I’m often in contact with an excellent and devoted food allergy blogger, Karen Blue of AvoidingMilkProtein.com. She has spent extensive time researching hidden sources of nut allergen in household and industrial items, and she keeps me informed of what she finds. To view Karen’s full article on this subject, click here. My family and I find the information provided very disturbing and also very important, so I’ll share some of the unexpected sources of nut allergen Karen revealed here:
Scouring pads made with walnut shell combined with nylon from Good Bye Detergent.
Window shutters made from recovered saw dust combined with peanut shells from Top Wood Shutter.
Clothing dye made from walnut shells used by Wild Weaves.
Furniture polish containing almond oil from Formbys.
Wooden flutes coated with almond oil from A Bell Flute Company.
Leather care product with almond oil from Collonil Care.
Almond oil in Seventh Generation Natural 4X Laundry Detergent and Natural 2X Laundry Liquid (To read my full report on this subject, click here).
Wood decking system derived from wood sawdust and peanut shells from CWS Decking System.
Construction material that includes almond shells from Durmond.
Kitty Litter containing nut shells and low levels of nut protein from Purr and Simple.
Compost starter made from peanut meal from Super Hot Compost Starter.
Floor and ceiling tiles made from crushed almond shells from Textured Panels.
Walnut shell extract in spray tan solution from Tan Extraordinare Airbrush Tanning.
Animal control product made with peanut hulls from Natural Gopher Control.
Pool paint made from finely ground walnut shell from Life Guard Paint.
Firelogs made from ground tree nut shells from President’s Choice Fire Logs.
Natural dyes that use pigment from peanut shells in a dust form made by the Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (INTI).
I’m concerned about the practice of including highly allergenic substances in unexpected places. Workers with allergies handling these materials may not be informed of their ingredients, and they easily could have allergic reactions. Home owners or their visitors may not realize that that pool deck paint has walnut shells in it, or that they just cleaned their leather couch with almond oil, potentially causing a contact reaction. I’m also concerned that since these items aren’t meant for human consumption, the allergens in them do not need to be disclosed. If you’ve had an allergic reaction to products of this type, please be sure to write to the manufacturer to inform them.
To read about allergens in more products, visit Chemurgy and Allergens Blog. Chemurgy is the use of crop and crop by-products in manufacturing.
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If you want to take a look at what might contain allergies in your pantry; check out the Food Tester app for Apple. it is actually alot of fun to use; your little ones will enjoy it as well. You can also separate each one of the searches for each family member. If you find benefit to the product please let me know on the Apple review page or our Twitter page. you’re welcome 😉