Nut Allergy Support

full-time-mum

My DD has just been diagnosed with a nut allergy and I have discovered that I can no longer use my regular brands of food. My shopping bill has gone up because I can't necessarily buy the value or shop brand products any more.

It set me thinking that I would be useful to be able to share information for bargains specifically ok for nut allergy sufferers.

What does everyone think?

I'll start the ball rolling by saying that I've found that Tesco Value Choc Chip Cookies are OK but their standard product isn't.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THE LABELS
AND DON'T TAKE THIS INFORMATION AT FACE VALUE.

I haven't eaten wheat for a long time and have discovered that a brand can be labelled as OK one month but then the shop changes supplier but not package design and they are now longer free-from..

silvercar

full-time-mum wrote: »

I'll start the ball rolling by saying that I've found that Tesco Value Choc Chip Cookies are OK but their standard product isn't...

Do you mean that you don't get a reaction or that they don't contain nuts in the ingredients.

I find it most annoying that manufacturers now put "may contain nuts" or "made in a factory containg nut ingredients" on virtually everything just to cover themselves. In actuality most of their products would be perfectly safe, but rather than give accurate information they overload the safety warnings so that loads of people have to avoid them.

Jo_R_2

I don't have a nut allergy myself but one of my best mates does. He gets along pretty well all said and done, but we have had the conversations about (sometimes it seems) everything being labelled as unsiutable just in case.

We both shop a fair bit at the independent health food shop in town and find there's a lot of stuff in there that's okay for him. Some of it can be a bit more pricey than in supermarkets, though.

I shall discuss with him and see what he comes up with!

full-time-mum

silvercar wrote: »

Do you mean that you don't get a reaction or that they don't contain nuts in the ingredients.

I mean that are labelled as OK for nut suffers.

silvercar wrote: »

I find it most annoying that manufacturers now put "may contain nuts" or "made in a factory containg nut ingredients" on virtually everything just to cover themselves. In actuality most of their products would be perfectly safe, but rather than give accurate information they overload the safety warnings so that loads of people have to avoid them.

This is what I'm getting at. Finding products that don't say "may contain nuts" etc.

Tesco labelling is fairly good - its divided into 3
Recipe
Ingredients
Factory

However, I've not seen any products which guarantee the ingredients nut free, but at least the information is there to make an educated decision.

I'm proposing looking for products which are

Not labelled as containing nuts

labelled as

Recipe: No nuts
Factory:: No nuts

or

Factory: Produced in a nut free area but nuts used elsewhere

andysdad_2

silvercar wrote: »

I find it most annoying that manufacturers now put "may contain nuts" or "made in a factory containg nut ingredients" on virtually everything just to cover themselves. In actuality most of their products would be perfectly safe, but rather than give accurate information they overload the safety warnings so that loads of people have to avoid them.

A few years ago I worked in a factory that supplied TESCO and although the product was nut free and the factory was nut free the cost of proving this to put "nut free" on the pack was so expensive the company chose to go the next level up.

I think there were 5 levels of warning at that point.

Litigation risk wins over consumer information

AD

slummymummyof3

Kinnerton Chocolate products for example their Advent calenders are guaranteed nut free!

full-time-mum

Galaxy Chocolate - original bars only not plain or fancy ones seem to be OK
Cadbury's Twirl and Flakes

full-time-mum

andysdad wrote: »

A few years ago I worked in a factory that supplied TESCO and although the product was nut free and the factory was nut free the cost of proving this to put "nut free" on the pack was so expensive the company chose to go the next level up.

I think there were 5 levels of warning at that point.

Litigation risk wins over consumer information

AD

It would be interesting to know exactly what the legal requirements are, if any. At the end of the day, I want enough infomation for me to make a realistic assessment of risk.

My DD is not going to get through the rest of her life without the odd mis-hap and we fully expect her to need her epipen at some point - we just want to minimise the risk and number of occaisions this happens.

I've just done a bit of goggling and it seems that there is no legal requirement just a code of conduct. Presumably, the anything legal falls under mis-labelling. So I imagine that specifically stating it is nut-free when it isn't is illegal.

Maybe there is someone currently working in this area that could give us some more information.

nibs

Hi, my DS was diagnosed with peanut allergy 14 years ago and there was hardly any awareness at that time.
In a way its probably made things easier for us as we had to use our common sense when shopping as there weren't any warnings on things back then.
So now we still buy more or less the same things although we have to be careful that ingredients dont change.
Far too many items state MADE IN AN AREA WHICH USES NUTS but as we know they do this to safe guard themselves and rightly or wrongly we have to deal with this.
Our shopping bill and what we buy hasn't changed much but maybe it's because we have always had to deal with my DS allergy and are used to what he can/cannot eat.
Shopping will get much easier for you as you get used to things but its very hard at first I know.
We do buy things that state MADE IN AN AREA but are very vigilant when DS eats these things, otherwise he would be unable to eat most things !
We never buy anything that contains nuts (not even if he isnt eating it )
We never have nuts in the house and never eat them when out, even if DS is not with us.
Good luck

Tulip

:hello:,

I do symphise with you as I am also a Nut Allergy sufferer and always will be for the rest of my life,I shop for myself and I make sure I never get anything that contains nuts,Its so strange though as I am allergic to nuts I can eat dessicated Cocanut without any reaction at all which surprised me a great deal.

When I am out for a party or something I have to ask does this contain nuts,I feel awful asking but if I dont and it does have nuts I cant blame the person directly as I had never asked in the first place.

If I am given a box of chocolates I separate them and I have the good ones and my parents get the nut ones.

Katie

silvercar

The danger is that if too many foods are labelled as "may contain nuts" people find it too restrictive and try some of the products. If these don't actually contain nuts there will be no reaction, lulling you into a false sense of security that any "may contain nuts" products are OK.

Better to have "may contain nuts -so don't sue us" and "may contain nuts - we know it does".

My son can eat peanuts and almonds. We know he can't eat walnuts. We've been told that people allergic to walnuts are generally also allergic to brazil and hazel nuts. As for the rest of the nuts, we've not a clue!

Never had a problem with anything that doesn't name a nut on the ingredients, yet.