What Ice Cream is Safe?

As I noted in yesterday's post, I have been re-thinking the world of ice cream as it relates to Tyler's peanut allergy. This is a rather new issue since he only outgrew his dairy allergy six months ago. I have allowed him to eat a few brands since many of them label for cross contamination. Call it my "Mommy Instincts" but I started feeling like a deeper investigation was necessary. I have gotten so spoiled to those who do label for cross contamination that I let myself think an absence of labeling meant "safety." Wrong!!

I did research over on peanutallergy.com's boards to see how other parents handle this dilemma. What I found was a little shocking and reminded me that investigating each food he eats is super important.

I read posts from a few people that said that there are no ice cream lines in the US that are dedicated to nut-free ice creams. If this is true, it means that even things we think are "safe" are running on lines that have had nuts on them previously. Many parents do not allow their children to eat store bought ice cream. I completely understand this logic. Totally.

However, I wondered if there was anything that I might feel comfortable with so that Tyler can have this sweet treat on occasion. My mission is first and foremost to protect him. But I also feel it is very important to give him as many "normal" children things as possible. In the end, I found 2 store bought ice creams I feel comfortable with. This is only what our family has chosen. Your comfort level may be totally different and I don't fault you one bit for that.

*Breyer's Ice Cream: I feel safe with this ice cream because Tyler has been eating it for a while and has had zero problems. Many, many others on the PA boards said the same thing. Here is what the Breyer's website states:

We also have special handling procedures for all allergenic ingredients used in our manufacturing facilities. Unilever Ice Cream/Good Humor-Breyers does not have dedicated production lines in our factories for product containing allergens. However, we do have a very strict allergen-handling policy. If there is an allergen concern on a manufacturing line, the machine is disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. This process takes several hours. Our historical results and process verification testing for allergens has shown that these steps are effective at removing allergenic proteins.

I realize this is probably out of some people's comfort zones but my husband and I decided that the fact they thoroughly clean their machinery and even do testing to make sure the equipment is clean, plus so many people reported zero problems with it over several years made it OK for us. Again, everyone has a different comfort level.

*Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream: My husband is addicted to this stuff. Many times I've seen a "May contains" labeling and didn't let Tyler have it. Then, last week he brought one home without a warning and I was confused. With the help of another reader (thanks P.C.!!), I found this information on their website:

Our policies and procedures are such that if peanuts or tree nuts (almonds, cashews, chestnuts, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts/filberts, macadamias, Brazil nuts, pine nuts) as well as eggs, milk, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, seeds, and lupin are not listed in the ingredient declaration or in an Allergy Information statement in boldface on the package, then the product is safe to consume for persons with allergies to those ingredients.

If you visit the above link you will also see they are members of he Food Allergy Network and the Food Allergy Resource and Research Program. I think they are very educated and wouldn't bind themselves legally to the above statement if they were not truly safe for those with a peanut allergy. Again, this is what we have determined is in our family's comfort level. Your family may be totally different.

Tyler after his fist taste of cake and ice cream in February.

*Another note of interest to those of you who deal with a dairy allergy (you have my absolute sympathy...we've been there), a friend of mine allows her PA and DA son to eat Tofutti Ice Cream because they have practices to flush the lines and to run on separate days.

I would love to hear from others on this issue. Do you allow your PA Kid to eat other ice creams? If so, how did you determine their safety?


Top photo courtesy of Microsoft