DS (19 months) has recently been diagnosed with seeds and nuts allergy. We knew he was allergic to sesame seeds so avoided them (and nuts too, just to be sure) for a few months, until he was tested in hospital and all his allergies confirmed.
Strangely, he is not allergic to peanuts, although we are avoiding all nuts as it?s easier. My question, however, is about the ?may contain? labels. It?s easy to avoid nuts, but avoiding all products which may be cross contaminated would be a nightmare. The thing is that while we were waiting for his allergy appointment to come through, we made sure he didn?t have sesame and nuts, but he had lots of things the dietician said may be contaminated: Cheerios, ham from the deli counter, shop bought bread (baked in store) to name just a few. I also looked on the wheat pillows he?s had for breakfast for a while now and they too have a ?may contain? label.
Is it really irresponsible of me to let him have most things he?s had so far which may be cross contaminated, but which he didn?t react to? I will avoid anything from the deli counter and the bakery, any chocolate/chocolate biscuits which ?may contain? traces of nuts (as I understand there is a bigger risk with chocolate), but what about the rest? I have Piriton and 2 Epipens with me all the time, so does his childminder, although of course I?m not blasé about it and don?t want to be in a position to use them if I can avoid it in the first place.
Although, if he continues to eat these things, does it mean that the allergens will build up in his system and he?s more likely to react in the future? He is otherwise very healthy, no other allergies and no asthma.