My son has had one reaction from cross contamination. I don't know how it happened but it was cookies made from a large bakery. We don't do that anymore!

I have had lots of reactions from cross-contamination. The worst culprits are chocolate candies (M&M, Twix, Kit Kat, Nestle Crunch). I can't think of a time I've had a problem with a fruity-type candy. I've also had problems with chocolate chip cookies (the store brand ones that are like Chips Ahoy). So far, manufacturer cross contamination only causes an itchy throat and maybe a touch of asthma. This is the same as my airborne reaction. By far the worst reactions I've had from cross-contamination are from ice cream parlors - I've had 3 reactions from that in the past 13 years and 2 of those were anaphylactic. I've never had a problem at a restaurant, but I'm a picky eater and I don't think peanuts are hidden in things much in my area or at least not in the decidedly non-gourmet restraunts that I frequent.
Rebekah

My son had a reaction to Raisin Bran. He is also allergic to almonds and I am positive that there must have been cross-contamination in the factory. It was Kelloggs and they also make Raisin Bran Crunch that includes almonds.
Jaime

I am adult with PA and I had my first cross contamination reaction a few weeks ago to Trader Joes Raw Pepitas (pumpkin seeds). There was no warning of any kind on the package and I am PA only...or so I thought! There was no phone # on the package or the TJ's website and they are no longer accepting emails!

I received an email from safetyalerts.com last week, that Kellogs was recalling some of their Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal because of undeclared almonds. Has anybody else received that information from FAAN or other sources? For now, we'll stick to General Mills.

Sorry Cindy,
Kelloggs in the U.S.
Jaime =)

Tucker has twice reacted, the only two times he was accidentally given a product with "May Contain" on the label. One was Tickles crackers and the other was some sort of iced animal cracker. Despite her vigilance, my mother missed the May Contain warning in each case, and sure enough, he reacted.

Lisaml312, I see by your profile we are not in the same area, but this is a number for the nutritionist for Trader Joe's in Ma. Try there and maybe they can help you or redirect you. When I was in-store, the manager at the Arlington, Ma. store was very serious about my questions, contacted her immediately and got back to me while I shopped. He followed me around for a bit talking and listening and said to call for each item. They use many distributors, and need to check each thing item by item, but were very serious and concerned about doing that for me. Here is the number: (781)433-0234. Ask for the nutritionist. Hope that helps.
For those posting about these reactions, and not detailing the actual reaction, how severe was it? I do see where Rebekah had anaphylaxed from her ice cream, yikes! Hope all was okay for you. This greatly interests me lately, as we started school for the first time and the teacher keeps approaching me with things I have just never tried or called on, and I just have preferred to keep to fewer trusted brands, regardless of info I get. Seems like so much is inconsistent, or people react when they really should not have been exposed. Becca

DS's last anaphalactic reaction came from cross-contaminated potato chips. The bag had a specific disclaimer on it that they labelled for risk of cross-contam. with the top 8, but he anaphalaxed (Is that a word? [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]) after four small chips...the only thing he'd had to eat in several hours.
Needless to say, our comfort zone is tight now! Kristi

Becca, thanks so much for the info! I will try calling Trader Joes's tomorrow. Lisa

Becca, thanks so much for the info! I will try calling Trader Joes's tomorrow. Lisa

My now 3 year old son's ONLY reaction was from cross-contaminated Chinese food. We had ordered Lo Mein from a local Chinese restaurant several times, and each time Andre had eaten some off Daddy's plate with no problems. The final time we ordered it (when he was 20 months old), Andre ate quite a bit of it, and during the meal broke out in hives all over his face. We immediately took the food away, washed his face and gave him Benadryl (thank goodness I knew the proper dosage). We called the pediatrician, and by the time the doctor on call returned the call, the hives were gone.
We followed up with our own pediatrician the next day, and she kind of dismissed it, saying there were so many ingredients in Chinese food and it was probably just a reaction to a food dye. Luckily my husband has allergy shots and mentioned what happened to his allergist. He strongly encouraged us to ignore the pediatrician and to bring our son in for testing. We did, and he tested positive to peanut immediately during a scratch test.
We believe the Lo Mein had been cross-contaminated either in the ingredients or that a peanut product had been cooked in the same pan before our dish was prepared. We are certain the food was not cooked in peanut oil, so cross-contamination is the only possibility.
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Susan
Andre's Mom

Wade's nasty reaction in May was due to cross contamination. We beleive it was Harvey's french fries (coated). Still waiting to hear from the CFIA for confirmation.
Katiee

raising

My son had a reaction ( a big one ) to a cross contaminated cookie from a known bakery. He is off of most cookies now. The bakery said it was proabably a cross contamination.
peg541

one of our girls had a reaction to vanilla ice cream from the grocery store last year. there was no allergy warning of any kind on it and nothing to indicate peanuts or nuts in the ingredient list. fortunately, it was the smallest reaction she's ever had, with just facial swelling, and she was alright after a few hours and treatment. joey

DS last anaphylactic reaction was to a cheesecake from a large bakery. It had no warning on the label. When I got the 11 page inventory of all the supplies they use in all their products, the whole last page was nothing but nuts in all their forms. This is why we won't have anything from a bakery ever again.
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Cynde

Almost al my reactions were due to cross-contamination:
- marzipan on top of a birthday cake
- "no-name"-type chocolate bar from boy scouts with no warning on the label
- pastry from a bakery

DS reacted to an Amy's Organics Spinach/Feta pocket sandwich. He had been eating them for two and a half years without incident (started prior to my participation here, and before I was aware of problems with cross-contamination), so I had never called about them. I had also checked labels on every Amy's product our store carried, and had seen *nothing* with nuts.
Come to find out, they bake an apple dessert with walnuts, and pizza with pinenut based pesto in the same ovens as the spinach pockets. DS had had literally *hundreds* of these things -- we bought them by the case -- without incident -- other than an occasional patch of excema, which we attributed to the feta cheese in the pocket.
Then he ate one for supper one evening, and I noticed his cheeks were flushed and covered with a fine rash. Nothing huge, but enough to put my guard up. For that reason, I went to check on him after DH put him to bed. When I went into his room, DS' "Hi, mommy" came out in the strangest, high-pitched voice I had ever heard -- as if he'd been breathing in helium -- that really unusual squeakiness. I gave him Benedryl, and stayed with him, and he was back to normal within half an hour -- his voice back to proper range, and the flush faded.
In another scenario, our local Wild Oats store had improperly labeled one of its pizzas for over two years, before "correcting" it to mention the fact that it contained pinenut pesto -- previously it was labeled "tomato basil pesto". I make a homemade basil pesto that doesn't contain pinenuts, and WO labeling is usually very specific and reliable, so I took it for granted that it was accurate. DS never had that particular pizza, but often enjoyed a slice of cheese pizza, baked on the same oven shelves, and probably sliced with the same cutter.
He would usually get a small patch of excema on his cheek afterwards, but we chalked that up to cheese overload (he had had a mild dairy allergy when he was a baby), and just made sure that we spaced our visits somewhat. It was our only (we thought) safe eat-out treat, and he enjoyed it hugely.
We stopped when we found out about the pinenuts, and switched to homemade.
When our supply of safe soy cheese for finally ran out, we switched over to using mozzarella on his homemade pizza. He has never had a spot of excema after eating it, even loaded with cheese. He enjoys string cheese, and cheddar cheese (we buy it in 5 lb logs and slice it at home) -- no problems whatsoever. Same for butter, homemade ice cream, whipped cream -- no problems, including excema.
We have come to think that perhaps his dairy "allergy" was really a problem with cross-contamination right along.
-Sue

Hi Cindy,
I raised the thread because I thought it was a good one. I know that cross contamination was very scary for me when we started dealing with the PA. We have a lot of new members to the board and I just thought that this was a topic that never goes out of "style" - [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Sue in Sunny Arizona

Re-raising. Great question Cindy! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
My husband and I are gathering info and trying to find our comfort zones. Along with products/restaurants to stay away from.
Thanks!
Pamela

DD's has had reactions from Flipz chocolate covered pretzels (labeled - may contain), Mrs. Fields Cookie (manufactured on the same line), a chocolate bakery cookie, and mini M&M's.
Maggie

Our dd had a reaction to a yogurt covered pretzel (label did not indicate may contain). We investigated and found out that the yogurt had been used previously with nuts.

william , age 2-3 , shortcake biscuit, 40 mins of vomiting, mild reaction, nut trace warning on packet. phoned manufactuers, who comfirmed risk of cross contamination.
Off course now live in world that doenst include food with 'nut trace warnings'.
sarah

My son recently had what I assume was a cross contamination reaction to a McVitie's Hob Nob cookie - no cross contamination warning, and the company swears it should have been safe. It had been his first cross contamination reaction in quite awhile. I believe the last one before that was to Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream.
Amy

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[This message has been edited by StaceyK (edited October 21, 2004).]

Thanks for the replies!
Gail, do you remember the mfg or kind of yogurt covered pretzel?
Cindy, That is a great idea about saving some of the suspected product. I don't know what to do in the U.S. though. I've read that sometimes the manufacturer wants a sample of it back for testing. But I'm not sure as far as an organization.
Thanks, Pamela

As for testing a food product, maybe your allergist would know what to do with it or where to send it.

I had to reply to this one. I've had a couple of minor reactions from cross-contamination--one time to eating a bagel from Great American Bagel- when they were carrying PB bagels at that time.
I've had a some to Kit Kat and Twix, a couple of times to Hershey's Kisses.
I've also had reactions from a knife with peanut butter sitting out--the aroma does it to me!!!

Aiden had a reaction a few weeks ago to Aldi's Fit & Active Dried Cranberries. I don't know why I didn't think to call... When I did call they said there were nuts in the facility but it shouldn't pose a problem - she kept stressing that (like she was a doctor?) I mentioned for those of us who are sensitive enough to react (I didn't think my son was) for them to post that on their package. Her answer was well we aren't required to by law.
I don't know who is harder to deal with - other parents who don't want to have their child give up peanut butter or manufacturers that swear up and down that "it should be fine."
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Mommy to Aiden (1/26/05) PA,wheat,barley,soy,egg and others yet to be discovered and Connor (7/21/06) with possible egg allergy

Quote:Originally posted by JenniferKSwan:
[b]Aiden had a reaction a few weeks ago to Aldi's Fit & Active Dried Cranberries. ."
[/b]
Is your child sensitive to citrus fruits? Or allergic? Cranberries carry a bitter, acidy taste, to me anyways.

Fuzzyfurball -
Really, a reaction to Hershey's Kisses? Wow, I thought they were safe. That is the one thing, besides Peppermint Patties that I let me PA DS eat. Did you ever check with Hershey's?

Quote:Originally posted by Precious1971:
[b] Is your child sensitive to citrus fruits? Or allergic? Cranberries carry a bitter, acidy taste, to me anyways.
[/b]
No - the more acidic, the better as far as he is concerned. He loves to suck on our lemons when we go out to eat. So far he has never had a reaction to cranberries - my MIL makes a relish from scratch and he has had the jellied version as well.
So, I'm thinking it was the cross contamination.
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Mommy to Aiden (1/26/05) PA,wheat,barley,soy,egg and others yet to be discovered and Connor (7/21/06) with possible egg allergy

See my post of "don't eat out" when we nearly lost my son about one month ago from cross-contamination in a restaurant. Of course, by cross-contamination I am assuming another nut product was processed in a "peanut plant" and found its way into his dish.

DD's for-sure anaphylactic reaction was to a chocolate-filled candy from a bag that also had peanut butter-filled candy. I wish I knew what brand so I'd know if they put peanut flour in all of the chocolates or if it was only cross-contamination. It would just help to understand what quantity she probably ingested, but I'll never know.
She had 2 other probable anaphylactic reactions before that after eating some kind of candy with may-contain labels and after eating sugar wafer cookies that have some kind of peanut warning. We didn't put the 2 things together at the time, eating may-contains and then having stomach upset and a bad asthma attack when she didn't have asthma. So I don't know brands, just that she ate different things than usual and they had warning labels.
She also got hives once at Taco Bell and once at KFC, and there's no explanation for that. They don't serve peanut products.

KFC in the US carries Quaker bars ("may contain traces of peanut/tree nut") as a treat in the kids meals.
Dd had a reaction to off-brand cheese puff years ago; no "nut" ingred. listed on package. She broke out on her back and tummy with a rash from Blue Bunny ice cream (vanilla, no nuts listed) months ago. She has had a few rashes and hives that we had no clue what it could have come from. We have been very fortuniate, she hasnt had any major reactions since her diag. 5 years ago except to her skin tests at the allergist.

My son has had an anaphalactic reaction requiring epi pen and trip to ER to Chips Ahoy Cookies and Kellogg's Frosted Rice Krispies Cereal neither of which had any kind of warning on the label.

My son reacted with hives all over his mouth from watermelon that was cross contaminated in a restaurant.
He has other fruit allergies (banana, kiwi etc) so not sure what it was.
At the time, he ate watermelon frequently but this day, he started with reflux and then got hives all over his mouth.
We brought the other food so I have to assume it was x contam.
Take care,
gina

Milky way chocolate treat sized bar in Uk.
I was very lucky as this was a mild reaction, and all that happned is i got hives on my thigh and antihistimines solved it.
at the time it said "may contain traces of hazelnut" but we din't realize because we thought they were sfae until...one day!

GinaC, my DD has problems with watermelon, banana and kiwi, too. They are all related to latex. She gets very red around her mouth when she eats watermelon, hives around her mouth from kiwi, and a tingly mouth from bananas. Her allergist did a blood test for latex recently because of this and the fact that she gets bumps under normal Band-aids that are left on a little too long, and she once may have gotten hives around her mouth from blowing up a balloon (or it may have been from something else). Her latex test came back mildly positive, so she's supposed to avoid latex until they test again 6 months later. It may not have anything to do with what happened to your child, but it just rang a bell with me.