Food Allergy Consumer Tip Fridays: "Is this safe?"

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If you have a question about a product...

Is this safe?
Is this made in a dedicated facility?
Is this made on shared lines?
Etc.

Contact the manufacturer youself. It is SO easy to do! If they are not open, you can always email them and you will receive an answer soon enough, or just call when they do open.

We hear so much talk--especially lately!--about the risk of anaphylaxis, and yet so many parents post to a group of strangers on Facebook, asking if a food is safe? When it comes to a matter of life and death--especially for a child!--I would think most of us would prefer to get the information straight "from the horse's mouth." (the manufacturer)

Let's be honest, it is never that urgent to use a specific food item. There is always something else to eat. C'mon food allergy mommas, we owe our kids more!

Own your food allergies or your kids' food allergies. Do your own due diligence and teach your children to do the same. Contact the manufacturer yourself.

News from Krispy Kreme for Consumers with Peanut Allergy

Today Krispy Kreme reached out to Food Allergy Buzz regarding a new donut with peanut ingredients that that will be introduced on July 24. I am copying and pasting the body of the message below for your information. 

"On July 24, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will introduce a doughnut with peanuts and peanut ingredients in our shops and other locations where Krispy Kreme doughnuts are sold. Because the safety of our customers is our top priority, I wanted you and your community to be among the first in the U.S. to know about the introduction of this ingredient to our menu.

The introduction of this specific peanut menu item at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is new, but Krispy Kreme shops have never been allergy-free and specifically nut-free. Our shops have ingredients that can contain known allergens, including nuts. We receive ingredients from suppliers who produce products with allergens, including nuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. While some shops do not sell products made with nuts on the menu, because of how our products are manufactured, none of our shops are ‘nut-free.’ Following national safety guidelines, we take many steps to clean machines and surfaces in our shops, but there is the possibility that trace allergens might be found in our products. As a result, we post and label known allergens and ask guests to make sure they check the post before entering our shops and the labels before consuming.

For more information about Krispy Kreme’s ingredients, please visit http://krispykreme.com/Nutritionals."

Food Allergy Consumer News: An Epinephrine Tablet

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This is not the first time we have heard about it, but is probably a sign that it is closer to becoming a reality!

According to Meaghan St. Pierre of Click-On Detroit, "Researchers at Nova Southeastern University have been working for five years on a pill that might be an alternative to the EpiPen. It's a tablet that disintegrates in 10 to 15 seconds sending lifesaving epinephrine into the bloodstream."

To read the entire article which is entitled "Researchers working on alternative to EpiPen", visit the Click-On Detroit website.

There is no word on possible pricing yet.

Food Allergies and Anxiety: New Study Out of Columbia

There is a new study out of Columbia Public Health (Columbia University's School of Public Health) linking childhood anxiety and food allergies. See "Researchers find link between food allergies and childhood anxiety" for a summary of the study. Obviously, a great deal more research is needed.

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We really need a "whole child" approach to treating children with food allergies; we need allergists to treat the medical aspects of life with food allergies, and social workers or psychologists to help with the mental well-being aspects. There needs to be more collaboration between those two types of providers for patients with food allergies.

Since I began blogging in 2008, I have witnessed a massive uptick in the number of anxiety-ridden, overwhelmed parents in online food allergy support and discussion groups. Something needs to change in the way food allergies are being treated. Too many parents or even adult patients are at a loss about where to find answers about the day-to-day aspects of managing food allergies. When allergists send patients and their families back out into the world with just a diagnosis, a prescription for epinephrine injectors and instruction to avoid said allergen, they (the medical establishment) are doing a disservice to those patients. I urge parents of children with food allergies and adults with food allergies to be vigorous self-advocates. Call the allergist's office back with your questions. Go to your allergy appointments with a list of questions. Do not look for answers to your medical questions on Facebook or websites or blogs by non-medical professionals.

Food Allergy Buzz's favorite information sources for food allergies are listed below. They are accurate and always professional 

Kids With Food Allergies Foundation

Food Allergy Research & Education

Allergic Living

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team, FAACT

http://twitter.com/AllergyKidsDoc