Letter/email sharing

Here is the email that I sent to a columnist who made an insensitive remark about peanut allergy. Please feel free to reuse all or parts that may apply to your situation.

I am the mother of a child who is severely allergic to peanuts (just who you want to hear from I'm sure)! Besides the fact that my son's life is in danger on a daily basis, the hardest part of dealing with this allergy is society's ignorance to this very real problem. I was very dismayed to see your reference to this disability (yes, it is a disability) in your column this morning.

My son's first reaction was when he was about one year of age. After just one small taste of a peanut butter sandwich, he had a reaction. He developed hives all over and immediately had difficulty breathing. I thought he had something lodged in his throat. This type of reaction is considered an anaphylactic reaction and if not treated can be deadly.

My son is now nine years old and since that time has had just a few more reactions.
We must be very diligent every moment to protect him. Even touching peanut butter can start a reaction. He must have access to a shot of epinephrine 24 hours a day. If he has a reaction, he must be injected with this shot in the hopes that the reaction can be stopped. He must also be rushed to an emergency room in the event that the reaction does not stop. His first symptom of a reaction is his throat closing up.

I have not requested a peanut free school or classroom for my child. Sometimes I think I should but I know I would stir the wrath of many. I respect and understand parents who take such a stand. Instead, my son always brings his own lunch, does not eat cupcakes or treats brought in by other parents, and is careful not to touch the lunch table.

Parents of peanut allergic children are sometimes perceived as zealots, but we're not trying to trample anyone's rights. We are driven by the fear of losing our child. It is any parents

PattyR, great letter, but I'm curious what the comment was that the columnist made.

PattyR
Fantastic letter. I'm also curious if the columinst replied. What did he say that offended you? Kim I

Thanks BENSMOM & Kim I, here is a link to my original post regarding this column.
[url="http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum8/HTML/000160.html"]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum8/HTML/000160.html[/url]

By the way, the journalist never responded but I had copied the editor and he replied the same day I sent the original email.

[This message has been edited by PattyR (edited March 12, 2001).]

Cayley's Mom sent this letter to share. She is having problems with her screen name so I will post it for her. This is a great letter to encourage editors to write about peanut allergy. Thanks!!

"Below is a letter I wrote last fall and submitted to 2 publications,
Canadian Living and Health Watch (Shoppers Drug Mart). They both declined
my request, due to the fact that a similar article had appeared in both
magazines in recent years. I thought this outline might be a springboard
for someone else who wishes to contact the media. Add to it; subtract from
it; change the websites - best of luck to anyone who wishes to use it.

Dear Editors:

My name is *********** and I have a 3 yr. old daughter with a severe peanut
allergy. I don't recall seeing an article in your magazine about this
allergy, and I was wondering if you might consider this subject for one of
your upcoming issues. I think the more media coverage this gets, the less
ignorance there will be in the general population about how life-threatening
this allergy is. It has been my personal experience that people think this
allergy is exaggerated/blown out of proportion, and that is simply not the
case. I have provided several topics and links that you may find
newsworthy, but of course it is your decision what to write about this
subject.

1. FOOD LABELLING AND NUTRITION - (Canada Food Inspection Site)
[url="http://www.cfia-acia.agr.ca/english/ppc/consumer/labelling.html"]http://www.cfia-acia.agr.ca/english/ppc/consumer/labelling.html[/url]

2. VACCINE - Dr. Hugh Sampson is currently conducting clinical research
into developing a vaccine/cure for peanut allergy.
Contact at Division of Allergy - Mt. Sinai Hospital,
New York (212) 241-5548

3. AIRLINES - Peanut dust from snacks floating in the recirculating air of
an aircraft can cause problems. An article about an emergency landing
illustrates this.

The Moncton Times and Transcript
Thursday, August 31, 2000
JET MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN MONCTON
Alan Cochrane
Times and Transcript Staff

The plane was forced to make an emergency landing, due to a passenger
suffering anaphylaxis after inhaling peanut dust. The plane was heavy on
fuel and blew four tires in the landing attempt.

4. RESTAURANTS - Most restaurants are becoming more allergy aware, thanks
to the Awareness and Training Program developed jointly by AAIA (Allergy and
Asthma Awareness) and the Restaurant and Food Service Assoc. Information is
available at their website: [url="http://www.cadvision.com/allergy"]http://www.cadvision.com/allergy[/url]

Kelsey's, Casey's, East Side Marios and Jack Astors are just a few of the
eateries participating in this program.

5. SCHOOLS - Peanut Ban or No? This hot topic often pits parents against
parents when the issue of banning certain peanut snacks comes up. Schools
in Canada now have to follow strict guidelines about allergy awareness, but
parents of non-allergic children are concerned about their rights, and
they're confused about what to send for snacks. Information on one school
board's solution is available at
[url="http://www2.gov.pe.ca/educ/pdf/policy/anaphshk2.pdf"]http://www2.gov.pe.ca/educ/pdf/policy/anaphshk2.pdf[/url]

6. DOCTORS - Some family doctors tend to downplay severe allergic
reactions, while some allergists play them up. Who is right? Are
allergists alarmists or should we err on the side of caution? Obstetricians
are still recommending that pregnant women eat peanut butter for protein,
but are we causing allergies to develop inutero? Some allergists are
recommending that chidren avoid peanut products until 5 years of age - the
previous guideline was 3 years. A good link is
[url="http://www.oma.org/phealth/peanuts.htm"]http://www.oma.org/phealth/peanuts.htm[/url]

I guess you can see I'm a frustrated journalist! I am currently a
Stay-at-home Mom of 3 (ages 13 years to 11 months) so sending you the
research above is about all I can do. I'd love to write the article, but
cannot due to restrictions on my free time. I am NOT a journalist, nor am I
affiliated in any way with national or local media. It is my dearest hope
that you will take the above information and run with it.

Best regards, **********"

In November, FAAN had an alert re the addition of peanut flour in Peek Frean cookies. I contacted Christie's (owned by Nabisco in Canada) by telephone and really didn't get anywhere. So, I sent the following e-mail to [email]nlcomments@nabisco.ca[/email] in early December. I just re-sent it again to-day as I have yet to receive a response.

However, even though I haven't received a response, I thought it might be an okay addition to what letters/e-mails we write to companies.

Dear Sir/Madam:
I had contacted the Christie Brown & Co. telephone number provided to The Food Allergy Network about a month ago regarding my concerns about the use of peanut flour in Christie's products.

I was given this e-mail address and wrote an e-mail. No response to-date.

I just tried calling the telephone number again and got a recording telling me of your office hours (of which this is one), but I suspect it is probably lunch time.

At any rate, I did go through my concerns with the original customer service representative I spoke with and she said that she would "pass my concerns on". Then I e-mailed immediately.

First of all, I am upset that I have yet to receive a response to my concerns.

However, I will address them again.

I have a son who is anaphylactic to peanut products. I am extremely concerned about the introduction of peanut flour into Peek Frean cookies made by Christie's. Although I do not normally buy Peek Frean cookies, we do consider it generally to be a "safe" brand to purchase.

To top it off, Christie's is the ONLY company that I trust to provide "safe" crackers (Ritz, Triscuits, Premium Plus)
to my family. They are the ONLY company that I trust to provide "safe" cookies to my family (Oreos, Chips Ahoy).

I do not understand why, in Canada, where peanuts are not a cash crop why peanut flour would be added to anything.
Do you not recognize the increasing number of people who are allergic to peanut products? Why switch flours at this point in time? What is wrong with the previous flour that was used in the Peek Frean cookies?

I believe Christie's receives a lot of business from parents of children that are allergic to peanut products.
They also receive the business from other parents who want to ensure they send "safe" products into peanut free schools at the recommendation of parents with a child with the peanut allergy.

I have a very good example. My son is receiving Subway sandwiches but his WHOLE class is not able to receive the Subway cookie that is part of the "deal". I recommended that they purchase Christie's - either Oreos or Chips Ahoy as the cookie to provide for the "safe" cookie substitute as part of the "deal". This was done.

I would like some assurance that peanut flour will not suddenly be introduced to the very good, safe products that I do buy from Christie's and I would also like you to be aware that there are people that are concerned when something like peanut flour is suddenly added to a product that obviously didn't need it before. Please re-consider your decision re the Peek Frean cookies.

I am hoping for a quick response to this e-mail this time.

Also, if you would like to speak with me by telephone, I can be reached at __________ Written mail can be sent to:
Cindy Spowart Cook

Thank-you for your time and consideration.

Best wishes,
Cindy Spowart Cook

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

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Patty R., for some reason it seems as though I have spent the last month contacting manufacturers by e-mail. I didn't want you to think that I was negating this wonderful thread but I also didn't think you would want to see it deluged with e-mails that I had written to manufacturers. I have posted them elsewhere on the board under the appropriate topic and if anyone did look at them they would see that they are basically the same.
That's why I felt it was okay not to keep coming in and posting them here.

Otherwise, I think this is a wonderful thread for sharing e-mails/letters, not only to manufacturers (as that seems to have been my focus of late) because I know a lot of times it is difficult to sit back and get down what you really want to get down.

Then, the e-mails that I send to my son's principal, although they are very calm and clear, I'm just not comfortable sharing because I am having such a difficult time with her.

At any rate, I just felt the need to explain especially if you do see copies of my e-mails popping up in other threads and perhaps wonder why I haven't placed them here. For example, I just posted one under Good Humor-Breyer's. But again, all of my dealings are mostly with manufacturers and the e-mails are basically the same. I posted one above so that's a good start, I think.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

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