Read manufacturing lablels for food intolerance?

[bluejaunte]

I know that with food allergies and celiac you have to be careful with manufacturing labels (i.e. "This product has been processed on equipment that processes peanuts/wheat/milk/&c.") Is it the same case for intolerances? Basically I guess I'm asking -- are intolerances generally that sensitive? How do y'all handle labels?

[lil_miss_understood]

Each situation, each child and each food can be different.
For example: DS1, who is sensitive/intolerant to wheat/gluten, eggs and soy, has different tolerance "levels" for each. He generally reacts to anything manufactured on the same line for wheat/gluten but not *usually* the same facility (there are some exceptions to that rule). He can handle the same line for eggs (for the most part), but if I use a spatula that's touched eggs for him, it needs to be double hand-washed before use (pretty understandable, i suppose since eggs are "sticky"). He can tolerate moderate amounts of soy- an occasional soy yogourt, for example, or a little bit of Tofutti's Better Than Sour Cream- but generally not more than once per week without reacting. However, even knowing that he can tolerate it without *visible* reactions, I choose to avoid it for the most part (very rare exceptions) because I can't be certain what's occurring internally.
He also has a dairy allergy (to both casein and whey) and cannot tolerate anything manufactured on the same line. He reacts to food cooked in the oven at the same time as food containing dairy. A mild reaction, yes, but a mild reaction is enough of one for me to nix it.

Basically, it's all individual and I think a lot depends on where your comfort zone is. Are you willing to "risk" that no visible reaction means there is NO reaction at all? Or are you going to be fretting that there is more going on behind the scenes?

eta: However, I know there are some people in the Allergies forum who are "only" intolerant to things and react even to things in the same facility.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I have learned, through trial and error, and before we even realized he had a dairy allergy, that my son will react (with hives, water nose, sneezing, whistling in the throat) to ANYTHING that has milk in the INGREDIENTS. However, he will not react if the label says "may contain trace amounts due to manufacturing process". So to me that means as long as its not in the ingredients, we are ok.

We had his blood work done last week, and apparently he is reactive to eggs, which we were surprised, but not shocked. I was being really careful about milk, a known trigger for a serious reaction, however he still had mild exczema, therefore I knew there was something else he was sensative too. We have cut eggs out too, and already his skin is looking better. But its the same thing. I do not avoid any labels that may contain eggs due to manufacturing, only ones in the ingredients. But like PP said, every child is different.

One of my sons DCPs, her son is allergic to peanuts, and cannot even be AROUND someone eating peanut butter, or his throat will swell.

[kjbrown92]

What food are you looking for? Some things are called out specifically, like the top 8 allergens for instance. But for something like corn (which we avoid), it's under many names. My kids react to citric acid but not ascorbic acid, even though they're both derived from corn. They also react to dextrose, maltodextrin, etc. My kids have reacted from a cross-contaminated grill, from a deli slicer that had been used for other foods, etc. so it depends on the food how strict we are.

[KimPM]

I have lots of intolerances, and I avoid anything "processed on the same equipment". I think I'm generally okay with "same factory" but different equipment. However, my intolerances are not in the top 8 (and therefore not declared on the label what equipment it's shared with), so mostly for me, it's trial and error. For example, I was reacting to a certain brand of cashew flour (I'm fine with cashews). But they also make almond flour and I am highly reactive to almond. I believe they must have shared equipment between cashew and almond, but of course that's not declared. But I'm okay with Maranatha cashew butter (and they make almond butter too). They must either use different equipment, or wash everything really well.

I only have one IgE allergy that I know of (horseradish), and I've been "gotten" once by eating a deli sandwich that I think someone used the same knife to cut my sandwich and something prior with horseradish. Other than that, horseradish is pretty easy to avoid. I guess horseradish is sometimes in manufactured sauces, but I can't do just about all manufactured sauces for one intolerance reason or another. So if other sauces share equipment with horseradish sauces, I wouldn't be eating it anyway.

For DS who is sensitive to cow's milk, but not IgE (milk is easily top 8 and declared on packages), I completely avoid "same equipment" but he generally seems to be okay with "same factory".

With both of us, I completely avoid "trace amounts" of any intolerant item or allergen.

[deditus]

Dd is gluten, soy, dairy, and egg intolerant. She reacts to trace soy and dairy (shared lines) but not gluten or eggs.

[elmh23]

Dd is soy intolerant but does fine with things that are made on the same lines and even with a small of soy no more than once a week (can do soy sauce with no problem, but can't handle tofu.) Any more than that, things get ugly.