Lender's Bagels

[Macabre]

I can't find a thread on Lender's. 

Edited to add: ignore my sesame concerns here. After several conversations with Lender's I am convinced there is no reason to be worried about sesame contamination).


For a while after Mezzo's child had a reaction after eating one with raisins we avoided them.  But  we eventually started using them again and have for years--the plain, the blueberry (I think), and the cinnamon raisin ones. 

It's the only bagel I, with a sesame allergy, have let myself eat. Not because I've called them, but because for years and years I've never had a problem.

I hadn't bought bagels for a couple of months but did last week. And I warmed two up on Wednesday and Thursday before taking DS to school. I ate mine on the way.  It takes about 30 minutes to get to school, and on both days, my stomach started hurting before arriving at school.  And felt gassy.

On Wednesday I assumed it was just the results of having too many black-eyed peas the day before (New Year's Day good luck thing--and WOWZA, where they good!!). 

And TMI: [spoiler]I was in the bathroom all morning. And I was working while at a coffee shop, so this was not good.   [/spoiler]

But on Thursday, I also had a bagel. I don't think the cream cheese was the issue. I guess it could have been, but goodness I've never had a problem with cream cheese, plain or otherwise (and this was plain neufchatel cream cheese).

And before my anaphylactic reaction to sesame in December, I haven't had any GI symptoms for sesame.  I'll have to go back and see if I did during the ana rxn. 

I was kind of hoping I had outgrown sesame, because I seem to be in the process of doing that for shellfish ("outgrowing" is a funny term. I developed sesame and shellfish allergies in 2005). 

ugh.

So now--no bagels for me.  Bleh.   

BTW--DS who is peanut allergic only has NO PROBLEM with Lender's.  None. 

[paparenttoo]

Mac, it is my understanding that only the frozen Lender bagels are o.k. for our population.  The frozen state on the package "Lenders bagels are baked in a nut-free environment and this product contains no milk and eggs."  Also, our grocery store only has the small 6 pre-sliced bagels in the frozen section w/the above statement on them.  In the fridge section of our grocery store there are the larger Lender bagels w/o the safety statement ---- it is my understanding that these bagels are made in a different factory that is not safe for our population.  Hope this helps and makes sense.

Also, found the link w/the Lender's discussion and more info from our old board:

http://allergy.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/9400

[IowaMom]

My DD has been eating refrigerated Lenders for years without issues. She is PA only.

[Macabre]

Ah, to be clear, I have no current reason to suspect that they are not safe for my PA son. 

I think they are now a problem for my sesame allergic self.

[joshsmom]

My ds who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and sunflower seeds eats the frozen Lenders all the time. His favorite is the onion ones.. He only uses butter since he does not like cream cheese. We have never had a problem with them. I have emailed Lenders. Will post the response I get.

[becca]

We use them, but we deal with PNA/TNA. 

Could you be having an environmental issue at the coffee shop, depending on what they are heating and cooking in there in the mornings?  Well, I guess you say you had issues on your way, before getting there? 

FWIW, I can have such issues any given 3rd or 4th day of the week, at times, especially if I suddenly change my diet by increasing things like cabbage, beans, raw veggies.  I have no food allergies.  I figure I have some degree of IBS. 

[maeve]

I figure I have some degree of IBS. 

I have the same issues. I figured it was because I had my gallbladder removed but it's not just fatty foods that sets it off.

[Macabre]

Guess it could be, but I'm probably not going to be trying a third time with the remaining bagel to seeing its a charm, YK?

In fact, while I will continue to buy them for DS, I won't be eating them again myself after talking with a really helpful customer service rep.

Before I get into the results of that, I'll say to joshsmom that I've eaten these without issue for years as a person with a sesame allergy, too. But last week's experience changed that.

Also--don't know if I mentioned that the second day I drove to Walgreen's to buy some liquid Benadryl before getting to the coffee shop (same shopping center). The problems went away fairly soon after that (of course Benadryl tends to calm GI tracts in general).

What I learned:

The Fresh Everything bagel does contain sesame seeds. (This was not news; it's listed on their website.)

Only Lender's bagels are made in the same facility (just good info to have, since Pinnacle also makes Duncan Hines products)

Refrigerated and Frozen are made in the same facility (the one I had was actually refrigerated).

Fresh bagels may be made at a different facility or at the same as frozen and refrigerated If the refrigerated/frozen facility also makes fresh, they are all made on shared lines. (And this alone, without a reaction, is enough for me to avoid for sesame).

Also, apparently the co-packers for the fresh are required to use the same processes, there could be some variation in the practices (this confused me--I can't really speak to this.)

The rep was very helpful. Very friendly.



I will miss eating bagels.

[joshsmom]

The frozen and refrigerated bagels are are at a facility with no chance of cross contamination with sesame. The fresh bagels which contain the everything bagel are made at a 3rd party factory. These are only available for food service.
Spoke to 2 different representatives!

[Macabre]

Thanks. Mmmm. I will call again--hopefully on a lunch break this week.

[becca]

Well, McC, sorry if you lose your bagels.  I think you will have to have your wonderful in house chef learn to make them!    We have made pretzels, and bagels are similar.  Not so awful.  But messy.  The boiling then baking.  it is a process. 

[Jessica]

I've made bagels and that was back when I first moved out of my parents' and was a terrible cook. They were the ugliest bagels ever but they were delicious. You have to shape them, then boil them (I put some molasses in the water to make them brown) and then bake them briefly at a high heat. It was a bit labor intensive (for me) but you could make a lot at once and freeze them.

[lakeswimr]

We only use the Lenders frozen ones because of sesame. I  haven't called in years but they told me those were save for our allergy set which includes sesame, d, e, p and t.  There is a company that sells bagels that are sesame, d, e, p and t-free that you bake yourself at home called Bake'em Bagels.  Not sure it is still in existence but we got bagels from them several times and they were delish.    You should check with them about whether or not they are still free of all those things but they were when I called them several times in the past.

I called bread companies for several years looking for a brand safe for DS.  What I learned was that most all breads in the USA are baked on the same equip as breads that contain sesame.  Companies described that sesame-free breads sit on pans "littered with sesame seeds" from other breads that baked on them previously.  I think bread is a high risk food.  I can imagine going years with no reaction and then getting a stray seed and reacting.  DS ate bread for years that had a sesame warning label suddenly pop up.  I called and heard how they bake their bread and that is what lead me on that 2 year quest.  Even now there are not that many options when it comes to bread and we usually make our own.  The Food Allergy Mama cookbook has a recipe for bagels that looks good but it also looks like a LOT of work!  Maybe one day I"ll make them.

Sorry you reacted.  Glad you are OK.  Stinks, though. 

[hezzier]

I looked up Bake'mmm Bagels and unfortunately they have an everything bagel that includes sesame.  Their flavors sounded wonderful!

[hk]

The frozen and refrigerated bagels are are at a facility with no chance of cross contamination with sesame. The fresh bagels which contain the everything bagel are made at a 3rd party factory. These are only available for food service.
Spoke to 2 different representatives!

That was my understanding too.  I hope so because I rely on these when we are traveling (not a time when I want to feed dd something questionable!).  Sick feeling in stomach....