Allergy warning Mr Beast Feastables Milk chocolate bar

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Just a heads up if anyone in your family has a peanut allergy. My son does, he's 18 and bought a milk chocolate version of the Mr Beast Feastable bars from a local Asda this afternoon and had a fairly bad allergic reaction within 15 or 20 mins of eating it (non anaphylactic, luckily, but we had his epipens at the ready). There are no nuts listed in the ingredients list but there is the usual warning you often get on chocolate bars or cakes saying "may contain peanuts, tree nuts, soy and wheat."

Whille he has never had an anaphylactic reaction before he does carry an epi pen since having a reaction to peanut butter when he was 3 and having positive allergy tests at the allergy clinic in hospital. He is usually fine eating products with the "may contain....." warning on as long as there are no nuts in the ingredients list - he hasn't had any allergic reactions through accidental ingestion since his first reaction to peanut butter when he was 3, so I am assuming there has been contamination of the product with peanuts somewhere in the manufacturing process.

I spoke to someone at Asda who said they were going to check if there was a product recall on it. I'd already checked and there isn't so I'm worried that someone else may accidentally eat one. They only sell them in Asda and Spar. I've also filled out an online form with the Feastables company too but thought it was worth mentioning on here.

A quick google showed that there was a product recall in Australia/New Zealand last year after peanut contamination, so be very careful!

Yes this. When my son was going through a really stressful time he had several particularly bad reactions.

I am also trying to drum into him the increased risk from alcohol

May contain warnings are a minefield and need better legislating . Too many companies just slap them on everything which means the products that really need them don't get them.

However, I would recommend you and he try and follow as many allergy sites etc as you can face on social media, because I think I had heard about the issues with Mr Beast products thanks to SM

CurlyhairedAssassin - I hear you with the problem of allergies and shared cooking spaces at uni. My ds19 is off to Uni in Sept - he has an allergy to eggs, nuts and sesame and I am so worried about the potential for cross contamination. He has been learning to cook over the last year.

I am hoping for nice flat mates who are understanding - but it is so so difficult. Not
sure that many people understand the stress.

Well this is an informative thread! I had no idea about alcohol increasing the likelihood of a reaction. Or anything of tthe other things you nentioned (except stress). Luckily my son isn't a drinker but I'm not naiive enough to think he'll stay that way through uni. I had worried about alcohol at uni but only from a risk-taking, impaired decision-making kind of standpoint. It's clear there's a lot that we don't know about allergies that hasn't ever been mentioned to us at his allergy clinics. Following allergy sites is a great idea, I've just followed the Allergy UK site but will look for a few more..

@Herewegoagain39 : At one of DS's offer holder days a girl showed us round her student accommodation including the shared kitchen. She happened to mention that she was allergic to loads of stuff so I asked her how she managed in the shared spaces. She said that on the accommodation application form where you can select a flat and tell people about yourself she'd deliberately left all her allergies off the form because she didn't want to be shunned and thought of as a risk! 😬She said it had been fine - she used her own washing up bowl with her own utensils and everyone respected that and it had worked well so far - no reactions that year.

Oh and yes, some people just don't get it. I don't know how many times we've told DS's great aunty that he's got a peanut allergy. She still expresses surprise every time. "Oh, has he? So he's not allowed to have peanuts?" "Yes, plus anything else with nuts in. For example a Snickers chocolate bar, any kind of filled chocolates with nut based praline etc." This was when he was very young, and sometimes looked after him with DS's nan. The same nan who once caused someone a few rows behind on the plane to have an allergic reaction when she opened a packet of peanuts mid flight. Wheezing and everything. I did think most people these days knew not to eat nuts on a flight, but maybe not...

Peanuts were served on our last BA flight and a lady and toddler were eating a bag of mixed nuts on another flight this year. People simply don’t think, you have to be on your guard. Definitely needs to be careful with kissing as a friend ended up in hospital in Mexico after a reaction to something her boyfriend had eaten.

Came across this post when looking for information on this chocolate bar. I have had a similar experience with my son this afternoon, he has a peanut and nut allergy. In 8 years of him consuming products labelled ‘may contain’ have we had an issue. Within 15 minutes of eating this bar he was violently sick and complaining of an itchy throat!! Also purchased from Asda

Nonsense its meaningless get out clause.
DS 28 allergic to treenuts and sesame seeds and only avoids foods which have these allergens in bold.
HIs consultant also said he didnt need to avoid May contain.

Hope you can report, @Vanessa88 .

If so many allergic people have had years with no reaction using other companies who label as “may contain…”. i think it’s understandable for them to consider that Feastables’ processes are perhaps less robust than their more widely known competitors.

No, it's not. There are guidelines on when May Contain should be used, and it's blindingly obvious that in this case the warning has been correctly applied.

Don't agree, M&S use it for everything it's ridiculous even for chocolate made in the kinnerton factory! They have been criticized for the over zealous warning as have other manufacturers
They dont differenciate between nuts and peanuts either which is ridiculous as people like my ds is only allergict to some tree nuts as well as sesame seeds and not peanuts.

Yes, have reported to Asda, reviewed the product on their online shopping portal and also reported to Feastables UK. I’m also going to get in touch with the Food Standards Agency. Thankfully a dose of antihistamine resolved the issue. Just concerned this could have been so much worse or could have much worse consequences for someone else

Jumping in to say I have known someone to become very ill from a kiss on the cheek.

Kinnerton have two factory units, only one is nut-free. I know, because I've visited the factory and I've just checked on their website that this is still correct.

(if you want overzealous, Morrison's would be the better example)

Food Production is covered by the food standards agency. The FSA gives strict guidance to food manufacturers in the UK. Whilst every step is taken to ensure food is fit for consumption and only contains the ingredients it should it can only take a smidge of an allergen to set off a serious reaction in the most sensitive.

To give you an idea when I work with my daughter we HAVE to have deep cleaned, then produce the critical foods that avoid using certain ingredients safely storing to reduce risks of cross contamination before cleaning and starting on foods containing the 14 main allergens. It would only take someone who had unintentionally used a soap containing nut oils to come in skin contact with a product to cause havoc for the most sensitive.

There is a system of traceability in the food industry that allows the FSA to trace back where food may have been contaminated with an allergen so steps can be taken to minimise the risk in future. please be aware that with anything it’s about minimising the risks. This is not the same as no risk. Food laws changed and it’s no longer permissible to state a product may contain an allergen you have to list all the known ingredients with the 14 allergens in bold.

Be wary of a seeming nut free product that runs through the same production line as nut containing products as it only takes a teeny trace that escapes a deep clean to set off a nut/peanut anaphylactic response.

For the most sensitive to allergens it’s risk management. My Dh &DS have had to stick to NOMO nut free made by Kinnerton in their special built nut free factory. It follows similar protocols to those making gluten free products for Cealiacs.
www.kinnerton.com/

Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Cough came in 15-20min, then the itchy hives, which were growing by the minute, along with abdominal cramps. Vomit 2 hours when we were waiting in a&e. We always have the epipens with us, luckily never used them, but since you mentioned this now, I’ll have on his plan and enquiry with his allergies doctor next time we see her. Thank you

Jumping on to ask if it's a possibility for an adult to develop a peanut allergy in their 50's? X

Absolutely, yes. I did.

@NippyCrab sorry. That comment was meant for you. Yes you can. I did.

I had a shock last week as I bought a lovely looking bottle of gin. When I got home my husband read the label which said "contains almonds ".

Now I'm worried that that is just another thing I'm going to have to worry about.

You would think that you were safe with gin.

I didn't even read the label expecting that to be fine.

It's a minefield and as I am new to it it's very scary.

That's the first I've heard of that, but apparently it's quite common. The European Food Standards Agency were asked to look into it (ref. EFSA-Q-2006-141) and drew the conclusion that:

"Based on the data submitted by the applicant, the Panel notes that proteins and peptides are not carried over into the distillate during a properly controlled distillation process, at least not in amounts above 1 mg/L. Although the analytical evidence is derived from experiments that were performed predominantly with almonds, the Panel considers that distillates made from nuts are unlikely to trigger a severe allergic reaction in susceptible individuals."

This is similar to the position on gluten and distilled spirits.

@SkiingIsHeaven thanks, we think DH has developed an allergy but we are unsure to what. He's woken up twice in the last 5 months with swollen lips, hives and eyes are a bit puffy. He was away last time but this time we had a Chinese, and he had a fruit and nut chocolate. Then the next day once his hives went down he stupidly ate a prawn cracker and a bit of the chocolate!! His words were, to see which one it was? I despair, 🤣
His lips started to swell again to its either the chocolate or prawn cracker!
He has eaten in the last 6 months, peanuts ( it's almonds in the fruit n nut) had stir fry made with sesame oil and cashew nuts and also had prawns and no reaction.
This is such an informative thread. X

@NippyCrab having spoken to a few people I have found out that it is much more common than you think. Mostly women in their 50's and mainly nuts or kiwi for some reason. Also fruit with stones.

I have been having allergy testing and when I asked the specialist why it can suddenly happen, he said that there is no rhyme or reason for it. It just comes out of nowhere.

Mine is nuts and I'm finding that the labelling is limiting but I'm not taking any risks.

It is so annoying because I used to eat all different types of nuts, all of the time. I don't have a sweet tooth and they were my little snack.

Hope your husband is ok. Maybe he should get tested or at least speak to a GP.

I have to carry an epicentre now due to the level of my reaction.

Thanks @SkiingIsHeaven
This is so frightening for parents though especially when they do go off to study or on holiday. X

Hi. Maybe it’s useful to people with dairy allergies and not exclusive. This website is for vegan people, but I thought I’d mention it because apparently in some wines, there is…milk 😳and other animal traces. I’m not vegan, and I only found out. But I think of the teenagers or young students with allergies…

Sorry…forgot to add the link 🧐

https://www.barnivore.com/