Forgive me, but I have a question

Most definitely...you really have to be carefl when buying any prepackaged food item. Many may contain nuts, have been processed along w/ nuts or have them already included in the ingredients. I always check the labels and if it is a company that I am new to or isn't one of my "comfort" companies I never let my son eat anything that I haven't directly confirmed w/ the company itself. Sometimes I am still not comfortable with the answer given and I choose not to use those companies. I would recommend spending some time surfing around this site and you will learn a lot. It has helped me tremendously since I found out about my sons allergy last May.
Robin

Like Robin, I have "comfort companies", which may differ from others. Pretty much, if the product is produced by one of those companies and does not list peanuts or "may contain traces", I let my son eat it. Kellogg's is one of those companies. I've found them to be consistent in their labelling for allergenic foods, such as soy, wheat, milk and nuts. My opinion is, if they're careful enough to say the corn cereal may contain soy, they're going to label it if the ingredients contain or may contain peanuts. (Of course, I always read the label, even if I've purchased the product before). So, my son eats Kellogg's NutriGrain bars frequently, and has never had any problem.
Otherwise, the only "problem" we've had with the types of foods you mentioned is in remembering to check chips - some varieties, especially the "gourmet" types, may be prepared with peanut oil.

Alway check the labels! I haven't yet found a cereal/snack bar that doesn't have PN/TN as an ingredient, or at the very least a "May Contain" warning. Oh,
Nutri- grain by Kellogs. MY DD's had them without a problem and where I shop in Canada, there's no warning on their labels.
There are very few cereals that don't have a warning. There's a lot of information on t his board about cereal in different threads. WE feel comfortable eating cereal as long as there's no "may contain" warning on the label, but a lot of people don't unless they've checked specifically with the manufacturer. Do a search on "cereal" and see what everyone says.

Hi McKenzie's Mom,
The Special K cereal bars have no nut warning. They are available in blueberry or raspberry flavour. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

My son has reacted to Nutra-grain bars and we no longer allow them in the house. When I called Kellogs I was not comfortable with their policies. I do know of other children who have reacted to nutra-grain bars also. Children have different tolerance levels, so use you own judgement in deciding what is safe for yours. We do not use anything made on shared lines ever, only dedicated lines.

Hi Jennifer and welcome to the boards!
Every item you mentioned could possibly be contaminated with peanut. We read labels on [b]everything[/b] including foods we routinely buy because labels can change at any given moment without warning.
There is a new Lays Potato Chip [b]Kettle[/b] and they have peanut oil in them.
[b]Reduced Fat[/b] Cheese Nips contain peanut oil...the *regular* ones do not but they could be on shared equipment.
All of the candies in Lunchables are *may contain peanuts* candies...I'm talking about the ones wrapped like soccer or footballs.
Read, read & read.
Again, welcome and check out the *Manufacturers* board here. There is a wealth of info on there as well. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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Stay Safe!
Connie

We were posting at the same time so I didn't answer your latest question.
I trust Betty Crocker cake/cookie mixes. This company lists their allergens in bold letters in their ingredient lists and I feel comfortable with their labeling.
As far as butter/margarine, I use Brummel & Brown (it has yogurt in it) and my son has never had a problem with it. I don't know if your child has a milk allergy or just peanut so I don't want to say something is safe for my child, yet isn't safe for yours.
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Stay Safe!
Connie

Please, please, please do a search on the boards for Kellogg's before you feed any more to your child. Many children have had reactions to Kelloggs cereals and waffles. (Including my son.) Even though they seem to be very allergy aware on their labels (ie: putting most allergens in bold) if you check again you will note that not a single box of Kellogg's cereal contain a "may contained" or "manufactured in the same plant as" warning.
Not trying to scare you, just wanting you to be cautious and check it out.
Valerie

Jennifer - Welcome to the board. It is very distressing when first trying to read labels. My understanding is that peanuts or tree nuts may not be "hidden" in products when they come in contact with nuts during processing, but don't actually contain a nut ingredient. They are therefore not labelled on the ingredient list, but are cross-contaminated with the pn/nuts anyway, so this could cause a reaction. Cake mixes, cereals, etc. often have nuts and are therefore at higher risk of cross-contamination than products that don't contain any nuts in any of their varieties. Some companies are better than others at labelling for this cross-contamination and once you decide what companies you are comfortable with, it will be easier. Personally, for cereals and cake mixes, I like General Mills and Betty Crocker because they seem to label well. I use Lays products for chips, pretzels, etc. as they do not process peanuts in their plants. And I use Crisco oil because it is run on a dedicated line. I have not heard of cross-contamination with any margarine. I use Fleischmann's unsalted (because my son is also dairy allergic). I encourage you to call manufacturers yourself, but this is the information I have been given.
[This message has been edited by nopeanuts (edited February 24, 2003).]
[This message has been edited by nopeanuts (edited February 24, 2003).]