I am trying to figure out my comfort zone and I'm looking for info on how easily people have had reactions. I know there is probably another thread like this one already but here we go again!
If items are made in a nut plant do they always keep the food that is nut free on a separate belt? How easily do things become cross-contaminated?
Has anyone had a reaction to items made in a \'nut plant\'?
Posted on: Sat, 09/30/2000 - 11:48pm
More Articles
Peanut Allergy
You already know that if you or your child has a peanut allergy you need to avoid peanut butter. Some...
Food Allergies
There are many reasons why you may want to substitute almond flour for wheat flour in recipes. Of course, if you have a...
Food
Are you looking for peanut-free candies as a special treat for a child with...
Food
Do you have a child with peanut allergies and an upcoming birthday? Perhaps you'd like to bake a...
Food
Most nut butters provide all the same benefits: an easy sandwich spread, a great dip for veggies, a fun addition to a smoothie. But not...
It is my understanding that nut products and "nut-free" products made in the same facility often share the same belt line, but the lines are "cleaned" between batches. How good is the cleaning? I think I read somewhere that the belts are steam cleaned, which I guess takes care of bacteria but musn't do much for bits of nuts or residue that may be present.
I mop my floors like crazy and there're still dust bunnies coming out of the woodwork! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
Hi Care - I am still trying to figure out my own comfort zone as well. I think it is more difficult for those of us with children who have PA that is not air-borne sensitive, just ingestion-sensitive. As for the item processed in a nut facility, I never use them for my daughter. I always look at the labels and feel that they mean the same thing as "may contain nuts/peanuts". I made something a while ago with butterscotch chips, and it had a warning about being made in a plant that processes peanuts. I automatically assumed there was a chance of cross-contamination, so I didn't give any to my daughter.
Cayley isn't allergic to tree nuts, but I don't give her muffins or loaves containing tree nuts (I used to all the time). I guess I'm afraid she will develop an allergy to them, since she is already PA. I DO keep treenuts in my home for baking, but we are peanut-free. We have cereal containing nuts, but we don't keep any in the house with a peanut warning of any kind. Supervision is key here. Once Cayley is old enough to help herself to cereal in the morning (she's 3 now) my comfort zone may change again to no treenuts either. Sounds like I'm still trying to get my act together, doesn't it!
Although Cayley's reactions were hives, vomiting, distress and drooling, the doctor has told me these fit under the non-life-threatening category. My allergist, on the other hand, used the words "killer-allegy" and "life-threatening allergy" after her skin test was completed. I'd rather err on the side of caution - sometimes I feel like her life is in my hands and other times I feel very calm about this PA thing.
I grew up with a PA/tree nut allergic friend who is very aware of her allergy, but also very calm about it. If she is at a restaurant that serves almond rice, she won't get the rice, but doesn't obsess that the almonds might have touched some other food she is going to eat. I don't feel, personally, that I can take risks like that with Cayley. To sum up - I never let her ingest anything with a peanut or nut warning, but I keep treenuts (inaccesible to her) in the house. As I said before, my comfort level may change as she gets older. Gosh, I'm sorry this is such a long post! Carolyn
i had my first anaphylactic reaction to peanuts 30 years ago. i have since had serious reactions from ingestion, touch and airborne exposure. it is hard for me to guage my sensitivity to other pa's, but i always know almost immediately if food has had any exposure to peanuts -- the minutest trace will cause a reaction.
all of this said, i have never had a cross contamination experience with a packaged product. it has only been in the last 5 or so years that label information has even been available, so obviously i have eaten a great deal of food that has been processed in 'nut' factories -- ice cream, chocolate bars, cereal, cookies, etc.
i know that cross contamination does occur -- and has done so to tragic results. however, i feel that when a company 'cleans' the lines these days (particularly when nuts are involved) they are more conscientious than ever.
comfort levels are totally personal, but i see the odds of dying in a plane crash and suffering from this type of cross-contamination as similar. i continue to eat packaged goods processed in 'nut' factories and i still fly in planes -- but i carry benedryl and epipens in both cases.
however, my confort zones could change... i am also interested in hearing anyone's personal experience of allergic reaction as a result of processing in a 'nut' factory,
I had the same questions you did. Look under the post "Use of Labels" started by me for more replies to this topic.
For now I'm still not giving my pa son products "manufactured in a facility...". I've never ever ever felt comfortable giving him "may contain" products.
Here is information on a study that I found on this site. It is very interesting and I found it under Manufacturer's (safe & unsafe). The thread is titled Quaker's mini rice cakes.
Here is more information on the "may contain study":
18.2% (4 of 22) "may contain peanut" contained traces of peanut
12.5% (2 of 16) "manufacturer on shared equipment" contained traces of peanut
12.5% (1 of 8) "manufacturer in a facility that also processes peanut" contained traces of peanut
20.8% (5 of 24) where peanut was listed at the end of the ingredients list contained traces of peanuts
Peanut present was measured at concentrations from 1 to 2500 parts per million.
The study was done by LM Niemann, JJ Hlywka andSL Hefle and presented at this year's AAAAI meeting.
Has anyone found a link to this study? I haven't been able to locate it, and I'd like to learn more about the study.
Joanne-
This is all that was said regarding the study. I accidentally said that the thread was under Quaker's mini rice cakes but it is just Quaker's rice cakes.
[This message has been edited by NaomiR (edited October 02, 2000).]
I put the study stuff up on the Quaker thread. I will see if I can find the original source in my file.
San
My son has had 3 reactions to peanut products, 2 of which were anaphylactic. However, my comfort zone thing with it is that I still purchase products if there are nut products also in the facility. I NEVER purchase anything that says "may contain" but I do purchase products that I am fairly sure have been made in the same facility as a nut product. Tkiaml has a good thread started about if your comfort zones have changed as a result of a reaction and this is the one area in which I could see me changing. If Jesse did have a reaction to something that had been manufactured in a plant with nuts but did not have the "may contain" label on it (as that will never get through the door), then I would have to start calling every manufacturer and checking to see. I could see tightening up if a cross-contamination reaction ever came up. Also, I had always used tree nuts and had tree nuts in my home previous to his 1st anaphylactic reaction. Now, my comfort zone is that I don't have them here at all because of the possibility of cross-contamination. The school was really interesting this year, and I posted this somewhere else too, but they actually approached me to see if I felt okay with them doing their annual almond chocolate sales. I said that I had no problem with it, that, of course, Jesse would not be selling them, but again, it's a cross-contamination thing that thankfully he hasn't had a reaction from so I haven't had to tighten up in that area. Do you know what I mean? I like it when everyone apologizes for the length of their posts - I figure either people just see my name and simply bypass my post or that in this type of forum it's okay [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] Best wishes!
------------------
At the FAN conference, Dr. Scherier spoke about a study done in two states where 25% of the foods tested had peanut traces in them. These were ice cream and bakery type places. I thought that was pretty scary. I believe he also said like 12% contained egg products that weren't supposed to.
Pages