New Rast tests for dd

[becca]

Dd had a physical.  12 yo.  I asked for new RAST testing, as it had been a few years.  Ped ran a tree nut panel, peanut and egg white. 

Dd came up "neg to egg white and almond, and postivie to peanut, pecan, hazelnut, and brazil nut."

So, she has been eating cooked eggs in baked items, and tolerating even chewy cookies and brownies and french toast these days. 

I wonder if we even need to challenge?  I am not sure she would even eat mayo or straight scrambled egg or such.  And she never had a history of anaphylaxis there, with the egg allergy.  Mostly skin issues and contact reactions on skin(albeit marked). 

Wrt almond.  I know there are safe almonds.  However, Bue diamond, which I find here, is peanut safe, bot may contain other tree nuts. 

I do not think, after finding old testing from our allergist, that she has ever been + to almond.  This explains how she was ok when a sitter stupidly gave her honey-nut cheerios once(because she did not want any of the food I had sent). 

Should I and how can I do a challenge for almond?  I suppose raw in the shell might be pretty close to no cross contamination?  But, if she has a list of other TNAs, i am thinking almond is tough to add into her diet. 

I will call back and ask for the report, to see the numbers.  And maybe find a new allergist to see.  I was not so thrilled with ours, so had just gone to the having the ped following.  I am not sure if her numbers have gone down on any tests. 

But awesome that egg white was neg!  And some Heshey products only mention almond in the cross contam. labelling.  So this opens up a little window for our comfort zone.

[yelloww]

We did an almond challenge in January with Blue Diamond. The allergist didn't have an issue with the other treenut xcont because D's numbers are so low for all tree nuts that the dr thinks they are false positives. He has since passed pistachios as well.

We used the cinnamon and brown sugar almonds for the challenge just in case he didn't like the taste.

[MommyOfTwo+1]

YAY for negative on the egg white and almond!!!!

How does your DD feel about challenging almond? Is it something she would want to do? I know what you mean about the Hershey may contains! DS2 doesn't test positive to any tn but to avoid confusion since he is 5 we just stay away from all.  But we do allow may contain tn and for the purpose of Hershey's its wonderful!

[becca]

If we could find safe almonds, I think she would be up for it.  She loves sunflower seeds and pumkin seeds, so she might enjoy almonds.  And it might open up baking options if we could find safe almond flour(with me as a diabetic, it would be good to have a high protein flour). 

I do not think any are TN safe, though.  Just Blue Diamond are PN safe.

[rebekahc]

Great news on the negatives!!

I just googled "almonds not processed with other nuts" and got this...

http://www.bigtreeorganic.com/btof/FAQ.html

Q:    Are Big Tree Organic Farms almonds processed with other nuts?

A:    Our almonds are processed in "almonds-only" facilities.

They have a web store http://stores.ebay.com/Big-Tree-Organic-Farms-Web-Store or can be bought in a couple of stores in California.  HTH

[AllergyMum]

Great news

[penelope]

Here's the response I got from blue diamond about the labeling of their products:

Thank you for contacting Blue Diamond Growers with your product inquiry.

First, Blue Diamond only processes almonds; however, the transportation equipment used to transfer the almonds from the orchards to the processing facilities is shared with other nut growers. Many of our almond growers in our grower co-op have other tree nut orchards (separate from the almond orchards).

Let me emphasize that the harvested almonds are NOT shipped together with any other nuts; however, because the equipment is shared , it is possible that a stray walnut be left behind in the dumpers.

With our tightly controlled processes, it is unlikely that something like that would get through our system and into our finished/packaged products, but in the event it does, we need to inform our consumers of the possibility with that statement on our packages.

Other tree nuts would include walnuts.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.


Sincerely,


Suzanne Ladiao
Assistant Consumer Advocate
BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS
(800) 987-2329; toll free
e-mal: customerservice@bdgrowers.com

[penelope]

thank you for posting the "almonds only" link.