nut allergies: popcorn? avoids chocolate - other sweets safe?

[lilolilmanchester]

Am taking up a MNetter's gift suggestion of a cinema "hamper" for a friend's child - voucher, popcorn, drink, sweets... This child has a "mild nut allergy" (that's how his Mum's describes it - ie he doesn't carry an epi pen, and takes antihistimine if he accidentally eats something "nutty". )
Excuse my ignorance, but is popcorn ok? Also, I know he avoids chocolate "just in case" - what else could I put in? Jelly/chewy type sweets ??

its up to the mother of the allergic child to vet these sweets.

as far as i am aware there is no such thing as a mild nut allergy, its a bit like saying you are only a little bit pregnant.

so, if i was going to the cinema, i would take the mother as well, just in case.

the idea of eating a never before tried food in the dark with an allergic child sounds less than relaxing....

I was planning on giving him the voucher, popcorn, sweets as a present ie so he could take with him when he goes to the cinema, along with his older sister who will also be getting same, ie not with me.

It's his Mum who describes it as mild, and I know he doesn't carry an epi-pen whereas the other child I know with a nut allergy carries one with him everywhere. I'll check with the Mum ahead of time, I don't want to put anything in the present that he can't eat.

(I don't know whether he's had popcorn before, I just didn't want to put any in with the gift if he couldn't have it, but will just check with his Mum first).

It's so nice of you to check, very thoughtful. I, like eragon, am not aware of a mild nut allergy being possible. we have been told by several health professionals that even if you've only had a mild reaction to peanuts before, it is a very unpredictable allergy and would always require carrying an epipen for.

Unfortunately everything depends on the brand because with nuts it's normally cross contamination that's the problem, so popcorn could be a problem. From the chocolates point of view normal size cadburys dairy milk buttons are ok, as are flakes, twirls and normal kit kats.

But I think to be on the safe side please check with th mum, I'm sure she'll be very touched that you're being so considerate and careful. :)

from what you have both said about there not being such a thing as a "mild nut allergy" , am worried now that the child is not carrying an epi-pen, tho doctors have said not necessary, apparently. Very odd. Will find a way of bringing the whole topic up again with the Mum. Thanks both.

well there is such a thing as a mild allergy... Ds1 has a mild peanut allergy, and has never had an epi pen.
He reacted very badly to a peanut once 7 years ago and has not eaten nuts since on the advice of his gp.
He has just had a peanut challenge and failed when the peanut was rubbed on his skin, so is obviously still allergic, yet he can eat most cakes, most biscuits, he can eat anything that may have been prepared in a nut factory, he just can't eat any actual nuts or biscuits / cakes containing nuts.
The paed has suggested that it may be worth testing ds1 again in 3 years, when he is 14 to see if he has outgrown his allergy, but he has not recommended an epipen.
Popcorn is fine btw lilolil, and it sounds like a lovely pressie

thanks inghouls.

you can NOT base previous reactions that have been mild and judge that that you are mildly allergic.

as for eating food that are labeled 'may contain' it means just that,'may contain' there may not have been any peanut in that food. also if you are only allergic to peanut, the majority of nut contamination is tree nut.

most immunologists consider that a peanut allergy past the age of 7, is a life long allergy, the 20% outgrowing window is most often before that age.

not every allergic reaction moves on to full blown anaphylaxis, it depends on many other factors such as,
amount ingested.
health at time of ingestion, such as recovering after a viral infection, or illness such as chest infection.
poor asthma control, speeds up reaction.
alcohol,
exercise,
other allergies filling allergy cup, such as environmental allergies at the time, like hay fever , tree pollen.

peads are often our only source of medical advice, and this is because there is not enough nhs full time allergy clinics around , and our peads, asthma and skin consultants have had to fill in the gap in the massive rise of allergic people in the population. this means that poor support leads to people coming to the conclusion that they are mildly allergic, and take unsuitable risks, like eating in ethinic resturants such a indian take aways.

I think that this poor nhs support leads to parental mistakes like this, and is not always the parents or the allergic persons fault, they have never been properly supported medically with their condition.

sorry for my small rant, but its a subject dear to my heart.

eragon, I appreciate your rant. The other day, somebody I know told me that her son has a 'mild nut allergy', i.e. only hives from head to foot. The GP didn't refer her son to an allergy specialist, and he has no allergy plan in place for school etc. I have been so worried for her... I am going to speak to her about this now.

lillolilmanchester, it is so lovely of you to be thinking about this. I have checked popcorn packets in the past, but can't remember if there were any nut allergy warnings (I was mostly checking for dairy). I agree that checking with the mum is a good idea.

Home-made popcorn is fine (and is also a great activity for children!!) You can buy popping corn in most health food stores and supermarkets. I usually just add salt and a couple of spoonfuls of caster sugar. It doesn't keep well and would need to be made the same day.

Sori for hijacking your thread Lilo but my daughter has just been diagnosed with a nut allergy and based on others responses I worry that I'm not responding properly or being cautious enough! She has only ever really had a reaction to eggs but when they did the allergy test they felt that she also negatively responded to the nut prick. Not as much as eggs but significant enough for them to tell me to steer away from nuts. A dietitian sat down with me for 20 mins after the appointment and it seemed a bit surreal actually. If I'm honest I have been letting her eat chocolates etc. Feeling very guilty now actually!

I had no idea in the early days about the may contain warnings, it took my son reacting to a plain shortbread biscuit that led to me asking questions and realising that the labels were not worth the russion roulette.

allergies are a huge learning curve.

If you want other sweets I'm pretty sure haribo sweets are fine - nothing but sugar and e numbers!

thanks jicky - and thanks all. Will probably have a re-think.

What a thoughtful pressie

Haribo sweets are well labelled and mostly fine for nut allergy but avoid licorish ones as these may have coconut.(which may or may not be an issue)
Popz popcorn ok as is asda good for you popping kernals (most others have nut warning )
Kinnerton choc a good option as totally nut free site etc If not go for Cadburys buttons good.
Kids Drinks generally ok but check label. Health drinks like aqua libra contain nuts or seeds.
xx

I just want to emphasise eragons' point that if you've ever had an allergic reaction to peanuts you should definitely be prescribed epipens.

The fact that your body recognises peanuts as foreign and dangerous means that although you may have only had mild reactions in the past, your body is very capable of launching a fatal anaphylactic reaction in response to peanuts at a later point in time.

The majority of fatal allergic reactions are from peanuts. A large proportion are in people who did not have epipens because they believed/were told by health professionals that it wasn't necessary considering they'd only had a mild reaction in the past. Another large proportion of deaths were in people who had been prescribed epipens but because they'd only experienced mild reactions in the past, they unfortunately didn't carry their epipens on them.

Allergies are poorly understood by both the public and health professionals. Although they have been around for years, people use to think what happened was deaths were caused by people suddenly choking to death. These are anaphylactic reactions. There is so much even allergy specialists still don't know about allergies, but doctors in general have a poor understanding of allergies, so unless you have seen an allergy specialist then it is not safe to assume an epipen is not necessary.

May contain labels are voluntary information put on by food companies when there is a significant risk of cross contamination. It doesn't mean it will always have the allergen but the risk is deemed high enough to warn people with allergies.

Unfortunately, like eragon, we found out at the beginning of the year how true this was. Our dd touched a slice of a plain margherita pizza that we had been sharing between me and dh, I washed her hands straight away and because it was just a pizza didn't think much of it. A few hours later she started vomiting violently and then became unconscious. Please please take nut allergies seriously despite what you are told.

Jammy, that's really helpful, thank you. Can't take the credit for the gift idea, it was another MNetter, Curlycat I think, who suggested it... and having thought I'd solved a present problem, remembered about the nut allergy!

thanks ChocaMum, will relay this to friend , maybe she should discuss again with GP (who thus far hasn't prescribed epi-pen).

I've just brought Eastmans cinema style popcorn in Tescos and it had no nuts and factory has no nuts either.

thanks Jicky, will look for it next time I'm in Tesco. Appreciate everyone's advice

Inghouls... he has failed a peanut test by skin rubbing and the doctor didn't prescribe an epipen??? what on Earth that doctor is on???

Yes, he may be fine, yes, he may never get a trans contaminated batch of food, yes, the allergy may stay mild, but considering peanut allergy reactions are often intensified after each exposure and he is already reacting by skin contact, I would say that doctor is playing russian roulette with your kid to save the GP a few hundred pounds.

I agree I find that very worrying. If skin contact showed a bad reaction then that's very concerning.

I went to a talk done by a group of the leading allergy specialists including dr Adam Fox earlier this year, and one thing he said was how he kept on trying to get across to health professionals how epipens are so under prescribed. He said the main reasons were lack of confidence in prescribing for something they didn't understand too well, so unfortunately lots of paediatricians and gp's are just not aware of how dangerous their decision to not prescribe is.

The fact is that an epipen or equivalent is completely safe to use inappropriately but to not have one at all could be fatal.

well as our paed is Dr Tom Blyth see here an associate of Dr Adam Fox and head allergy honco at Pembury , I think I feel pretty confident with his diagnosis

God its so bloody scary! They say they may bring my daughter into the hospital to do a controlled exposure test but even if she is fine at that, it sounds like it means nothing. If they don't give her an epipen should i insist and if i do, do i sound mental??

Ps whilst I know its sensible I think its a bit sad that someone may choose not to invite my child to a party because she has a nut allergy!

Tras, can't see the bit about someone not being invited to a party because of nut allergy???

ingouls, am glad u have decent doc, they are rare creatures in the uk.....

so have they said that you still have a chance to be within the 20% that outgrow ?

so you had a challenge , was that after negative /low skin prick tests and /or blood tests?

challenge in hosptial setting? did they actually say mild allergy? or just mild reaction?
my son has had two brushes with peanut, and hasnt needed his epi for them,but of course has used them for the reactions to other foods.....
was told he was life long peanut allergic at 7 , and now at 15 this and many other allergies has proved to be the case.

Have met a woman whos son did grow out of his peanut allergy, so was that golden 20%, he had no other food allergies, and slight ezcema and easy to control asthma that is now dormant now he is a teen.

so am aware that outgrowing is possible, but have always been told that any reaction could turn in to anaphylaxis, in the 'right' circumstances. hence the idea /expression that being a mild peanut allergy is like saying you are only a little bit pregnant!