reading labels

The first thing I had to learn when dealing with food allergies is how to read labels. I never realized there were so many ways to say "egg" and that "non-dairy" does not mean "dairy-free". My daughter's allergist told me that manufacturers were soon to be required to provide product labeling that was simpler for the average person to read. This guideline was first established by industry groups several years ago and in 2006 the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act took effect which required the plain-language labeling of the eight major allergic foods (milk, egg, peanut, tree nut, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish). I have seen this on most of the products I purchase. The most helpful of labels has an allergy statement near the list of ingredients which says something like "Contains: Milk, Egg and Soy". Other labels, still within the FDA guidelines, identifies the allergens within the ingredient list...for example, "whey (milk)".

Just to be on the safe side though, I've familiarized myself with many of the "alternate" names of the foods to which my daughter is allergic. Lists of these ingredients for each of the main foods can be found in the PDF document How to Read a Food Label provided by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). This knowledge is helpful to have so that you can ascertain how much of the potential allergen the product has. Ingredients on food labels are listed starting out with the most used ingredient first going in order to the least used ingredient. My daughter's allergy testing showed that she had a relatively low milk allergy while egg and peanut was off the charts. Therefore, I might every once in a while use a product where milk is listed toward the end of the ingredient list (like Carlini's Homestyle Spread Margarine available at Aldi where milk is the last ingredient listed). However, I wouldn't think about using any product containing even the slightest bit of peanut or egg. Be your own judge and proceed carefully!!

A friend that is a veteran of dealing with food allergies also told me that she had never had any problems using products where allergens were listed under the "may contain" clause. I've used many of these products with no problems, but have always exercised the age-old adage "if in doubt, don't!" For instance, if a snack cake label indicated it was processed in a facility that also processed peanuts - I'd pass it on by. Again, be your own judge and proceed carefully!!

While I appreciate the hard work that FAAN has done to lobby for these types of label changes, I'd love to see more manufacturers get on the band-wagon to produce kid-friendly allergen-free products. My friend tells me that dealing with food allergies is so much easier today than it was when she started more than 20 years ago, so maybe the trend is moving in the right direction.