Nut Allergy Support

full-time-mum

1) *all* the supermarkets produce booklet lists of their nut-free products :-)

Tesco have run out and Morrisions say they don't produce a booklet but if its their brand and it doesn't say anything then it is ok.
2) for things like biscuits etc. its far better to make your own. Just is. The 'guarenteed' nut free things are all hideously expensive, or contain ingredients that you can barely pronounce let alone anything else, because they are also being sold as 'free' of other common allergens.
I agree (I don't eat wheat so have already spotted the cr*p thats been added). However, even the flour says Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free !
3) lots of things are just fine when you investigate further.
I suspect that the "may contain traces of nuts" is put there so you can't sue them.
4) chocolate - nice chocolate to try is plamil. They are 100% nut and animal free (premises totally and utterly)
Will look for this - plain choc for baking is one of the things that I haven't sourced yet. Can you get it in the shops or will I have to google?

It isn't the end of everything.
Just feels a bit like it at the moment.

Can I ask how your child was diagnosed? There are very few specialist allergy centres for children in the UK, but you are entitled to a referal to them. My DD is 'with' the clinic at Addenbrooks, but there are also ones in Leeds (Jimmys), at the Evalina and GOSH in London, one of the hospitals in Glasgow (sorry, I don't know which one) If you are in the South East then you are likely to have a visiting consultant from one of the london based clinics or one of their 'students' (still consultant level, but working with them) within you local Major hospital :-) The major clinics all test for individual nuts in the RAST and skin testing, many of the 'local' ones just set in Paed outpatients only have a 'nut mix' and 'peanut' alone to use for general testing :-(

Testing was at the local hospital. She was skin tested for peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashew, almond, brazil and sesame (only because I asked). She reacted to walnuts, hazelnuts and cashew + a tiny pin pr!ck response to brazil. Do you think I should ask for further testing at one of the centres you mentioned?

Finally - please remember that it is not just food that you must check. Peanut oil is used widely in skin creams (zinc and castor oil cream usually contains it -arachis oil, is its cosmetic name) as are others. You need to check the products that you use on yourselves as well :-(

DD has always had problems with shampoos and body washes - we can now check for the nut oils and see if this is the cause.

I think the part I'm finding difficult is to gauge the levels of risk. For example, if I buy a chocolate cake in Tesco and it says:

Recipe: No Nuts
Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free
Factory: No nuts

Then I would consider this safe to eat.

However, I have several items in my freezer that are arguably

Recipe: No Nuts
Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free
Kitchen: No nuts

The only difference is that I know that the chocolate I used (Tesco own brand plain choc) says "may contain traces of nuts"
so, on one hand I think its not safe but then my logical brain kicks in and I start thinking that the chances are the Tesco made chocolate cake contains the same chocolate as I use. Its then that my mind goes into overdrive and I loose the plot.:eek:

full-time-mum

Tulip wrote: »

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

Now I've been led to believe that this is not acceptable on a strict nut free diet as the nut ones could have contaminated the non-nut ones (being produced and packaged at the same time).

sleepybookworm7

DD has a severe nut allergy. I don't necessarily find it is more expensive when shopping, just more time consuming!

Picking up on what other people have said, we no longer buy any Tesco own brands because of their labelling. Personally, I find it ridiculous and of no help at all as they are not willing to commit to whether it's nut free or not. None of the other big supermarkets label like this, so why do they. I have written to complain about it to them, but got a standard unhelpful reply.

Lots of Asda smart price foods are suitable for DD. As are many of Sainsburys cheap brands.

RadoJo

Full time Mum - I completely understand the desire to make sure you don't put your DD at risk, but don't forget that a diagnosis won't change her reaction to things she has already eaten. eg if she has had a certain cereal before and not reacted, a diagnosis won't make her more likely to react now, so depriving her of familiar foods which she has been able to eat until now will probably only make you feel more stressed while you try and work out what else you need to be aware of.

I am severely allergic to most nuts, but have not so far had a problem with eating things with no nuts in the recipe or ingredients, even those which say that the factory cannot be guaranteed nut free. I understand the frustration of labelling, but the compensation culture is to blame for the fact that companies would rather be over cautious than leave themselves open to a potential law suit etc.

Peanuts seem to be the main one to watch out for, so if your DD didn't react to them, then she's one step ahead of the game already. I rarely come across items with unexpected walnuts, hazlenuts or cashews, and the only thing that has ever caught me out (in buying it - I noticed before I ate it!) was some pesto that had walnuts in it as well as pine nuts (which again, arean't really nuts, so wouldn't have been a problem on their own!). For the most part I live a very normal life - I have to remind people that I am allergic when we go round for dinner, but most restaurants are used to people asking and are really helpful.

I agree with the poster who mentioned holidays though - nut allergies seem to be almost unheard of on the continent, so be sure to learn how to tell restaurant staff about them, and stress that it is not a preference, but a danger and in my experience they are very accommodating.

The only other thing to watch out for, although this is for those with peanut allergies - I recently went to a fish and chip ship where they cooked everything in peanut oil under the description of groundnut oil. They were very pleased with themselves for doing this, luckily me for me, and mentioned how healthy it was on their menu, which lead us all to leave, but it simply wouldn't have occured to me to worry about that in a fish and chip shop, so do try and keep your wits about you!

3plus1

full-time-mum wrote: »

Now I've been led to believe that this is not acceptable on a strict nut free diet as the nut ones could have contaminated the non-nut ones (being produced and packaged at the same time).

When I was little, my mother would buy chocolate cornettos (the type with hazelnuts on top). She used to cut the top off with a knife and eat the bit of the ice cream that had been contaminated with nuts. I ate the rest.

I've also picked out the nut free chocolates from selection boxes and eaten those.

From the above, it really doesn't sound like I have fatal nut allergies, but I do! In my experience, it can be hard for people without allergies to understand how allergies actually affect us sufferers. As long as you check the labels for food products that actually contain nuts, you are doing your duty as a mother and you are doing it well. Avoiding everything with traces is taking it too far - for legal reasons, everything has traces these days. Or at least claims to have traces, just so no one can sue.

You sound like you care a hell of a lot about your DD and I just want to tell you that this is obvious to anyone reading your posts. Buying products that apparently have traces of nuts in them does not make you a bad mother. I'm a little concerned you don't believe that.

I agree with previous posters about nut allergies on the continent - I used to live and work in France and I can vouch for the complete lack of awareness and understanding about allergies in that country. Most children in France grow up eating little pots of Nutella. Those who don't (because they have nut allergies) are always isolated a bit. I remember teaching and for whatever reason, I mentioned I was allergic to nuts and one of my pupils, who was a quiet little thing, suddenly pricked up her ears and asked me to repeat it. She was so much happier in classes from then on, because she was 'the same' as the cool student teacher. I thought that was both incredibly sweet and incredibly sad.

Oh, and I'd never buy 'proper' chocolate in France. I had a chat with a woman who ran a chocolate shop and she admitted freely that she never separated the nuts from the 'nut free' chocolate when she was working, because she didn't see the point.

Savvy_Sue

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