Did i just make extra work for myself or did I do the right thing?

[fuji]

Yesterday, my DS(16) left a spoon in the sink with a hefty amount of PB on it. I didn't notice when I loaded the dishwasher and I ran the dishwasher. When I unloaded it, I noticed the spoon covered in PB. My thinking was the rinse water in the dishwasher recycles so the peanut allergen would be all over the entire load. So I emptied out the cupboards and rewashed the entire load.
I did have a conversation with DS, and explained the seriousness of it.  I have placed disinfectant wipes on the counter to be used after any PB is used and before DD(13) makes anything to eat. We talked about hygiene and proper hand washing too! This is all new to us and I know I could remove all peanut/peanut products from the house however due to her age I want her to learn about proper hygiene and kitchen cleaning before and after preparing food rather than removing the allergen. I want it to be a habit for her to always clean counters and wash her hands before and after preparing food.

BTW- We tried the Wowbutter and my DD says "it tastes like throw up"!
I made "peanut butter" cookies replacing the PB with Wowbutter and she said "they're  ok, only a faint after taste of throw up"! She also says the Wowbutter makes her nauseous. We tried Cashew Butter but it made her sick to her stomach and the allergist said for her not to eat any tree nuts.

[hezzier]

Can she have sunflower seeds?  Have you tried sunbutter?  We love it.

[Scout]

yes, sun butter..


No judgment, none at all....

my son is not allergic, only my dd....

no pnut products in the house.....since he was 5, he is 15 now and she is 11....i am too much of a worrier to have it in our home.

works for us, he eats it at friends, out etc. if he wants it .   

my friend does it like you (seem to be) and her child is  in a contact rash, a lot.....Im sure that is not your case.....just telling a story.

[Macabre]

My son is 16. We have found having a peanut free home (also a shellfish and sesame fee home for ME) works best for our family.

For my family, it's important that DS have a safe place where he doesn't haVe to worry about his environment. The rest if the world he has to deal with. Here he can relax  more (though he still should check every label).

He knows how to prepare food in places that aren't home. We've done it in hotels. He does it in his hotel room when he travels with a school speech team. But he doesn't hVe to so it every day.

The risks are too great.

Some families do keep the allergens in the house, but the learning curve is so steep in your house. I just wouldn't count on everyone being able to do what they need to do 100% of the time. Your teens already have habits of preparing food without thinking about cross contamination. It going to be tough already--even without PB or peanuts in the house (it takes constant vigilance for my family). It would be advisable to not make it more difficult.

Peanut protein is persistent and doesn't break down on it's own. Check this out:
http://www.aacijournal.com/content/pdf/1710-1492-9-7.pdf


Sorry--this response is probably not what you were looking for, but having dealt with this for so long and having a very independent teen, I thought it was worth sharing.

[Macabre]

Also, Sunbutter is amazing. I wouldn't go back to peanutbutter if I could. I also can't stand Wowbutter, peanutter, or soy butter.

Nutella (brand) is peanut free if she is not allergic to hazelnuts. Most nuts you have to worry about cross contamination with, but Nutella uses PF hazelnuts in a PF facility. Also--Blue Diamond almonds are PF (not red diamond) but to have some contact with two other tee nuts.

[Macabre]

Oh sorry--went back and read your post. Ignore the last bit if you're avoiding treenuts. However, it is extremely difficult to find peanut free cashew butter, so if you bought it from a regular grocery store (like the Maranatha brand) it will have been contaminated with peanut in all likelihood.

[CMdeux]

Yeah-- you did the right thing in re-washing the load.


Our rule now that we have a teen who has a less scary low threshold to eggs?  Anything that has been in contact with eggs gets HAND-washing before it goes into the dishwasher.  No exceptions.

Or-- you can go to use of disposables with the allergen.  We used to do that, and still do for potent may-contains with nuts (take-out food that is Indian or Chinese, for example).

[daisy madness]

If you get to the point where you're able to do tree nuts, Barney Butter (almonds) is great and is made in a peanut free facility.

We don't have peanut products in our home.  I used to have a jar that I kept up high but I stopped when DD (not allergic) got a hold of it to make herself a sandwich and made a cross contaminated mess all over the kitchen.

[eragon]

my kids, esp my now adult sons are to be frank, filthy beasts.  so its much too high a risk to have peanut butter or nuts in the house.

caught my 21yr old drinking from the milk carton this week, and my daughter has seen him do the same with juice.
I haven't brought him up to be a slob, he does this sort of thing when I am not in the house or he thinks he can get away with it.

post it notes in the fridge warning 'filthy  beast' that others live in the house and share the food have begun.

[SilverLining]

One to many times, one or the other of my kids forgot to be as careful as I need them to be.

We did the double-wash of anything used with pb here too.  One day I took a knife out of the drawer and just happened to see a smear of pb on it.  My son had used it, wiped it clean, and put it away.  He was supposed to wipe it clean and leave it to be properly washed.  So now, only may contains allowed in our house,

I think re washing you dish load was the right decision.

Also, you could try http://www.peabutter.ca

It's the only substitute I like, and even my pb-loving son likes it.  And they all like the cookies.

[Janelle205]

I think that I would have rewashed everything as well.

We eventually had to remove my most potent allergen (apple) from our house.  We tried having it around for DSD, but it just didn't work out - she wasn't responsible enough and I ended up having a pretty serious contact reaction because of it.  She is 10 - I originally thought that we might try bringing it back in once she got older, but my sensitivity has gone up since then, so it is probably out of the question.


If you're going to keep using PB in the house, maybe you could get a couple different knives or spoons that are used just for that, so everyone knows to be extra careful when washing?  Ones with different colored handles or something similar?

[fuji]

Thank you for all of your replies! I am learning so much from all of you!
We have started - "anything contaminated with PB must be hand washed first then put in dishwasher" "Son, this means with dishsoap!"  For now we still have PB in the house and as long as DS16 can follow the rules (he's capable) we will continue. I did let him know that we would have to remove all peanut stuff if he didn't. He is asking questions and is learning as well, I don't think he understood how dangerous it "could" be.
DD13 has tried all that's been suggested, Wowbutter - hates it, Cashew butter - upset stomach, Sunbutter - she had that several years ago in elementary school and said it was "gross", Peabutter - doesn't seem to be available in the US, only Canada? other than on Amazon where it's over $7 a jar!  this weekend we bought her some Biscoff, she likes it but there doesn't seem to be much nutritional value to it. 
@ eragon - Filthy beast! hahaha! I haven't used that term for him, but he is by far the sloppiest kid I have! My other two are not and have never been as sloppy! He knows how to be clean and can clean, but yes, he is a "filthy beast"! As he's gotten older, he has become much cleaner, but yes, I've caught him drinking out of the jug too! That's a good talking point!

[Macabre]

Do you have separated dish brush or sponge for PB?  I would probably say to use a paper towel to clean it off a spoon or knife and have a portico for throwing that away.  Or really--a dedicated box of plastic knives and spoons.

[Macabre]

Also--I might give Sunbutter another try. Her taste buds may have matured. Also, there are a number if varieties. If she happened to have the natural kind, I would totally understand the reaction. Blah.

[SilverLining]

Do you have separated dish brush or sponge for PB?  I would probably say to use a paper towel to clean it off a spoon or knife and have a portico for throwing that away.  Or really--a dedicated box of plastic knives and spoons.

We did the first wash with paper towel.

~~~

If she doesn't like substitutes, I wouldn't worry.  I'm sure there are other things she can eat on sandwiches.