I could use some help. I daughter has been allergic for 5 years. Our doctor often calls me to visit with newly diagnosed parents.I am a nurse, and do the best I can to help these parents. I try to keep a list of foods to avoid. This is so scarry for these parents. So many of these foods do not appear to have peanuts in them. Is there a list I could use? I understand this would be an every-changing list, but we all need something to follow. This hit-and miss method of word of mouth is not good enough! Any suggestions? Thanks!! Janie, from Wichita
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Janie
Janie...I think this is a great idea. I have been looking for some sort of reference list online but have not been successful. Thanks for the post! [img]http://client.ibboards.com/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
The Food Allergy Network (see [url="http://www.foodallergy.org)"]http://www.foodallergy.org)[/url] has a small yellow laminated card that you can order (for $1 each, I think) which lists ingredients to avoid. The card says:
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Avoid foods that contain any of these ingredients:
beer nuts, cold pressed peanut oil, ground nuts, mixed nuts, Nu-Nuts flavored nuts, nut pieces, peanut, peanut butter, peanut flour
Foods that may indicate the presence of peanut protein:
* African, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes
* baked goods (pastries, cookies, etc.)
* candy
* chili
* chocolates (candies, candy bars)
* egg rolls
* hydrolyzed plant protein
* hydrolized vegetable protein
* marzipan
* natural flavorings
* nougat
Studies show that most allergic individuals can safely eat peanut oil (not cold pressed peanut oil)
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[Note: our allergist says stay away from all peanut oil.]
I bought 10 cards to give to family and friends. You can make your own just as easily, but I want to support FAN for all the good work they do.
As a rule, our son doesn't eat any packaged sweets (no candy, cookies) from the grocery store and we stay away from bakeries (too much risk for cross contamination). We won't let him have ice cream from ice-cream parlours or frozen yogurt stores because of the nut toppings that tend to spill everywhere. It all sounds very negative (avoid this, avoid that), but on the bright side, we are forced to adopt healthy eating habits... something many parents would like to do with their children, but have a hard time enforcing.
Parents of newly diagnosed children really need to learn (and teach their children) to read labels and how to ask restaurant chefs questions, so I think teaching those skills right away is very important. FAN has other educational materials that can be very helpful. They have a children's video that explains the allergy, for example.
--Tracy
Tracy: Thank you for an informative reply! [img]http://client.ibboards.com/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] Lynda
I have been a member of FAN for 5 years and do support them in every way. What I am interested in,however, is a list of brand name foods that suprise people, such as the Ritz-Bits with cheese, the plain M&M's, etc. This is always such a shocker to people. We have always followed the generic list from FAN, but there are so many foods that one would never suspect. Does anyone post a list of name brand foods to avoid????? If it was not for word of mouth, I would not know about the jelly beans, the Chees-Nibs. What can we do? Yes, we always read labels, but it would be nice to have a list to give friends, teachers, and family. Then, they would not be so nervous while having our children over!! Thanks, Janie
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Janie
Hi Jane -
Here are a few off the top of my head:
1. Philadelphia Cream Cheese - Even plain is produced on same line as nut containing one
2. Quaker Rice Cakes - All produced on same line as nut containing cakes
3. Hersheys Chocolate - All Hershey's chocolate unaccepatable. If you call Hershey's, they'll tell you too much airborne nut in their factories in the U.S., so all Hershey's products (even unsweetened baking chocolate) not reccommended for peanut allergic.
4. Near East Rices - All rices go through same machine as rice with pine nuts.
As I think of more, I'll let you know!
Careful. This information is not true for Canada. This is a global bulletin board service. I would much rather see a list of foods that are safe from manufacturers that we know choose to label may contain. Have you asked the FAN why they don't have a bad list? I think we loose a lot of ground and credibility when we start saying you should steer clear of... You will be handing this info to people who work for these companies or whose family members do. Huge problem if you are handing a list that is not 100% accurate. If you recognise the rights that are contributed to this cause, you will not cause any damage to the companies that choose to be helpful. (In some cases they are already on your list.) Just a bit of food for thought.
I understand your concerns about making an "avoid list". But does it really matter what the people that work for these company think? If it did, they would not put in peanut products, knowing how deadly they may be!!!! This would never be an official, legal document. It would only be an FYI aid. Yes, we all read labels, but sometimes, it helps to be told ahead of time to look out for, or beware of, certain foods. These foods ambush you!!! And it helps prove to others that peanuts are in foods that one never would suspect! There are more foods that are okay, and peanut free then there are with peanuts. That is why I would like to start a list!! Who cares what the companies and factories think! Maybe they would take notice and change the ingredients! I doubt it, but it would help all of us to know ahead of time what to avoid! What do you think?
I understand your concerns about making an "avoid list". But does it really matter what the people that work for these company think? If it did, they would not put in peanut products, knowing how deadly they may be!!!! This would never be an official, legal document. It would only be an FYI aid. Yes, we all read labels, but sometimes, it helps to be told ahead of time to look out for, or beware of, certain foods. These foods ambush you!!! And it helps prove to others that peanuts are in foods that one never would suspect! There are more foods that are okay, and peanut free then there are with peanuts. That is why I would like to start a list!! Who cares what the companies and factories think! Maybe they would take notice and change the ingredients! I doubt it, but it would help all of us to know ahead of time what to avoid! What do you think?
Do the jelly beans and cheese nibs Jane mentions below not mention peanuts as part of their ingredients? I know M&M's list peanut traces...
--Tracy
Laura,
WOW, thanks for the info on the cream cheese!! I didn't know they have a cream cheese with nuts in it--I haven't seen that in the store I shop at. I wouldn't have thought to check on cream cheese. I did notice Near East Rice is coming out with a new flavor--Pecan. (also, I too appreciate all the legal tips/advice you have been posting--it is invaluable information).
I don't think it will hurt to have a foods to avoid list--the cream cheese is a good example of how there may always be something somebody will miss no matter how diligent one is. And its frustrating not knowing where these peanuts are "hidden".
Another product to stay clear from is snackwells--alot of them contain peanut flour.
[This message has been edited by brenda (edited April 06, 1999).]
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