Onespot Allergy Blog

Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy: Not Ready for Prime Time

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:52:50 +0000

By Dr. Hugh A Sampson, MD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Jaffe Food Allergy Institute

Written for Allergies Asthma Children and published here with AAC’s written permission.

Food allergy has become a major health problem in westernized countries, now affecting approximately 3.5% of the U.S. population, or about 12 million Americans, and is the leading single cause of anaphylaxis treated in U.S. emergency departments. The standard of care for dealing with food allergies has been to educate patients and their families how to avoid allergenic foods and to recognize and treat allergic reactions if they have an accidental ingestion. In the past 5 years, there has been a growing interest in oral immunotherapy (OIT) for treating food allergy, a practice that was first reported in The Lancet over 100 years ago in an article called “A case of egg poisoning” [Lancet 1908; 1:716]. Considerably more recently, several small clinical trials of OIT for milk, egg and peanut allergies have yielded some promising results, and some practicing allergists have even begun using OIT to treat food-allergic patients.

I certainly can’t fault the desire of patients and patients’ parents to seek relief from the difficulty of managing a severe food allergy (and who pay for these treatments out of pocket). However, I wish to caution that widespread adoption of any OIT methods is premature, and may lead to crushing the hopes of patients, and worse.

Three carefully conducted scientific reviews* of trials have raised serious questions about OIT’s effectiveness, safety and long-term benefits, with the most recent concluding that “the overall low quality of evidence leaves important uncertainty about anticipated effects of immunotherapy due to very serious imprecision of the estimates of effects and the likelihood of publication bias for some of the critical outcomes.” In other words, we can’t judge on the basis of these trials whether it’s really working or not, or whether some researchers are getting the results they want instead of what the data really shows.

Our understanding of the underlying immunologic changes brought about by OIT is very limited and published reports provide inconsistent results. OIT appears to induce “desensitization,” or a clinical state in which the quantity of food required to trigger an allergic reaction is raised while on therapy, in most patients. “Tolerance,” or the long-term loss of allergic reactivity following the discontinuation of therapy, i.e. “a cure,” has been reported in some OIT trials, but most of these trials lack the appropriate controls. Different treatments follow different protocols, creating apples-and-oranges comparisons. In some cases, we can’t distinguish whether improvements with milk are the result of the therapy or whether a child is merely outgrowing the problem, as happens with milk allergies about 80% of the time. In fact, the only OIT trial to date stringently controlling for the natural development of tolerance in food-allergic children failed to find a difference in outcome between treated and control subjects.

In spite of the reservations my colleagues and I have, there are many instances of what we might call “retail OIT” being offered by some practicing allergists. The history of medicine is replete with examples of how premature adoption of new techniques can go wrong. Drugs and technologies that showed “no harm” in trials have often proven to be problematic as they made their way into wider use. We are nowhere near that regulatory threshold with OIT.

Furthermore, administering an experimental therapy creates management problems. Even in a research setting, patients must endure much of the discomfort and reactions that make food allergies a problem to begin with, necessitating a good deal of after-hours support and encouragement; do OIT doctors provide that? And while I trust my fellow allergists to treat emergencies, proliferation of unproven therapies creates more and more probability of mishaps. How long before a patient who believes himself “cured” suffers because he has ignored elementary precautions?

At this time, oral immunotherapy should be considered a promising experimental treatment for food allergy, but proper well-controlled trials are needed to demonstrate that it is safe and effective before the FDA will approve it for general use by practicing allergists.

* [(1)Brozek JL, Terracciano L, Hsu J, Kreis J, Compalati E, Santesso N et al. Oral immunotherapy for IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Exp Allergy 2012; 42(3):363-74;

(2) Sheikh A, Nurmatov U, Venderbosch I, Bischoff E. Oral immunotherapy for the treatment of peanut allergy: systematic review of six case series studies. Prim Care Respir J 2012; 21(1):41-9; and

(3) Fisher HR, Du TG, Lack G. Specific oral tolerance induction in food allergic children: is oral desensitisation more effective than allergen avoidance?: a meta-analysis of published RCTs. Arch Dis Child 2011; 96(3):259-64]

Of note is this comment from Dr. Wayne Shreffler on the Allergies Asthma Children website:

I’m glad to see this being publicly debated. I’m not a parent of a food allergic child, but I have, like Drs. Sampson, Nash and others had the privilege of specializing in their care for more than a decade now.

I don’t believe there is any valid reason to doubt that physicians on either side of this question are equally well-intentioned. I am the principal investigator of an active peanut OIT trial and two more, funded by the NIH, due to start this year. I did my fellowship training with Dr. Sampson at Mount Sinai from 2000-03 and was on faculty there until 2009 when I moved to Boston. So you would be correct if you guessed that my opinion is that OIT still belongs in the research setting, and not something available as a fee for service.

But I think that some may be wrong about why I have that opinion. I hold that opinion primarily because I am biased to believe that oral immunotherapy IS effective. It is precisely because of this desire I have to find that OIT is an effective therapy — the same bias that every parent, private practitioner AND researcher currently has — that it is absolutely necessary to conduct impartial and rigorous studies.

Almost everything that has been published on OIT to date consists of case series reports, not randomized clinical trials. The overall numbers are still small and the patient selection highly subject to bias. We do not know that the benefits of OIT outweigh the risks, who is most likely to benefit, who will fail or develop chronic allergic inflammation while taking it, or who would have outgrown the allergy without it but now never will. No scientific review conducted or expert panel convened has concluded that OIT should yet be offered outside of a trial.

I have no doubt that practitioners among us who are offering OIT are setting out to do good. But the data are not yet sufficient to conclude that they will be. Until we have that data, in my opinion nobody should be laying down money for this treatment.

I believe that I understand the desire parents have to do something proactive about as well as anyone who is not personally affected can. My practice and my research are very much informed by that desire. But not only is OIT not ready for prime time, its proliferation outside of the research setting may well undermine our collective capacity to ever determine its efficacy.

Dr. Sampson is the Kurt Hirschhorn Professor of Pediatrics and the Dean for Translational Biomedical Research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and the Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Sampson’s research interests and publications have focused on food-allergic disorders including the immunopathogenic role of food hypersensitivity in atopic dermatitis and anaphylaxis, characterization of food allergens, and immunotherapeutic strategies for treating food allergies. His research has been funded continuously by a number of grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. Dr. Sampson is the principal investigator of the NIH-sponsored Consortium on Food Allergy Research and an AADCRC program project conducting a number of clinical trials investigating novel therapies for the treatment of food allergy and investigating basic immunologic mechanisms. He has published over 350 articles and 60 book chapters on food-allergic disorders and co-edited four books, and was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2003 for his research on food allergies. Dr. Sampson is past chairman of the Section on Allergy & Immunology of the American Academy of Pediatrics and past president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Wayne G. Shreffler, MD, PhD is the Director of the Food Allergy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Shreffler received his MD and PhD degrees from New York University and his Pediatrics training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his fellowship in Allergy & Immunology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2003. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Allergy/ Immunology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. In 2009, he joined MGH as the Director of the Food Allergy Center and in 2011 became the Section Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. He sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the FDA Food Advisory Committee and the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Medical Advisory Board.

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Tasterie Delivers Natural, Delicious, Allergen Free Foods Verified By Doctor Lama Rimawi

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:56:16 +0000

I’m very excited to introduce you to Tasterie, a Massachusetts based service that delivers hand selected foods to your door monthly. You tell Tasterie which food allergies you have, and your curated box containing an assortment of products safe for you will be prepared.

What’s extremely special about this service is that it’s run by Dr. Lama Rimawi, a pediatrician and mother of a milk and soy allergic child. When Lama’s youngest son was one month old, he was diagnosed allergic to milk and soy, and Lama had to learn to eat soy and milk free. She then became the patient, not the doctor, and learned first hand how difficult it is to navigate the world of food allergies safely.

That experience inspired her to start Tasterie to make finding safe foods easier. Lama has set up a rigorous allergen validation protocol: Instead of relying on a supplier’s assertion that a product is nut free or gluten free or allergen free, Lama works through a multi-step protocol with the manufacturer. If the company slips up on even one question, Lama will not sell their product. Most online allergy grocers rely on the manufacturers’ assertions alone, and what sets Tasterie apart is that it’s doctor verified. Lama shared with me that a pediatric allergist reviewed her protocol, and said it was so rigorous, it goes beyond his own protocol for his food allergic son.

Label reading is difficult. Just reading the ingredients list doesn’t ensure that a product is safe. Only the actual ingredients in a recipe have to be disclosed, and not that the food “may contain” allergens used in other products made on the same equipment or elsewhere in the facility. To determine if the product “may contain” your allergens, you have to call the manufacturer and ask very specific questions. Often, you will find out that the food that you thought was safe may contain traces of your allergen, and is not safe at all. It’s comforting to know that Dr. Lama Rimawi has done this work for you.

Lama didn’t only want to make finding truly safe foods easier. She observed that people with dietary restrictions get stuck with just a few brands they trust, and she designed her service to provide variety, which she explained to me is especially important because people with dietary restrictions have a harder time getting the right balance of foods. As a result, the products shipped vary each month, and Lama even has a dietitian work with them to make sure that each box is nutritionally balanced. These are healthful products not easily found in stores, with an emphasis on supporting smaller companies, not just the ones that are already well know to the allergic community. To add even more value, recipes are supplied that use the foods provided, and everything is taste tested to ensure it’s not only safe, but also delicious.

Other companies provide samples only, but Tasterie provides full sized products. A typical month’s Tasterie box might contain granola, chips and dip, a dessert item, and four smaller packs of products to try. The next month, you will receive a different group of foods that are free of your allergens. The service costs $29.99 per month, and shipping within the USA is free.

To find the Tasterie box that’s right for you, go to the table below and click on the description that meets your dietary needs to visit the product page, then click on that box again when you’re there. You’ll be happy you did! Use coupon code ONESPOT to get 10% off your first order.

To Like Tasterie on Facebook, click here. To follow them on Twitter, click here. To sign up for the Tasterie newsletter, click here.

SOY FREE	PEANUT & NUT FREE	HEALTHY & NUTRITIOUS	GLUTEN FREE	GLUTEN, DAIRY & CASEIN FREE
EGG FREE	DAIRY FREE	DAIRY & SOY FREE	VEGAN	DAIRY & EGG FREE

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Misleading And Dangerous EpiPen Ad Campaign Launched By Mylan Specialty Continues

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:07:57 +0000

Last month Mylan Specialty, which markets EpiPens, released a television commercial with the following script which caused great concern within the allergic community. As a result, the commercial was almost immediately discontinued. The script titled “Max’s Birthday” read:

Mom: So you’re excited for Max’s birthday party? It should be pretty awesome.
Son: Yeah!
Mom: Even with your peanut allergy and a cake made from who knows what, because we’re prepared, right James?
Son: Yup.
Mom: With EpiPen.

The commercial showed James being dropped off for the party, His Mom hands over an EpiPen as the camera sweeps over a table full of food and James runs off to play. The voice over advises to seek emergency medical attention immediately after using an EpiPen, which is followed by product information, contraindications, and side effects.

The scene switches to James being picked up by his Mom and leaving the party. The voice over says: You can’t be everywhere your child’s allergens are, but you can be prepared. Ask you health care professional if EpiPen or EpiPen Junior is right for you or your child. Visit epipen.com for more information.

As a lawyer, I felt that the commercial exposed Mylan to liability for implying that you can safely eat foods that may contain your allergens, as long as you have an EpiPen. What should have been made clear is that strict avoidance of your food allergens, even in trace amounts, is the only line of defense in preventing a food allergic reaction. While EpiPens are the appropriate treatment for a reaction, reactions can still be fatal, even if you use an EpiPen. Every effort must be made to avoid this medical emergency, and strict avoidance of your allergen is the only way to prevent a reaction.

Imagine my surprise today, when leafing through the May 14th edition of People magazine, I found this ad by Mylan. It seems that although they pulled the television commercial in response to pressure from the allergic community, they neglected to pull the print campaign:

It’s time for Mylan to get serious about the message they’re sending out. They obviously did not take the concerns raised by the allergic community very seriously, since they still ran the print ads. This is irresponsible, and if the campaign results in a consumer having a serious allergic reaction, they may well find themselves liable in negligence for their misleading and irresponsible messaging. In fact, now that they’re aware of the dangerous implications of their campaign, by failing to remove the print ads, their exposure to liability has increased.

UPDATE 9 May 2012: From FAAN –The Mylan print ad will be replaced. We will still see some of the old print ads, however, because they were already in the pipeline prior to the community’s request that they be pulled.

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Shame On Them! Cover Up Revealed After Special Needs Student Has Allergic Reaction

admin — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:46:22 +0000

On April 26, 2012 in a classroom at Walt Disney Elementary School at 5717 South 112th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, the entire special education staff consisting of two teachers and three paraprofessionals was fired. The school administrators would only say that it’s a personnel matter, and that only those in the special education classroom needed to know the reason for the dismissals. Not surprisingly, other parents in the school sought answers: Had those staffers, with whom their children also had contact, done something that could affect their children?

KMTV Omaha Action 3 News investigated, and sources revealed that the staff members exposed a peanut allergic non-verbal student to peanut butter while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as part of their lesson. I repeat, this was a non-verbal student, who couldn’t put up his hand and remind the teachers that he’s allergic to peanuts. He was completely dependent on them to keep him safe in his special needs classroom. The student had an allergic reaction, and 911 was called.

What caused the firing is the cover up that occurred after the incident. Action 3 News reports that the staff members threw away all the evidence and claimed they had no idea what happened to the student. Shame on them! It was the cover up that got them fired, and I hope that the specific reasons for the firing are permanently on their employment records.

Shame on the Millard County school administrators as well for making matters worse: They refused to explain to parents why the entire special education staff was fired. When the reporter visited the superintendent’s office, the superintendent told the receptionist to call 911 for police, even though it’s a public building and the camera crew can’t be denied entry. Millard County spokesperson Amy Friedman said they only told the parents of the small group of children involved what happened and that legally the district can’t say more.

Perhaps they’re concerned about a law suit in negligence, which could be launched by the child’s parents. An e-mail letter sent from the school to parents stated that it’s a “personnel issue” that’s confidential, and that the school “has their child’s best interests at heart.” Amy Friedman, when approached again by reporters for comment, called the news story “silly” and stated only that two teachers and three paraprofessionals won’t be returning to the school, and that’s all she can say. Omaha police said that Millard officials said “nothing criminal” happened in the school. The reporters could not reach the fired teachers for comment. Because of the administrators’ silence, it wasn’t until May 2nd, six days after the incident, that sources revealed the cause for the firings. To view the news story on KMTV Omaha Action 3 News, click here. There are related videos on the right side of that page as well.

No names have been revealed in the news stories. I visited the Walt Disney Elementary School website specialists/paraprofessionals page, which you can visit by clicking here. It shows the five people below as resource specialists, who may or may not be the individuals who were fired.**

To provide any additional information to Action 3 News, post a comment on their Facebook page by clicking here.

You can reach Elizabeth Goldenberg, Onespot Allergy Blog, for comment by sending an e-mail message to info@onespotallergy.com.

Mrs. Nichol Dolezal, Resource

Mrs. Leeper, Resource

Mrs. Suhar, Media/ Resource Para

Mrs. Verzal, Resource Para

Mrs. Samler, Resource Para

Allergic Reactions To Odwalla Chocolate Protein Drink Demonstrate Need For Better Allergen Labeling

admin — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:16:43 +0000

Today, I received notice from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that Odwalla Chocolate Protein drink, also known as Chocolate Protein Soy and Milk Protein Shake, is being recalled. The reason is that four U.S. consumers had severe allergic reactions to it. All these individuals are allergic to peanuts, and two of them also have known allergies to tree nuts. The full recall notice is at the bottom of this page.

Odwalla stated on its Facebook page that “This beverage contains no peanut or tree nut ingredients, and the production facility where it is produced does not make any peanut-containing products. While we have found no evidence of peanuts or tree nuts in the product at this point, in an abundance of caution to safeguard consumers, Odwalla is recalling this product while continuing to investigate the cause of the reactions.”

What caught my attention is that they confirmed no use of peanuts in the facility, but did not address tree nuts. I asked on their Facebook page: “Does the production facility make any tree nut containing products? Everything I’ve read confirms they don’t use peanuts, but do they use tree nuts? I appreciate any information you can provide.” In response, I was informed as follows: “Onespot Allergy, our facility does process products containing tree nuts, however we do not process any ingredients containing peanuts.”

I asked if they use pistachio or walnut in that facility, since they can cross react with peanuts. That is, people allergic to peanuts can also react to pistachios and walnuts. I also asked if the drink is made on the same equipment that processes tree nuts, or are the tree nuts only used on a separate line. At this point I was asked to call or email the company if I have any questions or thoughts I’d like to share with their team.

I looked through the Odwalla website, and found that ground almonds are in the Super Protein vanilla almond drink: http://www.odwalla.com/products/SuperProteinVanillaAlmondo.jsp I’m wondering if almond protein cross contaminated the Chocolate Protein drink. While two consumers who had reactions only reported allergy to peanuts, they could also be allergic to tree nuts, or the almonds could have been contaminated with peanut protein during shelling and roasting, since it’s often done on shared equipment.

I also found that some Odwalla food bars contain walnuts, peanuts, or almonds. I could not determine if they’re made in the same facility as the protein drinks and juices. Of concern is that some bars say “oats may contain traces of wheat.” However, the nut containing bars do not say “contains peanut or tree nuts” and the ones without nuts in the recipe do not say “may contain traces of peanut, almond, and walnut.” Because of the disclosure of traces of wheat on some bars, allergic consumers could easily be misled into thinking that potential contamination with top allergens is disclosed, and not have the information they need to decide if these bars are safe for them to eat.

Odwalla chose to disclose potential wheat contamination but failed to disclose potential peanut and tree nut contamination. In my opinion, the risk of cross-contamination should have been disclosed on every Odwalla product made in a facility that uses peanuts or tree nuts. This shifts the burden of liability to allergic consumers to use this information to decide if the foods are safe for them to eat. Some disregard “may contain” labels, some would call the company to assess the risk themselves, others (like me) would decide the products are not safe for them to consume.

Fatal food anaphylaxis is most often caused by peanuts (50-62%) and tree nuts (15-30%).** Odwalla should immediately either remove peanuts and tree nuts from their facilities or disclose that they are there. It should not take four severe allergic reactions to prove this point.

UPDATE April 11, 2012: More consumers have reported reactions to this product. Details are here: http://www.dairyreporter.com/Regulation-Safety/Odwalla-reveals-new-consumer-reports-of-allergic-reactions-to-dairy-based-beverage

* Please use the “Sharing Is Caring” bar (below) to share this post via Facebook or Twitter. If you’re reading this as an e-mail message, you need to jump over to my blog first by clicking here.

** Source Keet CA, Wood RA. Food allergy and anaphylaxis. Immunol Allergy Clin N Am. 2007;27:193-212

ODWALLA CHOCOLATE PROTEIN BEVERAGE

Dinuba, CA, April 5 – Odwalla, Inc. is recalling in Canada Odwalla Chocolate Protein beverage in 355mL bottles with “enjoy by” dates prior to and including 2012 MA 23 because of reports in the United States from consumers allergic to peanuts or peanuts and tree nuts who experienced severe allergic reactions after consuming this beverage. There have been no reports of adverse reactions in Canada.

Odwalla is commencing a recall in the United States for a similar product sold under the name Odwalla Chocolate Protein Monster.

The product being recalled is Odwalla Chocolate Protein beverage in 355mL bottles with “enjoy by” dates prior to and including 2012 MA 23, UPC code 014054135892. The beverage labels carry the brand name “Odwalla” and the descriptors “Chocolate Protein Soy and Milk Protein Shake.” Specific “enjoy by” dates can be found printed on the neck of the bottles. The product is distributed through retail food stores and on-premise food service establishments in Canada.

Odwalla Chocolate Protein contains no peanut or tree nut ingredients, and the production facility where it is produced does not make any peanut-containing products. However, Odwalla is recalling the product because consumers allergic to peanuts or peanuts and tree nuts in the US experienced severe allergic reactions.

Odwalla Chocolate Protein contains soy and dairy ingredients, to which some consumers are allergic. However, the presence of soy and dairy ingredients in Odwalla Chocolate Protein is clearly disclosed on the product label by the statement that the product “contains soy and milk protein.” The soy and dairy ingredients are also declared in the ingredients list.

Odwalla Chocolate Protein beverage may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts or peanuts and tree nuts. Consumers who are allergic to peanuts or peanuts and tree nuts should not drink Odwalla Chocolate Protein. Consumers having Odwalla Chocolate Protein product with the specified “enjoy by” dates are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions can contact Odwalla by calling 1-800-639-2552.

For more information, media please contact:

Shannon Denny

Odwalla Inc.

647-637-2574

Medieval Feast At School Raises Allergy Concerns

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:32:49 +0000

Recently, our son came home with a notice that his grade 4 class is studying Medieval Times. As part of the unit, a Medieval feast was planned. The notice stated that the meal would be golden herb basted chicken, fresh bread and butter, glazed carrots, a shield shaped gingerbread cookie they’d decorate themselves, and grape juice. We were to indicate any dietary concerns on the bottom of the information sheet. Of course, I find this very concerning from an allergen perspective. That’s too kind and soft stated: I actually find this sort of programming reckless.

We filled in the information slip to indicate “severely allergic to peanuts and all other nuts, even in trace amounts.” A teacher was going to make some inquiries about allergy safety, but we didn’t hear anything. I prefer to make my own inquiries, so I looked online at the Golden Gryphon Medieval Entertainment and Catering website, since that company was providing the food. There was no allergen information provided, so I called. I was very surprised when the owner told me that she buys the bread and gingerbread shields from a bakery that has nuts on site. Because nuts are on site, these are items that may contain sufficient traces of nuts to cause a severe allergic reaction. At our peanut and nut safe school, students are not allowed to bring “may contain” items, and I find it reckless that a catering company would knowingly provide them to students.

Upon request, the company will buy the bread from a bakery that does not have nuts on site and make the gingerbread shields in their nut safe catering kitchen. Whenever a meal is planned for students, this should be their standard procedure, whether or not an allergy mom calls them to inquire. I got the impression that I was the only person who had ever called, which surprises me, and I hope I made a lasting impression. I hope that by providing this information, it will help others make informed decisions.

It really is reckless to plan programming that involves food in the classroom. What would children allergic to dairy or wheat do, stay at home? There were two children with religious dietary restrictions who couldn’t eat anything because all the food may have come in contact with the chicken. One family indicated that their child could only eat the bread, and the family only received a $2 discount and still had to pay $13. Though many children enjoyed the event, the far more inclusive brass rubbings the class did were sufficient enrichment in my opinion. The feast did not add any value, and the risk associated with bringing food into the school far outweighs any benefit there may have been.

On Friday March 23rd Shop At Peanut Free Planet And Allerrific To Support Kids With Food Allergies

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:42:52 +0000

Friday March 23 is Kids with Food Allergies Freeling Friday at Peanut Free Planet and Allerrific, the leading stores supplying gluten free and allergy friendly groceries online. On that day, 5% of all sales will be donated to Kids with Food Allergies. The last KWFA Freeling Friday was a great success resulting in a significant donation KWFA, and it was the biggest day in Peanut Free Planet’s history. Please help spread the word to make this year’s event an even greater success.

This is a really fun event, and it’s a prime opportunity to try new products from your favorite allergy friendly manufacturers as well as products from “new” manufacturers. Peanut Free Planet and Allerrific will be running Facebook and Twitter contests all day long with great prizes. To join in the fun on Facebook, click here to “Like” Peanut Free Planet and click here to “Like” Allerrific. On Twitter, they’re @freelings and @allerrific. Prizes include:

The Best EpiPen Belt from Onespot Allergy
Classroom pack of Sweet Alexis Chocolate Chip Cookies
Surf Sweets Easter Bonanza filled with all flavors and sizes of Surf Sweets (27 packages all together)
HomeFree Sampler of their 3 types of Gluten Free Mini Cookies
WOWButter variety pack featuring their jars of Creamy, Crunchy and mini cups
Glee Gum 1 case each of their 2 varieties of Sugar Free Gum
Sunbutter – Variety pack features a jar each of all 6 types of Sunbutter
SunCups – a 20 pack case with 5 each of their 4 types of Suncups
Andean Dream – a 11 piece Gluten Free variety pack with their 5 types of cookies, 4 types of pastas and 2 types of soups
Funky Monkey – a variety pack with 2 - 1 oz packs of each of their 7 types of freeze dried fruit snacks
Divvies – Smorg gift box
NoNuttin – a case of 12 of each of their 4 flavors of granola bars
EnerPro – a 24 case variety pack of their 2 flavors of energy bars

All customers on March 23rd will receive a free gift bag with special allergy friendly products, and coupons good for 30 days will follow by e-mail from these companies:

PRODUCT

COUPON

1 Sunbutter No-Stir Natural Pouch
1 Sunbutter Deluxe Trail Mix
1 Enjoy Life 2 pack of Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Enjoy Life Single Serve Mountain Mambo
1 Enjoy Life Single Serve Beach Bash
1 Seth Ellis Sun Cup
1 Sweet Alexis Cookie
1 We’re Not Nutz Chocolate Covered Oreo
1 Surf Sweet Single Serve Candy Bag
1 Home Free Gluten Free Mini Vanilla Cookies Bag
1 Glee Gum Sample Size Box
1 Funky Monkey Freeze Dried Fruit Sample
2 Divvies Choco-lot Brownie Cookies
1 Andean Dream Quinoa Cookie
1 NoNuttin’ Granola Bar
2 WOWButter creamy cups
1 A and J Bakery World’s Best Biscotti

Sunbutter $1.00 off
Enjoy Life 15% off
Home Free 15% Off
Sweet Alexis $1.00 Off
WOWButter $1.00 Off
Surf Sweets – 10% off
Andean Dream 15% Off
We’re Not Nutz 25% Off
Divvies Cookies $2.00 Off
Funky Monkey 10% Off
Simple Food 10% Off
Amanda’s Own 10% Off
Sun Cups 15% Off
Glee Gum -10% Off
EnerPro Energy+Protein Bars 15% off
NoNuttin products 20% off
A and J Bakery Biscotti 10% Off

More than 29,000 parents have joined Kids with Food Allergies, a nationwide nonprofit organization offering online food allergy support groups for families raising children with food allergies and a Top 10 Finalist in the Philanthropic Classy Awards. Parents love their online food allergy support groups, information, news, and allergen-free recipes. You can visit the Kids with Food Allergies web site by clicking here. Associate membership is free and a family membership is only $25 per year.

Please be sure to shop on March 23rd knowing that you are donating to Kids with Food Allergies AND giving yourself a great gift all at the same time. To shop at Peanut Free Planet, click here.

Peanut Free Planet and Allerific, wish to thank their media sponsors Onespot Allergy, Best Allergy Sites, and AllergyEats.

Here are some of my favorite Peanut Free Planet products. Point your mouse over each one to reveal its name, and click on the ones you like to visit the product page:

Better Water Quality And Its Effect On Eczema And Allergies

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:03:02 +0000

When my fourteen year old son heard that I’m writing about water today, he asked what the connection could possibly be to allergies. You know how curious I am, so I searched “allergic to water” on the Internet, and I found out about a rare condition called aquagenic pruritis, which results after exposure to water of any temperature.

Symptoms develop within minutes and may include itching, burning, or a prickling sensation. There can be no skin changes, or a faint, bumpy, itchy, red rash may occur. Symptoms last from ten minutes to several hours, and usually occur on the chest, back, arms or legs. While the cause of this condition is uncertain, some investigators suggest it’s a result of extreme skin sensitivity (but not allergy) to an added ingredient or mineral (chlorine, fluoride, others) present in the water.

Source: Dr. Rob Danoff for MSN Health http://health.msn.com/health-topics/allergies/allergic-to-water

Although this condition is rare, my readers frequently complain about other allergic skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis. Bathing gets to be a challenge, since the skin is so sensitive. Many people look for gentler hypoallergenic cleansers, but they don’t consider the quality of the water.

I consulted with Norraine Galloway, a product specialist at Culligan, who explained that the quality of the water coming out of every tap in your home can be improved with a water softener with carbon filter (mixed bed) located where the water pipe enters the home. Another alternative is a stand alone carbon filter. The carbon removes chlorine, which would otherwise be absorbed through the skin when you bathe or shower. I’m quite concerned about chlorine vapors and their effect on asthma as well, so it makes sense to eliminate chlorine with this whole home system. Norraine once met a three year old girl whose eczema itched so badly, she slept with mittens on. Her parents installed a mixed bed softener, and within two weeks, she was able to sleep without mittens.

The next step is to improve your drinking and cooking water even more by installing a reverse osmosis system. While removing chlorine is of great benefit, unfortunately there are many other dissolved substances in our water that are not beneficial to our health. These include dissolved medications (birth control hormones, steroids, Prozac), arsenic, cadmium, fluoride, nitrate/nitrite, VOCs, lead, mercury, heavy metals, sewage, pesticides, and petroleum.

I chose this Culligan reverse osmosis system installed at my kitchen sink. I use the water from that tap for drinking water, for washing fruit and vegetables, and for cooking. The reverse osmosis system removes the dissolved solids from the water. Here in London, Ontario, tap water has 135 ppm total dissolved solids. The Culligan RO system reduces this to 6 ppm or lower.

Norraine shared with me that 85% of the people she encounters don’t drink tap water. They’re nervous, but they don’t know what the best choice is. Some rely on a fridge filter, some use Brita filtering systems, water coolers with spring water, or bottled water. She explained that the reverse osmosis system is a better choice for the following reasons:

Spring water is high in sodium, calcium, and magnesium and can overtax your kidneys.
Brita systems and fridge systems get moldy, and when the filter is full and water runs through it, contaminants are actually pushed out of it making the water even more contaminated.
Bottled water is very expensive, the bottles are the lowest quality of plastic, and it’s far more environmentally friendly to buy a good quality reusable water bottle and fill it at your Culligan water tap.

Culligan reverse osmosis systems are latex free, which is wonderful for allergic consumers. I chose the reverse osmosis tap at the sink, but you can also get RO water from Culligan in bottles for a water cooler. They even have these extremely tidy bottle free coolers that tap right into your pipes and stand alone or on your counter top.

To find out more, please contact Norraine Galloway from Culligan at 519 871-8069 or send her an e-mail at norraine.galloway@culliganwater.ca. She’s a wealth of information and, if a Culligan system is right for your home, she’ll let you know about their current promotions and connect you with a dealer near you. Please tell her that Elizabeth from Onespot Allergy sent you.

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Ava Anderson Products – Allergen Alert

admin — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:12:03 +0000

I was drawn to check out Ava Anderson Non-Toxic products when I came across a Facebook post stating that they’re non toxic and they now even have baby products. I appreciate a good personal care product line that’s free of harmful chemicals, but a persistent problem I’ve discovered is that such product lines often include food allergens, so I had to check these products out from an allergen perspective.

Many of the Ava Anderson products contain shea, which is a tree nut. Many products also contain sweet almond oil, which should not be rubbed on your skin if you’re allergic to tree nuts. More information regarding anaphylaxis from substances rubbed on the skin was released recently, which bolsters my position that if you’re allergic to a substance, you should not rub its oil on your skin or consume it any other way. In this product line, I also found a fair number of food ingredients that are less common allergens.

The body butter ingredient list is: lavendula hydrosol (organic lavender water), barbadensis Leaf Juice (organic aloe vera), theobroma cacao (organic cocoa seed butter), butyrospermum parkii (organic shea butter), prunus amygdalus dulci (organic sweet almond), persea gratissima (organic avocado oil), xanthum gum, salix nigr (organic black willow bark) extract, citrus sinensis (organic sweet orange), pelargonium graveolen (organic geranium rose), lavendula angustifolia (organic lavender), cananga odoratang (organic ylang ylang essential oil).

The body bar soap is made with: Ingredients: olea europaea (organic olive oil), elaeis guineensis (organic palm kernel oil), cocos nucifera (organic coconut), ricinus communis (organic castor oil), organic goat’s milk, allantoin, oat protein, calendula petals.

The Ava Anderson baby massage and body lotion ingredients are: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, organic coconut oil, organic apricot kernel oil, organic olive oil, organic sweet almond oil, organic shea butter, avena sativa (oat) kernel flour, pomegranate extract and cranberry fruit extract.

The deep conditioning treatment contains: aloe barbadensis leaf juice (organic aloe), behenrimonium methosulfate (vegetable source), cocos nucifera oil, (organic coconut oil), elaeis guineensis kernel oil (organic palm oil), vegetable glycerin, prunus amygdaus Dulcis (organic sweet almond oil), olea europaea fruit oil (organic olive oil), butyrosermm parkii (organic shea butter, brassica oleracea italica seed oil (broccoli seed oil), dl panthenol (vitamin B5), yucca schidigera (mohave yucca), equisetum arvense (horsetail extract) urtica diolea (nettle), Melissa officinalis (organic lemon balm), menthe piperita (peppermint), geogard ultra.

The Ava Anderson eye cream contains: rosa centifolia amascena (organic Bulgarian rose oil), aloe barbedensis (organic aloe leaf juice), rosa rubiginosa (organic rose hip oil), oenothera biennis (organic evening primrose oil), butyrospermum parkii (organic shea butter), calendula (organic marigold essential oil), prunus armeniaca ( organic apricot kernel oil), azadirachta indic. (organic neem extract), xanthum gum, vegetable glycerin, helichrysum italicum (organic everlasting flower essential oil), lavandula angustifolia (organic lavender essential oil), vetiveria zizanioid (organic vetiver essential oil). The product page includes this reference to almond oil, but it’s unclear if it is still in the product: Natural expeller pressed oil from raw almond kernels are exceptionally rich in fatty acids.

The hand and body lotion contains: organic aloe vera gel, behentrimonium methosulfate, organic coconut oil, organic apricot kernel oil, organic olive oil, organic sweet almond oil, organic shea butter, avena sativa (oat) kernel flour, allantoin, geogard ultra, potassium polysorbate, organic sweet orange essential oil, organic citrus lemon essential oil, organic pomegranate oil.

The Ava Anderson non toxic lip balm is made from : Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax, Stevia Rebaudiana (Stevia) Leaf Extract.

The lip balm product page contains this warning: There is one known health warning about shea butter: People who have nut allergies and latex allergies may be sensitive to shea butter. Always do a small test patch before fully using, if you have allergies. This is the only reference to allergies that I found on the site. I’m surprised that nothing was said about almond oil to warn nut allergic consumers that it’s present in the product line.

Source: http://www.avaandersonnontoxic.com/default.aspx Accessed March 5, 2012.

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Kernels Popcorn – Gluten Free And Allergy Friendly

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:41:41 +0000

I love Kernels Popcorn, and we buy at least one bag of it every time we visit the mall. I recently had the opportunity to chat with them about their allergen and gluten policies, and I’m very happy with what I learned.

Their ingredients do not contain peanuts or tree nuts at any of their Canadian stores.* They take care to purchase raw materials from nut-free HACCP certified suppliers with the very best manufacturing processes. The stores receive these raw materials and make the popcorn on site in sunflower oil.

Kernels Popcorn is now gluten free as well. This is incredible news for the gluten free community looking for a safe ready made snack.

Kernels is very responsible about declaring the allergens they do have on site. You can view the ingredient lists and allergen information on their website by clicking here, and I’ll summarize a few points below:

Dairy	Dairy is in the ingredients of most flavors. The new buttersalt flavor does not contain dairy, nor does the ketchup flavor. Be sure to request the new buttersalt formulation, as the old formulation did contain dairy.
Egg	The old buttersalt flavor that is still used for some fundraising programs contains both dairy and egg. Be sure to request the new buttersalt formulation. For this reason, all flavors indicate cross-contamination with egg.
Sulphites	The parts per million are disclosed in the flavors which contain these.
Soy	The company uses highly refined soybean oil or soy lecithin in some flavors.
Wheat	Effective September 1, 2011, all flavors are gluten-free. Please disregard any reference to traces of wheat in the allergen statements, if the list you see hasn’t been updated.

If you are allergic to dairy, egg, or soy, once you locate a flavor that does not contain your allergen, you can call your store ahead of time to place an allergy aware order to reduce the risk of cross contamination from other flavors. Inform the store of your allergy, ask for your flavor to be the first popping of the day since the machine will be freshly cleaned, and ask them to bag it immediately rather than place it in their bins. You can also ask that the cooking area be wiped down first and that only freshly washed scoops be used. If you order a flavor they normally carry, there should be no minimum order. If you ask for a flavor not normally in their line up, you may need to order a minimum of two large bags.

I was excited to learn that Kernels Popcorn has aligned its fundraising bags and recipes to comply with the new “School Food And Beverage Policy” which covers food sold in cafeterias, vending machines and tuck shops, all programs including catered lunch programs, and all events on school property including bake sales and sporting events. In fact, Kernels Popcorn falls into the “sell most” category. Products in the sell most category are the healthiest options and generally have higher levels of essential nutrients and lower amounts of fat, sugar, and/or sodium.

I’m going to speak to my school principal and parent council about using Kernels Popcorn for school fundraising. I cringe every time chocolate bars are used for fundraising, since normally they’re not safe for my son, and we all eat enough candy already. It a great idea to use Kernels popcorn instead, and one way to use it is to set up a weekly popcorn day when students sell it to raise funds. At our school, the Spirit Club ran this program and students could buy popcorn for a snack at lunch.

You can also set up a school wide fundraiser, and Kernels makes this easy: They provide you with sales order sheets, posters to print, fundraising sales tools, and even an e-mail notification that the school can send out to parents. Incentives can be set up like a gift card for the student who raises the most money, or donated popcorn for an end of year party. To find out more or to arrange a fundraiser, contact Loreta Miskinis, Vice President and General Manager of Kernels Popcorn by e-mail at loreta@kernelspopcorn.com or by phone at 416 487-4194 x220. Please tell her that Elizabeth from Onespot Allergy sent you.

Kernels Popcorn also has a great corporate gift program. Their popcorn is packaged in decorative tins, and these make gift giving simple: All you need to do is provide them with your gift list, the product you’d like to send, and the message you’d like on the cards, and they’ll create the custom order for you. To find out more or to arrange a custom order, you can visit your local store or contact Yael Staiman, Manager Generation K by e-mail at yael@kernelspopcorn.com or by phone at 416 487-4194 x212. Smaller orders can also be placed online by clicking here. Not surprisingly, some companies have been placing the same Christmas gift order with them for 20 years. Prices for corporate gifts range from about $15 to $55.

Kernels has one other program I’m excited to share: You can get Kernels Popcorn in bulk for your events. If you contact Yael at the contact information above or your local store, you can bring the popcorn to your corporate event, your restaurant, hotel, bar, or catering company, or even to your wedding. Brides have ordered grab bags for snacks at the bar, as part of the dessert table, incorporated popcorn into their center pieces, or repackaged it as party favors in cellophane bags.

Overall, Kernels Popcorn is a great company with excellent allergen policies I trust. I highly recommend that you try them. My favorite flavor is Say Cheese Cheese. Have fun finding out what flavor is your favorite.

* The Kernels Popcorn store in the Arcadia Mall in Santa Anita, California produces peanut flavors, and this store fills US orders. If you have a peanut or nut allergy, it would not be safe for you. Canadian orders are filled though the Canadian “no nut” stores.