Need insight on peanut allergy severity

[Macabre]

I think several mentioned it--and I don't remember who. There were a few hours between he time I initially read the thread and posted and didn't reread. It was just that while reading, that's not a conclusion I came to.

I could be wrong--but having tested positive for peanuts and having several specific reactions I can trace to peanuts and then having not tested positive--I also know what it's like to be allergic, to say you're allergic and then to discover you're not (and without fanfare)--I understand what it's like to not feel comfortable saying you're not allergic. With ds' allergy, it can be easier for me to just keep up the idea that I have to avoid it, too. (With other people like at church). So it's a different situation than Hurra is describing, but I have an experience where I know I don't need counseling to deal with this, yk? 

NQ please.

[momma2boys]

Honestly, I think a lot of pa people eat may contains. Some because they were never told how dangerous it is, and some because they don't feel it is a risk or feel they just aren't that sensitive.

Our first allergist told us that ds probably shouldn't eat peanuts. Never wrote for an epi-pen until I insisted. Never told us how to live with this allergy. Most of what I learned, I learned here or through my own research.

There are some items I really don't think are a risk but are just over labeled. And as others have mentioned, after talking to a manufacturer you may decide it isn't a risk.

[CMdeux]

I was looking for advice as to how serious someone with a severe peanut allergy takes one of these allergy statements on a food product. Is it a low risk to eat it or is it a high risk.

I don't think she is depressed or crying out. She seems mentally fine otherwise.

Thanks for the great replies, it helps.

That depends on the person.

That also depends upon the product.

That also depends upon... well, random and hard-to-reproduce factors like the individual's status at the moment (other allergy exposures, illness, stress, etc. etc) and also on the random nature of cross-contamination.

It's truly Russian Roulette. 

The only real question is whether or not a particular product has one chambered round out of 100, or one out of two.  The odds are different with some products relative to others, YK?  That doesn't mean that it is a GOOD idea to try the one that has a 1% chance of causing you a life-threatening reaction, of course.

What it does mean is that it's likely that once in a while, an allergic person would "get away with" the one, but not the other.

I have no idea with particular chocolate products which are labeled for contamination, because there is no way my family would take such a risk,  though I know that others do.

Some information about just how common (and severe) the problem of cross-contamination is:

http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/allergy-research/fs241038

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691513005760

http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2010/08/study-says-consumers-don-t-trust-allergen-warning.aspx

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2810%2900891-2/fulltext

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19440049.2013.804953?journalCode=tfac20#.VHS5FsnYd7E



That sampling of resources should give everyone a clear picture of the nature of this problem.

There are two groups of people with true, clinical allergies to foods here--

1.  Group that can avoid overt exposure and completely eliminate all chance of reactions (well, nearly so), and

2.  Group which is sensitive to ultra-trace amounts of the allergen-- reacts to contaminated surfaces, aerosolized sources, etc in addition to VERY tiny unintentional amounts present in foods that share production space with the allergen.

The second group must rely upon disclosure about shared production from manufacturers because without that info, they are subject to life-threatening reactions and are basically conducting food challenges every time they eat anything.  The former group frequently finds that disclosure annoying, because MOST cross-contaminated products are safe for them to actually eat, but of course once they KNOW that something is run on shared lines, then the question becomes "should I really be doing this??" regardless of how safe it has been in the past.


Hopefully this is a reasonably helpful explanation.  This is why, however, most people with food allergies use "shortcut" methods to explain their reasoning and risk-assessment practices.  It's just not easy.