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Safety

  

Whether you experience minor or severe allergic reactions, it is imperative to be precautious when it comes to your allergy. Ways to ensure that you are 100% safe are to: *Always ask for the ingredient labels.

*Avoid:

- Bakeries

- Others' home baked goods

- Oriental restaurants

- Sonic

- Starbucks

- Ice cream parlors

- Chick-Fil-A

- Frozen yogurt businesses

- Salad buffets

- BBQ restaurants

- Candy shops

*Do not take someone's word that something is safe, always check for yourself.

*Ask for allergen menus.

*Do not eat anything that is cross contaminated or made in a facility with anything you are allergic to.

*If you or someone else cannot 100% guarantee that the food you want to eat, DO NOT eat it.

 

It is crucial to be knowledgible of the fact that cross contamination greatly affects the components of a product. As most of us know, nuts have oils. When food is produced in facilities, it comes in contact with hundreds of products that the facility containseven if it is thousands of feet awaydue to the oils lingering the air. Be sure to check ingredient labels for listings of possible contact with peanuts or tree nuts. Although ideal, it is not a requirement in all countries for companies to include potential contact on their labels, but it is still crucial to checkin case they did.

Think of a Kit-Kat, for example. It is common to confuse the caramel with peanut butter, and think that the "peanut butter" is what makes the product unsafe. However, that is incorrect. In actuality, the Kit-Kat has a high risk-factor of coming in contact with a peanut due to oils or the equipment used during the production of the food; therefore, it is not free of traces of nuts. Due to this, Ki-Kat's maufacturer includes the allergen warning manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts.

Bread is an excellent example of cross contamination. Bread is made in bakeries, and many bakeries bake with nuts or share utensils or equipment.  As a result, many breads and bakery goods are deemed unsafe for allergic people.

Remember that a  product does not necessarily need to contain an allergen to be unsafe. In other words, when it comes to nut allergies, secondary contact DOES count as contact!

 

It is incredibly crucial to practice precaution when handling food allergies. Moreover, it is important to realize that each time you experience an allergic reaction, the next time has the potenetial to be more severe. Do not take your allergies lightly: be proactive.

 

Some phrases to be familiar with:

Manufactured around, Made in a facility, Cross contaminated, May contain, Contains, Shared equipment

 

 

 

  

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