Our 3 year old son has just been diagnosed with severe peanut and tree nut allergy. I am aware of many of the hidden dangers including "natural flavors." My question is do you avoid these products or does it depend on the product... I am fairly confident in all other aspects except for this one. So far I have relied on the manufacturer's warnings that nuts have been used.
Thanks for this question on the "natural flavorings" we often see on those ingredients list. Many people new this game of PA don't stop to realize something as innocent as a "natural flavor" could contain something harmful.
Yes, I completely rely on the a labeled warning to let me know if that flavoring contains peanuts. The reason is due to the The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2006. In reading this, it states:
...that foods containing milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and soy must declare the food in plain language on the ingredient list or via:
* the word "Contains" followed by the name of the major food allergen (milk, wheat, or eggs for example); or
* a parenthetical statement in the list of ingredients, e.g., "albumin (egg)".
Such ingredients must be listed even if they are present in colors, flavors, or spice blends. Additionally, manufacturers must list the specific nut or seafood that is used (e.g., almond, walnut, cashew; or tuna, salmon, shrimp, or lobster). While more than 160 foods have been identified as causing allergic reactions, the eight foods listed above cause 90% of food-allergic reactions.
If you are not familiar with this law, I encourage you to click the link above and read it. It really does make our lives as parents of a PA kids a whole lot easier. This law went into effect six weeks before Tyler's diagnosis. I am so thankful our government is trying to make it easier for us to keep our children safe. I think in future years we will see more and more laws aimed to help us give our children a safer eating environment.
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If you have a question about how our family handle a certain situation in regards to Tyler's peanut allergy, please don't hesitate to ask. The e-mail is on the side bar (if I actually write it here I'll get a ton of spam!!). We are all in this PA life together and can benefit so much from learning from each other.
1 comments:
Robyn--as always, another interesting post! This is a good subject to address b/c "natural flavorings" certainly sounds so mysterious! I mean, what's in those "natural flavorings"? It may not be peanuts but the longer we live with PA, the more I shy away from things that say "natural flavors". And I make more (and more...) from scratch--dinner is definitely becoming a bit onerous. I am also trying to avoid MSG and all those other creepy things with long names. I am so weary of all these artificial things in our food! It can't be good for us...
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