I'm Co-Hosting a Food Allergy Chat on The Motherhood!

Last year, I was privileged to join the amazing Lori Sandler of Divvies and several other terrific bloggers and various parenting experts in a wonderfully successful live chat series on The Motherhood web site, a parenting forum that I love. We explored many aspects of food allergies including summer camp, play dates, sleepovers and much more. Here is a link to that chat.

In their infinite wisdom, The Motherhood decided that more food allergy chats are a great idea! Hooray! I appreciate that this parenting forum is so open to addressing the problem of food allergies, and tackling it from many angles. So here are some more details on what will be a fun and informative live chat.  Can't attend? You can click the link below (the one right after "Where: The Motherhood, right here") and submit a question. They will also provide a transcript a few days after the talk.

You're invited to The Motherhood for a Live Chat!

What:  A live, all-text talk on The Motherhood, called Managing the Anxieties Around Food Allergies.  We're continuing the Navigating Food Allergies series with a solutions-oriented class on handling the anxiety and feelings of isolation that can come with managing food allergies. Dr. Jules Spotts will join Lori Sandler and a fantastic group of bloggers to talk about how it's going for you and to learn and share ways to make sure allergies don't define your kids or your family.

When: Tuesday, June 5, at 1 p.m. ET. We will chat for 30 minutes!

Where: On The Motherhood, right here - http://bit.ly/KIHxQo

Who: The all-text chat will be hosted by Lori Sandler, founder of Divvies Bakery and author of The Divvies Bakery Cookbook, and psychologist Dr. Jules Spotts. Co-hosting are these amazing people:

Barbara, Food Allergy Initiative, http://www.faiusa.org/Carmen, Mom to the Screaming Masses, http://momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com/Christina, A Mommy Story, http://www.amommystory.com/Clarissa, The Posh Parent, http://theposhparent.com/Eleanor, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, http://www.foodallergy.org/
Emily, West of the Loop, http://www.westoftheloop.com/Jenny, The Nut-Free Mom, http://nut-freemom.blogspot.com/Kelly, Food Allergy Mama, http://www.foodallergymama.com/Sarah, The Allergist Mom, http://theallergistmom.com/Sloane, Allergic Girl, http://allergicgirl.com/

Co-host Twitter IDs:@FoodAllergyInit
@mttsm
@mommystory
@theposhparent
@FoodAllergy
@westoftheloop
@nut_freemom
@foodallergymama
@TheAllergistMom
@allergicgirl

Host Twitter IDs:
@Divvies
@theMotherhood
@EmilyMcKhann
@CooperMunroe
@eolson426
 
I hope you can join us!

Food Allergies and Food Labels: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Check out this photo of a label from Breton Multigrain Crackers. From my perspective as a consumer looking to avoid even traces of peanuts or tree nuts, the label I share in the photo should be one of the "good ones." It is clearly marked with regard to any nut ingredients and clearly states that the product is made in a nut-free facility. Does a label that states clear nut allergy info boost my interest in buying the product? Absolutely.

However, take another look at the label. This particular flavor also includes sesame seeds and an allergy to sesame is on the rise, so this ingredient may be a concern to some of you reading this right now. Before we get too angry at the company, though, a quick note: sesame is not one of the "Top 8" allergens and the allergy warning in bold type on this package is totally voluntary. They didn't have to put it there, but they did.

I'm talking labels because soon those of us in the U.S. will be talking turkey--as in Thanksgiving and many of us are going to be eating at the homes of family and friends. Label reading is crazier than ever these days and food labels with regard to allergy warnings are changing like the leaves in autumn.

Consider the new labels for Ragu spaghetti sauce. Now, any time of year people are serving spaghetti and tomato sauce. I make my own--taste preference as well allergy concerns factor into this decision--so I'm not a regular Ragu customer. Howevever, I came across a troubling label discussion on the page of one of my food allergy Facebook friends. Turns out Ragu has changed some of their sauce labels to reflect nut allergy warnings due to new manufacturing lines/locations.

Oh, dear. But the thing is: This happens ALL THE TIME. Here's what Ragu had to say when I questioned them on their Facebook fan page:

Hi Jenny! We totally understand your concern about nuts in our sauce. As of 2/10, some labels of our Traditional sauce stated that the product may contain tree nuts. This is because a little amount of this sauce was produced at a different plant, thus there will be an "L" in the date code instead of a "Y" so if you want to be extra cautious, check the date code. An example of a date code would look like this: JAN2211YU010302A1. We do NOT put nuts to our Old World Style Traditional - we had to put that different label # on there just for precautionary reasons. We regularly test for allergens at that facility to ensure our products meet the highest standards quality regardless of production – and to date, no allergens have been found. As we’re sure you know, you can never be too safe – so you can stick with any date code that contains a “Y”. Thank you for your concern and we hope this information is helpful!

I know. I'm a little confused after reading that as well. However, that's all I know--if you want more info from Ragu, please ask them directly.

Additionally, the law that requires the "Top 8" allergens (egg, milk, soy, tree nut, peanut, shellfish, fish and wheat) to be listed on a food label doesn't cover other allergens and does not require any additional allergy warnings in bold type. Allergy alerts in bold type are totally voluntary under current U.S. law. Only the ingredients need to be listed in "plain English." If you have any questions, I encourage you to do your homework (as I do) and contact the companies directly. The more noise they hear, the better chance they may actually create a label that's easy to decipher as well as (fingers crossed, always!!) accurate.

The bottom line is to always, ALWAYS read food labels and inspect them before serving to an allergic person. You also want to start alerting your family now if you notice any changes in food labels you've used safely in the past.

Any other food label issues you'd like to sound off on? Readers, let's hear it. If possible, share the outcomes of any e-mails you've sent or phone calls you've made.