Upset with dd's latest blood test result to peanut....

[paisleyII]

just got result through to peant, had hoped it may have gone down a little but it appears to have gone through the roof. annoyingly we cannot find the previous blood test result which was done a couple of years ago but the consultant in the letter we got today said it was extremely raised at 58.8 ku/L whatever that means. his letter is really frustrating as he talks in dr terms as if he was discussing her results to another consultant, like i understand what he is talking about but doesn't explain anything to me clearly which is why i have sent an email asking questions. i wondered do any of you mums out there with a child with peanut allergy know your childs blood test result. i am really gutted as it makes her so much more vunerable. gutted :(

Here is the scale for the RASTs

RAST rating IgE level (KU/L) comment
< 0.35 ABSENT OR UNDETECTABLE ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE
0.35 - 0.69 LOW LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE
0.70 - 3.49 MODERATE LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE
3.50 - 17.49 HIGH LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE
17.50 - 49.99 VERY HIGH LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE
50.0 - 100.00 VERY HIGH LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE

100.00 EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL OF ALLERGEN SPECIFIC IgE

I think the difficulty with these tests though, is that it doesn't really tell you what their reaction would be like, were they to consume/come into contact with the allergen. My DS2 has a score of >100 to peanut, but he's never come into contact with peanuts as far as I know, and he eats 'may contain' foods with no issue.

Sory - not much help

cheers like, wow, your ds2 eats may contain, i try and avoid them as i get too scared that is why i have boycotted bloody tescos, HATE that store, their labelling is disgusting and shouldn't be allowed. the consultant told us to give her small amount of cashew & almond as she isn't allergic to them but i told him i am too scared too as they may be contaiminated but he thinks that they wouldn't be.....easy for him to say. dh agrees with him and is going to try crushing up a tiny amount of one or the other nuts and adding it to ie her cereal although he is going to do it when i am at work as i find the whole thing terribly upsetting, i nearly cried walking around waitrose just now, then again, i am due on.....

Why don't you like the Tesco's labelling paisley? When ds1 was allergic to nuts they were always my favorite as I could exactly assess the risk.

i hate tesco as well, the five different labels are confusing.

we dont eat may contains , esp due to cross contamiantions.

however is not now allergic to tree nuts so eats walnuts direct from shell. but not brazil nut as last remaining tree nut allergy,but thats very low with spt.

havent had a blood test for peanut, but very high spt.

The reason he eats 'may contain' foods is because he's allergic to so many things, the alternative is too limited imo. If he were only allergic to nuts, I'd probably feel differently as it would be easier to manage.

He's almost 4 now, and has never reacted to a 'may contain' food. If he were to react, I'd reconsider our approach.

we have had reactions to may contain, so we avoid.
we are lucky that we dont have a particularly long list of food allergies, eggs, peanuts, beans, yeast extract, and some other high histamine foods.

high risk for cross contamination are biscuits, cereal and chocolate etc.

hi barb - simple! from memory their labelling on EVERYTHING including something as simple as a lettuce or orange squash reads something like: ingredients - no nuts, factory - no nuts, CANNOT GUARANTEE NUT FREE. so basically they are saying, in a jobsworth way, we won't take any responsibility. oddly enough not everyone on this planet is obsessed with making a quick buck and is motivated by money (suing people) although sadly many our. my point is, as a mother of a child with peanut allergy if she eats something where you know the manufacturer won't take any responsibility my view is that they won't take as much care making a product that hasn't put their hands in the air and said 'you can't touch us as we have waved our rights of responsibility'. makers who care will make sure their factory staff ie wash their hands etc after lunch. this is an exageration but you get my way of thought although may not agree. it has left a real taste in my mouth. they are the biggest food store in the UK and yet un like say sainsbury's they put this on their labelling thus rendering my uncomfortable with my dd eating anything from their because of the comment about 'cannot guarantee it', i think it is disgusting and don't think they should be able to get away with it, if there is none in the recipe/ingredients and none in the factory then they shouldn't put the allergy person in a position of fear becaue they 'cannot guarantee it'. i complained to them and was told that 'they had surved many people with allergies and they all thought this was a great idea', yeah, of course they did, i have done my own survey to people with allergy/parents of and they all seemed to feel as angry as me about it, it's all about bloody money isn't, everything boils down to money & greed

(sorry about spelling mistakes of which there are many! i am super tired and dd isn't very well so a bit on the stressed side)

Hi Paisley just wanted to share your gripe about supermarkets. Mine is with M&S who have just changed their allergy advice for milk allergy sufferers & nearly everything now says not suitable due to manufacturing process. Its on their bread & everything.

by the way how old is your child?

if under 7, u have 20% chance of outgrowing. good luck.

hi clara, i agree although not with dairy but with nut, m&s put may contain nut on LOADS of things although unlike tesco, there is still alot dd can eat without me getting worried. she used to have dairy allergy but fortunately has grown out of it. eragon - she is 8 1/2, doubt she will grow out of it, i take forgranted she won't and am relying on somekind of injection yet to be made that will keep her safe :)

I think Tescos labelling is the clearest by far. DS allegic to treenuts and was allergic to peanuts but grew out of it.
They would be lying if they guaranteed that any of the ingredients had not been near a nut. But it clearly states whether there are nuts in the recipe, whether they are used in the factory etc.
DS is 16 and been allergic to nuts for 12 years and remember the days before such concise labelling.

bruffin - your having a child with nut allergy, do you use tesco products and has your child ever had a reaction to any of their products? does your child eat products that say ie may contain nuts (even if nuts are not in the ingredients)? just curious, cheers

Yes use Tesco's all the time (i live on their home turf)
There products don't have the "may contain nut traces" because they clearly say whether there are nuts used in the factory or not, which is far more helpful than the "not suitable for" or "may contain traces"

When DS was he first had tests we were told that we could ignore the "may contain traces" so have really used common sense on it and usually don't worry. The only "may contain traces" he ever had even a mild reaction to was an M&S Brownie.
He had quite a bad reaction recently, because he had his idiot teenage head on and totally forgot to check what was in a biscuit. Turned out it had whole macademia nut.
The worst labeling I ever came across was "may contain nuts" when it actually listed hazlenuts in the ingredients in tiny writing. That was for Milka chocolate which uses ground up hazlenuts in the chocolate so you can't tell from looking at it, but that was a while ago and thankfully they may have changed it.
He does eat peanuts now with no problems, but obviously tree nuts are still a problem as is seseme seed and probably other seeds. He tends to avoid all seeds.

Paisley, I agree about Tesco's...most products say cannot guarantee nut free, even when you wouldn't expect it at all...I avoid it now!

'may contain' does mean whole pieces of nut. or whole ground nuts, esp with bread, cereal and chocolate, biscuits etc.
for instance the last i heard snicker bars were made on the same line as mars bars, and they have a may contain.
they switch from making a certain number of one chocolate bar, and clean the line. They clean the line with 're-work' chocolate which is pushed through the line, picking up bits of biscuits and nuts , and then, they put it BACK in the with the chocolate. Then they make the next batch of bars.( dairy milk bars, share with fruit and nut last i heard as well....)

In my opinon eating any form of chocolate with a nut warning on is a risk. just because one bar was safe last time, doesnt mean the next one is. so thats why we are very, very careful with food labeling. we read both the allergen box, and the ingreidiant list.

when they say nuts in the factory, does that mean the next line alongside the nut free ones, with staff working both at same time? or does that mean far away from the non nut stuff, or in seperate building? I think it can mean all of those, and its hard to judge from such a loose label.

sometimes we e-mail and ask a company about their products, and this is normally at christmas or easter, as am trying to find a new safe treat type of thing for him.

Tesco does say things like made in factory that has nuts but not on the same production line.
Their labeling is very clear.
I think it is very naive to believe any company will guarantee the ingredients nut free.

my point is simply that by a company openly putting their hands up in the air and spouting off that they can't be held accountable to me means they are less careful about how their staff are with regard to nuts as opposed to other companies that are scared of being sued and are thus careful ie the wonderful kinnerton. eragon - you may be interested to know that i have seen nestle (who are pretty fab) have a santa chocolate out that doesn't mention may contain nuts as opposed to all the other many christmas style chocolates that always do, i have bought dd one. at the end of the day i know if you have a nut allergy there is always a risk but one has to eat so i personally stick to ones that don't say may contain nuts. when dd is older she can make her own judgements (& i will be forever scared.....) :)

ds has always had may contain nuts food and has never reacted
he has tree nut allergy
I don't expect a guarantee from anybody
we make a decision based on the ingredients and other products made by the company

reminds me of a time we asked at a pub chain restaurant , they got out an impressive folder about allergens in their foods and proudly showed us that absolutely everything had a risk of nuts in it...even the salad and a glass of milk
the waitress was clearly embarassed
this is what happens when you expect a gaurantee of safety from a company

it takes a lot of money and effort for a company like kinnerton to be able to guarantee nut free

"At Kinnerton Confectionery, despite all our defensive measures, we cannot account for the real world issues that would appear to be beyond our control."

From the Kinnerton website, they are not guaranteeing anything either. This is exactly the same as tescos are saying with their "cannot guarantee ingredients are nut free" Kinnerton have made a promise they have done everythihg they can but even they are not guaranteeing anything!
Tesco do tell you what happen in their manufacturing process, so it is much easier to make the decision rather just seeing a "may contain traces" or "not suitable for nut allergy sufferers" without actually saying why.

Tescos do work closely with the anaphylaxis campaign about their labeling. They give far more information on their packages than any other company, including seeds and other allergens clearing written in bold.

Just reading thread as I have been told to restrict nuts with toddler daughter following an allergic reaction, until she has a peanut test.

babieseverywhere this means that you have to read every label, just to make sure.

paisley , we do let our son have chocolate! and have those that dont label may contain, and have done some investigation, for instance asked the company, like nestle and cadburys for a list . so cadbury buttons are ok, and kit kat, from nestle, ( avoidance of nestle products ended Im afraid once we found it difficult to find safe food for our son!) , and thats the way to move forward in making judgements on food choices.

I dont like tesco labelling because there are five different ones and adults are not the only consumers, children and teens pop in to tescos and they need to understand what each different label means. often these kids need to read the ingrediant labels for allergies to non allergy box contents.

in a general sense this labeling is life saving, when its meaning is not directly clear, we either ignore it, or just presume safety and of course its all in tiny print so those with poor eyesight miss it.

we have some way to go to improve our labeling ....

So maybe I have been a little unfair about Tesco...its just really frustrating when you pick up a product that shoudnt be an issue (like water!) and find that the company cannot guarantee nut free. It makes me mad!

Of course there are never any guarantees - but you would hope that a company like Kinnerton, who actively advertise a nut safe policy, would be more careful.

My friend (registered nurse) told me this morning not only must I ensure all food is nut free that I need to check all creams and other products which sometimes contain peanut oil ?

Good grief, this is going to be difficult. I really hope DD2 tests clear at summer.

Yes babieseverywhere nuts can be present in a lot of cosmetics too. I find eating out the hardest thing, or going to other peoples houses...not everywhere is nut free, but you'll find that you will adapt quite quickly. Why do you have to wait until summer for testing?