesame seed allergy to be extremely challenging to manage. My son's other allergies are difficult as well, but sesame seems the most challenging to me as so many bakery products are in contact with sesame...

I found peanut arder to manager than sesame seed.

My husband also came home with English Muffins from Weston - with no sesame seed warning on the label. And he said other Weston products did have a warning on the label.

Anyway, things have been rather hectic around here, and I forgot about calling. I did just phone, and left a message on someone's answering machine. I'll let you know what they say when they call me back.

I find the sesame seed allergy a lot harder to deal with then the peanut. Labelling for peanut is a lot more common then for sesame seed, and also peanuts tend to contaminate the *luxury* foods more then the necessities. For me, anyway.

I have tons of safe candies I can buy. But, I'm still on the search for some buns.

Thank you for your reply Anne Marie! Your earlier post regarding never having found a "safe" English muffin cautioned me against trying them with my son this morning. In my mind, I did question why "may contain traces of sesame seed" did not appear on the label, because I have seen this on other bread products from Weston Bakery. I was going to call them today, but didn't have a chance. I will definitely want to hear what they had to say to you. Until then, I guess I'll have to eat all the English muffins myself

Unfortunately, today I discovered that 2 of the bread products I've been buying thinking they were safe for my son in terms of sesame seed are NOT safe! In small print, in a different area on the package, I discovered the Italian Home Bakery states that their products are manufactured in a facility where sesame seeds are present - I had never noticed this before! Upon discovering this, I decided to investigate the Oakville Italian Bakery further. The listing of ingredients on the package say nothing regarding sesame seed, peanuts or nuts, however, because I live in Oakville, I decided to pay the bakery a visit. As wonderful as it seems, it is definitely NOT sesame/nut/peanut free!!! I spoke with a couple of the very knowledgeable senior staff there, and they could not guarantee the loaves of bread to be free of these allergens. One of the staff members indicated that the bread is baked on separate sheets from all other baked goods, which is probably why my son has never had a reaction to their bread so far, however, I no longer feel comfortable feeding him bread from there. I'm feeling quite distraught at the moment. I'm beginning to feel that making bread for our family is the only safe way to go. For others that are sesame seed allergic, is this primarily what you have done? It seems next to impossible to find a bread made in a sesame seed/nut free facility. I did check out Dempsters bread as Anne Marie had indicated, but, unfortunately, they use sunflower seeds which is another of my son's allergens.

Any suggestions??

I have to admit that I seldom purchase bread because of the risk of contamination. Here in Vancouver I sometimes go to a local bakery (Terra Breads) where I feel ok getting a french bread or sourdough loaf if I can be there as soon as they open. I met with the head baker who took me for a tour through the bakery, explained to me how they make and process the products, and showed me their bake list. The french bread is always made first before the others (including multigrain). I go first thing in the morning so there is little chance for contamination after baking and I always get them to pick my loaf up with fresh gloves, not tongs. I also don't ever get the bread sliced. I am still taking a chance but I figure its an informed one.
Other then that I either make my own bread or, more often, use a tortilla or pita bread instead (again, I am very careful about which ones because of the high risk of cross-contamination and poor labeling of such).

You guys are feaking me out!!! This means we can no longer rely on labels to protect ourselves from eating food "contaminated" with allergens.

Quick, someone invent a pill so I can stop eating once and for all.

OK, I'M exagerating a bit but I am certainly getting more worried.

Julie, I just got off the phone with Weston. The English Muffins are the only product that is safe for people with sesame seed allergy.**

**8 Jan 2007: Note from Karen the Moderator - Weston English muffins are no longer safe for those allergic to sesame seeds.

The woman told me that the plant on Eastern Ave. used to be sesame seed free but they found it to restrictive for what they could bring in to that plant. I have to admit, I got angry when she said that. You want to know restrictive - try living with this. Anyway, I did realize I was getting upset, and got the conversation back on track. There may be some old labelling still in use - but all new labelling has a sesame seed warning - other then the English Muffins which are safe.

I also informed the woman that sesame seed is now one of the top 10 allergens in North America. I told her that while I DO appreciate that they are putting warnings on their packaging, I find it quite upsetting that nobody seems to care about having any of us as customers. There are a lot of people that would be faithful customers - if only some company cared about us at all.

Regarding the sunflower seeds - do you avoid trace amounts of that as well? The reason I'm asking is if you only avoid the actual seed and oil - I can keep an eye on any sesame free products I find and let you know if any do not have sunflower. But, if you are avoiding trace amounts I doubt it would be labelled.

I use a bread machine. I'm currently on my third and fourth. Yes, I have two because sometimes I need to run them both at once. If the entire family comes over and I don't want to have to worry about the ketchup and mustard containers getting contaminated by their *may contain* bread I start baking a few days in advance and keep both machines running for a few days. Makes great pizza too.

youngvader, the only time I trust the labelling of a company is after I have spoken to someone. Unfortunately I have come across a few (very few) companies that have some of their products made by a third party, and the labelling is done there. So products A,B,&C have good labelling, but products D & E don't put *may contains*. I just tell them that they can keep all their products, and that such unsafe labelling is worse then no labelling at all.

Can't help you with that pill. But, maybe we can get our doctor's to hook up an IV and we can just live on that.