Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

My granddaughter is 28 mos. and was recently diagnosed with severe tree nut allergies. The most severe are pistachios & cashews then walnuts. The dr. said for now to avoid ALL tree nuts, just to be on the safe side. When she gets older and can tell us if she's feeling funny, then if my daughter wants to she can try things that have warnings of "may contain tree nuts" or processed in a facility where tree nuts are" Anyway, we have been reading labels and calling companies to make sure what is "safe" for her before we give her anything. We had read packages of Entenmans and some packages don't have warnings and some say there are nuts, or processed where nuts were etc. We thought the one with no warning would be ok, but now my daughter is thinking that everything is processed on the same lines, that they make the cakes with nuts first then make other things but even if say the chocolate chip cookies are 10th on the line, is there still a possibility of a trace being left on the machine? If your child has tree nut allergies (she's ok with peanuts/peanut butter), what do you give your children? Can you recommend some safe snacks, restaurants, etc? My daughter was hoping Entenmans so that when she goes visiting to family etc. she could bring something that the baby can eat too. Now she doesn't know. We know of a nut free bakery in Brightwaters but haven't been there yet. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Message edited 2/26/2013 3:42:38 PM.

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

I do not give my child anything that says produced on equipment shared with tree nuts. He can have cheap store bought oreos, duncan hines cake mix has no nuts, not sure about Entenmanns. He cannot have Dunkin donuts. I would go to whole foods or trader joes and check out their selection. My son is 4 and for a year asks if he can eat food, or if there are nuts in foods

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

I don't have a child with food allergies but I consult this list when I am having a friend of his over that does have allergies!

http://snacksafely.com/snacklist.pdf

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

This was a previous discussion on the subject:

http://www.lifamilies.com/chat/topic.aspx?&P=1&ID=386561&Highlight=allergy%20AND%20Entenmann's#P4690011

It also has info on a network you can join regarding allergies.

In short, NO on Entenmann's!

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

I answered on "Health." I don't know if my approach is unorthodox or whatever, but here it is... (Oh, and I also suggested bringing fruit...can't go wrong with that. Allergy websites can direct you to allergen-free snacks also.)

My son is 28 months and has a moderate tree nut allergy, but a very severe peanut allergy (in fact, the maximum possible!). Yes, I do give him Entenmann's--he had like a dozen Pop Ems last week...lol.

This is what I figure:
~For two years he'd been eating Entenmann's, Dunkin' Donuts, and whatever else before his peanut reaction and Dx. He never had a reaction.
~I read all food labels and avoid food processed with any kind of nuts.
~Entenmann's is a large company and as such (especially today when everyone and his mother is "anaphylactic") wants to avoid lawsuits. Maybe I'm too trusting, but I believe their labels to be accurate. His allergist feels it's the local bakeries at which you should take more precautions.
~He is never alone eating food.
~I carry Benadryl and an Epi Pen wherever we go.
~150 people a year die from ALL food allergies; I think maybe you have better odds of being struck by lightening.
~I am laid back as a parent.

So, that's me...

Children, tree nut allergies and

Food challenge is the only way to "really" know - of course we don't want to find out but we also aren't going to extremes since the blood tests at a young age can be skewed and aren't always accurate. My child has a nut allergy to every type of nut you can list. We know PB is out, as are nuts in general but we don't limit to things that are made on the same lines -- unless we see reactions we try not to be too restrictive. At 3 he knows nuts hurt his belly, but we can go to a baseball game and be ok with nuts around us, to Texas Roadhouse, we just have to watch what he is eating. We also can't use Lavender products usually have almond oil. We also have to watch how restaurants fry food - especially italian restaurants with the peanut oil.

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

My DS has peanut and tree nut allergies, particularly cashew and pistachio. Maybe I'm naive too but I go by the product labels and never had a problem. They have to put the allergy alert on foods that have or may have been exposed to tree nuts/peanuts. So if there's no warning, it should be ok. I avoid things that were made in the facility w nuts too, DS has reacted to such products unfortunately. The danger imo is in unlabeled products like from restaurants or local bakeries. I just make sure I tell the server and we've never had a problem. Also never had a problem with Dunkin donuts or Entemanns products (obviously not an almond horn, but he eats munchkins and Entemmans chocolate chip cookies), DS has been eating them pretty much his whole life!

Re: Children, tree nut allergies and "safe" snacks questions

My son also has never had an issue with Entemann's or Dunkin Donuts. I avoid local bakeries unless they are specifically nut free.