Soya Lecithin

[Likeaninjanow]

My DS2 has a soya allergy. I'm confused by soya lecithin though. Can he have this, or best avoided?

Hello Likeaninjanow

My DD is also allergic to soya but her allergist told us last year that there should be no problem with soya lecithin and there isn't as she has it almost everyday in kinnerton milk chocolate.

He said that there was a really good study into this and it had proven that soya allergy sufferers didn't have a problem with soya lecithin.

It's so confusing isn't it?

Hope this helps.

Thanks mumat39! It's really difficult. I'm actually quite terrified to try him with it, but it would open up lots of things for him to eat.

Maybe you could try and speak to your DS's allergy doctor or nurse or the Anaphylaxis or Allergy UK Helpline. They might be able to point you in the direction of the study or maybe help to reassure.

I'm also super scared about trying new foods too.

If your DS's next appointment is soon, could you take whichever food you're thinking of trying in so they can do a skin prick test with it? Especially if he has a severe allergy to Soya.

We are due for an appointment with our consultant soon, as it's been a year now. I think I'll phone and chase it up. Maybe he can arrange a challenge for soya. I've being phoning and phoning to get one arranged, but they never phone back. He will have no option when I march into his office though!

Likaninjanow, the clinic will probably check soya on a skin prick test and blood test results before offering/suggestion a soya challenge. If the results are low then they may well do this but if they are high then they won't as they wouldn't want to put your DS through that inecessarily.

Also, even if he is still reaction to soya, he may well be fine with soya lecithin, so it might be worth taking whichever food you're thinking you'd like him to eat that has soya lecithin in it and asking them to skin prick test with that food.

Also, it doesn't seem right that you're having to chase for appointments. Are you with a pediatric allergist or a pediatrician? If it's the latter then it may well be worth asking to be referred to a specialist allergy clinic. You'll still probably only get an annual appointment, but they usually book the next one at the end of DD's appointment so we know a year in advance when our next appt is.

Good Luck and I hope you get your appt soon.

I found this thread so interesting! I can't tolerate soya milk, but am OK with products containing soya lecithin. I didn't know why, as I've never been to the Dr about it. have just googled to find out more and came across this advice from Asda, which helps to explain it a bit
health.asda.com/health/food-allergies-and-intolerances/soya-allergy.aspx I totally understand your reluctance to try out anything on your little one if you're not sure about it, but it looks as though soya lecithin is safe. PS I'm also OK with some soy sauce as well, even though I ought not to be as i don't usually tolerate anything with wheat/gluten. I think it is all to do with how things are processed, but there is so much yet to learn!

dairyfreebaby - that's a good link. I didn't realise that supermarkets had such good info on their sites.

By the way, apologies for my awful typing on my previous reply. I was on my phone and can't believe some of my typos