Are "trace amounts" of dairy and/or soy ok with allergies?

[carmen358]

Both DD and I are currently dairy, soy and gluten free. We give her probiotics daily and I just found out from the company (we used to do Udo's but have switched to Nature's Way) that they may contain "trace amounts of soy and/or dairy."

Is this ok if DD does indeed have a dairy/soy allergy? We are in the process of finding out if she is actually allergic....

[scsigrl]

It really depends on the child.  Also depend on if you are talking IgE allergic (most Dr's will say strict avoidance is the best way to try and outgrow it, others are of the small doses to overcome the allergy) vs. IgG or intolerant.

[carmen358]

Hmm. Ok, apparently I have lots to learn about dairy allergies because I have no idea what lgE or lgG mean! I just recently learned the difference between an allergy and intolerance....

Off to research....

[sbgrace]

If she's what we typically think of as food allergic (the body makes an antibody to the allergen and you get classic allergic symptoms from MAST cells/histamine reactions when exposed--hives for example) this is IGE. These are the allergies skin prick and RAST blood tests look for. IGG is more controversial in mainstream medicine but would be a different type of (delayed, not histamine mediated) response. Intolerance means your body doesn't handle or digest the food well. Some people tolerate certain amounts of foods they are intolerant too or to limited exposure--it would vary.

When you say allergic if you're talking IGE type allergy I personally think the odds are in her favor that no exposure would be mean outgrowing (statistically) and so that's the track I personally would take. If she's been consuming them without any allergy symptoms perhaps she has outgrown.