Anyone with a nut/peanut allergy needs to read this

[Thumbwitch]

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/new-food-scandal-over-peanuts-is-more-serious-than-the-horsemeat-crisis-10045725.html

According to the article, the partial failure of the cumin crop has led to cumin being "bulked out" with almond and peanut, mostly shells, but some nut protein could be included. This isn't being listed in the ingredients, so is extremely dangerous for people with severe nut allergies.

Avoiding overt cumin will be relatively easy, but avoiding cumin in foodstuffs where you might not expect it could be very tricky!

Hope no one is adversely affected by it.

[Thumbwitch]

sally - please report and ask for that. I did ask when I reported it, and got it as far as the "in the news" block on the right of the page, but if more people suggest stickying it, MNHQ might do it.

[outnumberedbymyboys]

My son has a peanut allergy- this is really dreadful! As if it was not difficult enough already- particularly when goes to friends houses etc. Needs to be highlighted. Saw this only because it was in the right hand box!

[IceBeing]

This is just the shittest news for people with allergies. Why can't people just put only those things in the ingredients into the actual food?!?

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

Should this be moved to AIBU as there is more traffic on that board?

[Solasum]

Thank you Thumbwitch. How depressing! Just when I think I can at least be complacent in my own home :(

[Lorelei353]

I was all ready to treat myself to an Indian curry ready meal I usually trust the other night but couldn't bring myself to do it as it had cumin in it. Scary.

[SilverHawk]

Like MoreSnow, I'm allergic to nuts other than peanuts. I faithfully look on the ingredients list and then can't work out why I have a reaction.
Thank you Thumbwitch

[Sirzy]

Thank you I have just sent the link to my sister who has a nut allergy

[onlyjoking9329]

Thank you for highlighting this, I hope this is investigated fully.
Because, Being able to eat safely is a fairly basic human right. It shouldn't be Russian roulette.
I have Anaphylaxis to a few things, animals, the fur ,dander and saliva.
latex, balloons are hard to avoid, but at least I can see them, except for when they hide in party bags. I love asparagus spring onions and parcels, just not so keen on the rubber bands they are trussed up in.
Now all of those things are optional and avoidable, though I miss out on social events often. I can and mostly do keep myself safe, I've got 100% success at surviving so far.
I'd like to maintain both my record and airway.
it's made so much harder when someone's messing with your food, it's not just about food it's about having confidence that you will be safe, and it won't be your very last meal.

[BeeBawBabbity]

I think my peanut allergic daughter reacted to Schwartz slow cooker curry mix on Monday. We've used it before with no issues, but this time ended up in A&E. Please take note if you have an allergy. I've let the company know.

[Thumbwitch]

It's just another example of putting profit before people, it makes me so angry!

[musicposy]

It's an absolute nightmare. DD1 is extremely allergic to peanuts (history of anaphylaxis), allergic enough to soya to cause extreme pain and vomiting, also allergic to bananas, chestnuts and some tree nuts and very intolerant to milk and dairy which she has to avoid. She's also veggie by choice (and too old for me to interfere there). There's already sod all she can eat, and some of the safe staples I make from scratch are vegan curry, Mexican enchiladas, tacos etc. I'm now terrified to serve her a whole stack of extra foods and eating out is even more of an impossibility than it was.

It makes me so cross when companies put profit above all else, not caring even if they kill people in the process

[musicposy]

Onlyjoking, that's exactly what it feels like - Russian Roulette every time she eats.

[Mistigri]

It's certainly making me cautious about opening the new packet of cumin I bought a couple of weeks ago. As I have rather sensitive skin I'll probably mix a bit of the cumin with water to make a paste, and use that to do a home-brew skin test before I try eating any. But obviously that doesn't help when eating out.

It's very annoying because until now I'd have said that my peanut allergy was actually easier to manage than my mustard allergy (mustard is literally everywhere).

[trixymalixy]

i wonder if this is why ds reacted to the curry at school which he has had many times before without issue while the recipe hasn't changed. it's very worrying.

[Whensmyturn]

I was reliably informed by a friend in the industry that quite a lot of product testing has already been carried out on UK supplies of cumin by the food standards agency. More is ongoing.

[RocknRollNerd]

This is so worrying. We'd started encouraging DS to eat more spicey foods as he tends to eat with us more in the evenings now he's a bit older - the starting point had been things like tacos and fajitas, I'm going to take them off the menu for a bit though.

Hope all those who've had unexpected/unexplained reactions are doing ok.

What are people doing about schools - I was considering passing some info on to DS's school but it's so bloody vague and unless I've missed it there doesn't seem to be any hard and fast guidance out there as to what to do.

[Aberchips]

Not a nut allergy sufferer but bumping for those who are just in case they haven't seen it.

[MinceSpy]

I have a severe allergy and this news had passed me by. Huge thank you pp.

[EthelCardew]

Woah, I hadn't realised this was that serious. DD has nut allergies and also had an unexplained reaction at the weekend. Luckily she spat out the very first mouthful and so only had blisters on her lip and chin.

Thank you for bumping.

RocknRollNerd I would either get the school health and safety/nurse/kitchen manager, whoever would be appropriately in charge of the information set up to receive the email alerts from Allergy UK OR you print them out and take them in.

[SwirlyThingAlert]

Terrifying for anyone with a nut allergy! How can they get away with tampering about with food? Why not just say what it actually IS instead of putting hidden stuff in there?!
There needs to be much stricter rules on food labelling.

[aintnothinbutagstring]

If you go on allergy uk website, you can sign up for product alerts, there's certainly been a few for fajita kits contaminated with nut traces. My DS is 3yrs with a peanut allergy, he's a very fussy eater but I will be checking or withdrawing processed food he eats like breaded chicken/fish and flavoured crisps. Very worrying.

[Thumbwitch]

Whensmyturn - don't suppose your friend has any updates, does she?