but I know that there is still a lot of work and advocacy to be done for food allergies. I was going to cool it with the food allergy posts for a while, but my Older Sons last day of school brought some more things to light that I need to clarify. After graduation they had a reception for the kids and parents and served muffins and apple juice. Muffins contain wheat, egg and dairy and depending on where they got the muffins they are probably cross contaminated with peanuts (they were nut free muffins, but that doesn't mean they are safe for peanut allergies). This pretty much hits on all of the Little Mans allergies (except for rye and barley).
The school of thought and the one that all Allergists recommend is to out grow or at least have a good chance of outgrowing a food allergy the child MUST AVOID THE THINGS THEY ARE ALLERGIC TO. I brought the Little Man a safe muffin so he didn't feel left out, but that is only part of the equation. The other part is that I don't let him come in contact with plates, napkins, tables, cups, or HANDS that have been contaminated by the allergens. I know that if you don't live with allergies every day, this concept may not be in the forefront of your mind. But I live it every day and I watch my child live it every day and since I've been told that the only way to outgrow allergies is to avoid the allergen, I will keep things my son is allergic to away from him at all cost. I may ask you to wash your hands before you touch him or his food. Will he react to the allergens on your hands through his skin? I don't know, and I don't want to find out. Will he react to allergens from your hands cross contaminating his food? Most definitely. He will also react if the allergens from hands, tables, contaminated utensils, cups etc. get on his hands and he puts them in his mouth. That is akin to him ingesting the allergen. I've seen this scenario happen before from a shopping cart at the grocery store. I want my child to outgrow his allergies and I pray for it every day, so if I, or someone like me asks for hands to washed, or tables to cleaned or just to not touch him if you've eaten something that he's allergic to, I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm trying to keep my child safe and healthy. And I would think that most people would understand that. Here are some hand washing and cross contaminating facts:
From
Food Allergy Connection:
Be diligent about disinfecting. Clean counter tops, tables and other areas the allergic food touches. Bleach and water works well, as do disinfecting cleaners. Clean utensils and dishes in hot soapy water or in the dishwasher.
Be diligent about hand washing. Residue from the allergic food may cause a reaction in some people, so be sure to have family members wash hands and mouth after handling or eating the allergic foods. Also check clothes for spills.
From
Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network:
Cleaning Methods
Unfortunately, no scientific studies have been done to evaluate cleaning practices or methods in the removal of food proteins. In our experience, warm soapy water appears to be an excellent method of safely cleaning cafeteria tables, desks, utensils, etc., just as this method is successful when used in homes where the allergenic food is served.
It seems that removal of the food from the surface should be the main goal, and any "wet" cleaner together with a little "elbow grease" in wiping, should suffice. "Waterless" cleaners or "instant hand sanitizers" that do not include a "wet-wash/wipe" step would not be adequate.
A number of schools use a chlorine solution; the superiority of this method has not been studied in this setting. However, we have not received any reports of reactions
after this method of cleaning was used. The more important point is to use a fresh cloth or paper towels when cleaning the allergic child's table to avoid cross contamination from a sponge or cloth that was used to clean allergen-containing table tops.
Finally, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology position paper, "Anaphylaxis in Schools and Other Childcare Settings," states, "hand washing after food handling should be encouraged in day care and preschool settings, as well as in lower schools." Once again, soap and warm water should be sufficient.
From
Allergic Child:
"For the parents of a food allergic child, you have enough to worry about with reading labels, avoiding the offending allergens . . . and then the words “cross contamination” enter your vocabulary.
When it comes to food allergies, it is difficult to be careful enough. The same knife used to cut a peanut butter sandwich and a cheese sandwich can leave enough residues on the cheese sandwich to cause a serious allergic reaction. In fact, a Canadian girl died from this minimal amount of peanut exposure back in the mid-1990’s.
Cross-contamination occurs when a safe food comes in contact with a food allergen such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, fish, or anything that your child is allergic to. For those with severe food allergies, eating even the slightest trace of an allergic food can cause a potentially life threatening or fatal reaction. Although not everyone with food allergy is this sensitive, it's still important to be very careful and follow precautions.
We had a peanut-allergic adult friend who had a secondary exposure to peanuts. He purchased a glazed donut at a local donut shop and after eating a few bites realized he was having a severe allergic reaction. He was able to self-administer his epinephrine kit and go to the hospital. He traced back his reaction to the donut’s preparation. It was cooked in the same vegetable oil that had been used to first cook a peanut covered donut. This exposure was enough for him to sustain a serious reaction.
We are extremely careful of fryers in restaurants. An order of French fries can be cooked in the same oil as fried shrimp, which is disastrous for the shellfish allergic. For the milk and wheat allergic child, breaded chicken or fish can be cooked in the same oil as French fries, also causing cross contamination.
We have a chef card that we give to the waiter/waitress at restaurants that explains this minimal amount of exposure, and we explain our need to know what is fried in any shared oil. For an example of this chef card, please purchase our e-book on “Traveling and Eating Out with Food Allergies.” More information is available at: http://www.allergicchild.com/traveling_eatingout.htm.
We take the following precautions at home to avoid cross-contamination of our son’s allergens:
No nuts or peanuts allowed in the house. If we receive a gift from someone that contains nuts, we immediately remove the item from our house.
Peanut butter was eaten by my husband for years; however he no longer does, now that we better understand the severity of peanut allergies. When the sandwich was prepared at home, our son was told to stay away from the counter top. The knife used in the peanut butter was not used in the jelly jar. A separate spoon was used to obtain the jelly. The knife was washed with a paper towel, which can be disposed of. The counter top was cleaned off with a paper towel after the sandwich was made. When we packed a picnic, no peanut butter sandwiches were allowed. Some people have banned peanut butter or their child’s allergen from their home entirely. However, I feel there was some benefit for my son to recognize the smell of peanut butter (since he does not have airborne reactions). He can recognize what to stay away from. One Allergicchild.com visitor suggested another way of dealing with the jelly jar: she buys the squeeze bottles of Welch’s jelly for her peanut allergic daughter to use. No knives can get into the squeeze bottle, and only her daughter is allowed to use it!
We do not allow our son to eat food prepared at other people’s houses. If he goes to someone’s house, he brings his own food. We tell people ahead of time about his allergies in case they have recently made a peanut snack. This allows them to clean off counter tops or play areas.
We tell people (waiters, waitresses, and counter people) in restaurants about his allergies upon ordering food using his chef card. We ask them to not allow his food to get near his allergens.
My husband and I do occasionally eat salmon, crab or shrimp at home. Again, our son is recognizing the smell, and does not have airborne reactions. We use extreme precautions of washing counter tops and dishes with hot, soapy water after contact with shellfish. We wash our own hands after the meal and brush our teeth before any contact with him.
We use a separate spatula for the grill when grilling salmon and steak (our son’s favorite!) We keep the fish and the steak completely separated on the grill also.
My son’s classroom at school is peanut/nut free; however the entire school is not. Therefore, other teachers do use peanuts/nuts in their classrooms for various projects and for snacks. There are now several children in the elementary school with nut allergies, and extreme caution has been taken with hand washing in the classroom so that communal bathrooms are not affected. Also, the projects aren’t allowed outside of the classrooms that include peanuts/nuts. These projects are becoming much rarer as more and more children are diagnosed with food allergies.
Sesame seeds are virtually impossible to control, and therefore we don’t have any products in our home that have sesame seeds on top. Our son has had reactions after eating at McDonald’s, and we believe it was from an errant sesame seed that he ate. We steer clear of delis and sandwich shops that have sesame seeds on some of their bread. There’s just too much chance of a seed landing on our son’s food.
Other families have created a safe shelf in their kitchen cabinets or in their refrigerator for safe allergen-free foods for their child(ren) with food allergies. Or you can label foods with a sticker for the food allergic child’s safe foods.
Manufactured products can also have the problem of cross contamination. The statement, “may contain peanuts” is one way that manufacturers alert consumers that products are being run on contaminated lines. Bakeries that claim they are gluten-free are not allowed to produce any products with gluten since flour is virtually impossible to contain in the air. Gluten free products, therefore, are made in facilities that only produce gluten free items.
If we see that a manufacturer has a peanut butter cookie product and a chocolate chip cookie product, we will suspect that the two cookies are likely to be run on the same lines. I always call customer service at the company to discuss the likelihood of cross contamination. Occasionally, I get a nice surprise, and find that the two cookies are run completely separate. Most of the times, it has been my experience that a peanut butter cookie in the product line ruins our chances of eating any other cookies by that manufacturer.
Purchasing items from bulk bins is VERY dangerous because of cross contamination issues. Sure, there may be safe chocolates in the bin currently, but what was contained in the bin prior to that? How much cleaning occurred between the two food products? It’s just not worth the risk for us because of our son’s sensitivity level toward his food allergens.
If your child is extremely sensitive to certain foods, it’s worth the extra vigilance to ensure that cross contamination cannot occur with any foods that are eaten. Cooking from scratch, in your own kitchen, is one sure way to know exactly what your child is eating! "
