Corvalis mom gave me the link to a study about may contains that was done a few years ago. I'm looking for it.
All I know is that I look at may contains and processed in a facility as a risk, a crapshoot. I do not give my son either because I don't feel that any food is worth the consequences of becoming seriously ill or dying.
So, I personally avoid both and have educated my child in this mindset. Just my comfort zone.
I also have a peanut free/nut free home. I just won't take a chance that my DS could accidently be exposed in his own home and I feel that it is a matter of respect of his feelings and comfort that I would never allow any foods with nuts here.

DS does not eat anything that says "may contains" "made on shared equipment" or "made in the same facility." There's no legal definition of "made in the same facility." Like a pp said, it might mean made on the same equipment. If I knew that manufacturer labels for made on the same equipment but this product says made in the same facility, then I'd probably let my child eat it. HTH

we avoid both. the risk is to high.
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erin

[url="http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/alrgpart.html"]http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/alrgpart.html[/url]

I wanted to mention that we've had problems in the past with things that aren't labeled at all. One notable one was Lemon Heads. My son consistently got a bad stomach-ache after eating these, so we finally called the factory and I talked to their QC director.
He said the peanut dust "hangs in the air" at the factory and that he wouldn't let a child who was PA eat candy from their factory. Yet there was no warning on their candy at all.
We have called a lot of factories over time and have grown comfortable with some manufacturers but not with others. General Mills seems to do a good job in their plants (but Kelloggs has been a problem for us with soy contamination).
I really don't think food labels have much meaning at all. I'm very glad that my son's peanut allergy appears to need more than trace amounts to be triggered and that we're only dealing with a stomach ache most of the time for these traces. Otherwise we'd just throw up our hands and give up on processed foods. Sadly, I think we have to assume that all processed foods could contain peanuts regardless of the labeling, and be prepared to handle a reaction if it happens.

We avoid both , can't be too safe.
Since after almost three years reaction and exposure free my daughter had a reaction brought on by trace, trace is an exposure to me, and a danger I am not willing to knowingly play with.
I would say at first I was more unclear about how careful to be , the more I learn the more careful I am, we won't even feed our daughter deli meats unless they are packaged , although we had in the past , it was too risky for us to continue, having heard from anaphylaxis canada speaker that it was a danger,as well that if there is a warning , of "may contain" or "in a facility" at least in Canada it means there is a genuine risk of exposure.
Be safe.

In re: to peanuts, we avoid both...
In regard to tree nuts (which my daughter has not shown an allergy in testing), we avoid may contain because we were told that people with PA have a higher risk of developing Tree Nut allergies, but we do use a few products that have the manufactured in a facility warning. I have called those companies and am satisfied with their allergen policies.

I don`t give either one. "May contain" means either one:
1. It could be in the same plant with peanuts.
2. It could be on shared equipment with peanuts.
If it says "may contain" you don`t know which of those it is. The reason that in the same plant with peanuts has risk is that peanut dust is notorious for being in the air. It is the same reason that most of us need peanut free flights. When all those passengers open their bags of peanuts, there is peanut dust in the air.
Some people on this board will give manufactured in a facility with peanuts if they call and find out it is in a different floor or totally different part of the building. Unless you call you really don`t know. There was a thread here on what percent contain peanuts if it is in a facility with peanuts. I don`t remember the number, but it was enough to worry about---I think it was somewhere around 5% to 10%. Maybe someone can find the thread.

HI,
I do not give "May Contains" but I do give "Manufactured in a Facility". My thought with this is that I do not live in a peanut free house which to me is the same as "facility". We have been fine with this. I also mentioned this to Dr. Sampson at our visit and he just nodded and didn't say that we shouldn't. I'm sure you will get many different opinions about this. You just have to find what works safely for you.
Beth

We avoid both to eliminate the confusion. Just seems easier (and safer) for our family.
And as a FYI- manufacturers are not required to label for may contains or processed in/on [url="http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alrgqa.html."]http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alrgqa.html.[/url]
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Jodi mom to:
D 5/22/01 NKA
Z 3/18/03 Peanut, Milk, Egg, pineapple, etc...
[This message has been edited by 2BusyBoys (edited October 29, 2006).]