Allergy friendly products

Continuing the “safe things I can buy to feed my child with allergies” series on the blog…

Regarding this fully cooked pork belly from Trader Joe’s:

Hello Elise,

Thank you for contacting us with your product inquiry.  In response, our Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Pork Belly processed in a facility with tree nuts, peanuts and sesame.  However, the product is not processed on the same equipment lines with any of these allergens.

We do hope this information helps, and we thank you for shopping with us at Trader Joe’s.

Sincerely,

Hazel
Trader Joe’s
Customer Relations

To me that reads as safe, yes?  I am guessing the facility is massive with certain lines used exclusively for specific products over and over so I see the chances for cross contamination to be nonexistent here.  P hasn’t tried it yet (I hadn’t yet heard back from TJs when we ate previously), but I will give it to him next time we buy it.

Also, these lentil chips are a recent success.  I asked for ideas from other mamas in my last allergy friendly product post and lentil chips were a brilliant suggestion which I immediately looked into.  P loves the idea of chips (he has seen Kyle eat tortilla chips and has been fascinated by them ever since).  Plus he likes crunching things in general (celery, snap peas, etc) so I knew he would like them.  And he totally did!  They are a great on-the-go (or eating out) option because they are super portable and not messy and as far as “mainstream” foods are concerned, they are pretty normal (not that P or I are concerned about what people think of our food choices).  And while they are still chips (read: not exactly a nutrient powerhouse) they have a decent amount of protein thanks to the lentil/bean flours and the sugar content is 0 g.  Win.

It’s important to note, they do process their chips on equipment shared with soy and dairy, so there’s a risk of cross contamination with those allergens.  [I’m less concerned about those since good manufacturing processes should do the job to keep P safe – unlike peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame, to which he is much more sensitive.]

Applegate for the win.  Yet again.

As much as I hate to admit it, I totally had a parent fail moment with another salami brand recently.  Despite doing massive research, I bought the wrong kind and didn’t read the label (palm to face!) and wouldn’t you know it, he immediately got hives on his hands and mouth and vomited a while later.  The second ingredient in Columbus salami is nonfat dry milk.  Why, I do not know, but there you have it.  Not all deli meat is safe so don’t forget to look at the actual package when you buy it, even if you’ve already contacted the company!  For the record, here’s the response from Columbus:

Dear Elise:

Thank you for contacting Columbus.

Milk is found in our Columbus cyro-vacced 8oz Italian Dry Salame, our Secchi Salame and some sliced salame items.  The milk sweetens the product and in some cases acts as a starter culture.

The source can vary for our lactic acid started culture.  It can be from corn syrup, sugar and milk.  We have many forms of our Italian Dry Salame and I found two that DO NOT contain milk.  Our cryovaced Italian Dry which you will find behind the deli case and this is the one with no mold.  We also have the option of our 10oz Italian Dry stick.

We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,
Pat Harrison
Consumer Affairs Manager
Columbus

I couldn’t find any of the safe ones mentioned in stores, so I guess it will be applegate from here on out.  It’s an amazing product (and company) so that’s fine by me, but it definitely isn’t cheap.

Namaste Foods makes allergy friendly baking mixes in a dedicated gluten, wheat, soy, corn, potato, peanut, tree nut, dairy and casein free facility.

I followed the directions using coconut milk and eggs (they have egg free instructions on the bag too) and they turned out great!  P and I are both big big fans.  And if you make a bunch in advance (like I did) they freeze and thaw well too.

This is pretty much the only unsweetened shredded coconut I could find that doesn’t co-pack with peanuts or tree nuts.  The Let’s Do…Organic site has tons of helpful info for allergy information.  See here.  They are owned by a parent company (Edward & Sons) that also appears to own other brands that we like including Native Forest (their canned coconut milk is a good one).

We haven’t tried these yet but they are safe.  As per the company:

Dear Elise,

Thank you for contacting ATK Foods. In response to your comment, we do not currently manufacture any products at our facility that contain tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, fish, crustacean shellfish, or eggs in our plant and do not have any of these ingredients stored in our warehouses. We do manufacture products that contain wheat, soy or milk from cheese and these allergens are always listed on the label if present in the final product. All of our labels and formulations are sent to USDA/Food Safety & Inspection Services in Washington, D.C. for review and approval.  We are also an SQF (Safe Quality Food Institute) Level II certified and USDA inspected plant. We implement very strict cross contamination prevention programs at our plant which are reviewed daily by our USDA inspector and reviewed during quarterly and yearly audits by third party labs or food safety agents. We never produce products with allergens on the same day as products without. We completely sanitize all equipment and perform swab tests on all equipment prior to running a new product on the line. We also perform lab analysis on samples pulled from every production run. I hope you find this information helpful and please feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Lorena Macarthy

Customer Service

ATK Foods, Inc.

1143 W Lake Street

Chicago, IL 60607

www.ATKFoods.com

Technically, the risk of contamination from dairy, wheat, and soy does exist but I’d say it’s pretty much negligible.  Also, his response to dairy as we now know, is not anaphylaxis so at least the life threatening ones aren’t present (peanuts, tree nuts, sesame).

These sausages are sold at our local Costco which is why I contacted them in advance of buying them.  They are great quality and inexpensive, so I think we will opt for them next time we hit up the mega grocer.

Another Costco buy that’s allergy friendly is Del Real Foods’ tamales.  Kyle and I have been enjoying the pork ones for a while and I only just got around to inquiring about the facilities to see if P could join in on the tamale action.

Hi Elise,

Thank you for your inquiry. We are happy you enjoy our Pork Tamales. Our products do not contain peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, or soy. If you have any further questions, please reply to this email or give us a call at 951-749-0185.

Thank you,

Liliana Lopez
Del Real Foods
Sales & Marketing Coordinator
951-681-0395 Ext. 5112

They do have dairy in some of their products, but as I mentioned above, I’m not as worried about the risk of contamination.  A normal cleaning process should be sufficient.

I’ll let you know if he tries them or any other Del Real products.

I bought these from TJs recently and to be completely honest, I was nervous to give them to P since they do say “may contain traces of wheat, milk, soy, and fish and shrimp”.  But I want to start trying more things for him.  And for me.  On the go snack options are what I struggle with most.  He eats SO MANY APPLE SLICES and carrots.  In the end, these were a big hit (crunchy = fun!) and he tolerated them fine.

There is a constant battle between my inner voice of reason and voice of anxiety about if I should or shouldn’t trust manufacturers and their cleaning practices.  I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I also want my son to be safe at all times.  In the end, I will only take very calculated risks (namely ones that don’t involve peanuts, sesame or tree nuts since those are the big scary ones).  Since I know what his reaction to dairy is (rash, hives, vomiting – not anaphylaxis), it is a safer risk, but a risk nonetheless.

These KinniKritters (animal cookies) by kinnikinnick foods are by no means something I’d give to him on a regular basis, but they happen to be on mega sale a while ago so I bought a bunch of boxes.

Naturally, he LOVED them.  And they loved him right back.

I liked them too, FYI.  And yes, soy lecithin is in fact safe for people who soy allergies.  The FDA consider soybean oil to be safe as well, but I have yet to try it.  Anyone with a personal anecdote to share on that?

I’m a long time lover of Daiya but had never considered giving them to P because I just assumed they’d have something in them he couldn’t tolerate since they are a dairy replacement (which usually means soy or nuts are in the ingredients list).  But I randomly looked at the package and lo and behind, they are allergy friendly!  So the cheddar style slices went into my cart to try.

Unfortunately P didn’t actually like them, but I guess it’s more important to share to you all that he tolerated them just fine. Perhaps I can use it in cooking and he will like it (as opposed to plain like he had it).  If not, I will happily enjoy the rest of the package.  Did Daiya stop selling the wedges/blocks?  I liked those better than the shreds and slices, but couldn’t find them anywhere.