Nut Free Snack Option

I came across these while shopping at Whole Foods, and thought I would pass the information along to families looking for a "safe" snack. They were located in the chip aisle.

If you try them, give us a review please.

-Katy

Are Kennel Crates Abusive

I was recently alerted to this controversy so wanted to provide a link to start forming your own opinions with.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201203/the-politics-pet-dogs-and-kennel-crates

We all know how confusing and frustrating reading labels can be. This link was sent to me and hopefully it will help you in your allergen search.

http://snacksafely.com/2011/09/5-things-you-should-know-about-food-labels/

5 Things You Should Know About Food Labels

by Dave Posted on 2011/09/26

Do you have food allergies or are you responsible for someone who does? You may think you’re a pro at reading food labels, but here are five things you should know about US food labeling requirements:

1. Current labeling requirements regarding food allergies are dictated by an act of Congress known as FALCPA which became effective January 1, 2006.
2. FALCPA mandates that manufacturers highlight the presence of eight major food allergens as ingredients in their products:
   • Milk
   • Eggs
   • Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
   • Crustacean Shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp)
   • Tree Nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
   • Peanuts
   • Wheat
   • Soybeans
3. Other than these major allergens, manufacturers have no responsibility to highlight the presence of other potential allergens. If you are concerned about allergies to other food items (e.g. sesame seeds or strawberries) you must scrutinize the individual ingredients on the label.
4. The presence of a major food allergen as an ingredient must be disclosed in one of two ways:
   1. The name of the food source of a major food allergen must appear in parentheses following the name of the ingredient.
      Examples: “lecithin (soy),” “flour (wheat),” and “whey (milk)”
   2. Immediately after or next to the list of ingredients in a “contains” statement.
      Example: “Contains Wheat, Milk, and Soy.“
5. Contrary to popular belief, manufacturers are not required to disclose potential allergens that may be introduced as part of the manufacturing process. All disclosures such as “Made in a factory that also processes peanuts” are entirely voluntary. There are no standards for the wording of these disclosures or guidelines for when they should be used, so consider them with caution.

Here are the 3 replies to this article incase the link doesn't work for some reason.

1) Last week, I read a frozen yogurt label at Publix. Included with the ingredients list was “peanut oil”, yet “peanuts” was NOT listed with the other allergens of wheat, milk, and soy. I brought this to the attention of the store manager. He was genuinely concerned, and said he would call corporate. Moral of the story…don’t just rely on the allergens list. Be sure to read the ingredients, too!

2)Lisa, peanut oil and other oils derived from nuts are considered “highly refined oils” which are exempt from FALCPA disclosure requirements because they have minimal protein content and are considered safe to consume by those with food allergies. As a personal choice, we avoid foods containing peanut oil for our daughter just in case there is a problem with the manufacturing process and proteins make their way into the oil.

3)Also, companies are not responsible for listing 3rd party vendor ingredients. Anything like “spices” is anyone’s guess? Also even though a company has a peanut-free facility, their 3rd party vendor ingredients and equipment may be contaminated.

ALSO, places like Teavana Teas who deal mostly in bulk, operate under individual state health department jurisdiction and are not required to label for cross-contamination, processed on, may contain, etc… even though every one of their teas are processed with peanuts and treenuts–made on the same equipment and scooped with shared scoops. You will not find one warning on any box, bag, wall, window, etc… Thanks to the fda. They said places such as Teavana operate as a franchise–like Wendy’s or McDonald’s and they do not have to label their products. INSANE and UNACCEPTABLE.

Thank you Dave, for providing this information to the masses.

-Katy

Potential Cure for Peanut Allergies

This is an old video but still interesting and hopefully the testing will show it is affective longterm in humans.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1346715380001/potential-cure-for-peanut-allergies


-Katy

A link to Max Rosland's mother's story... and more!

Hi all!

I want to share this story with you.  I had read on some news sites about a little boy named Max who had a "delayed reaction" after having consumed a peanut, to which he is allergic.  Although the reports I read gave some of the basic information, nothing really reported the gut-wrenching experience and the heartbreak with the detail, the emotion, the play by play that Max's mom has done:  http://www.protectallergickids.org/Max-s-Story.html  Please take the time to read this - and then post it to your Facebook page, pass it through email, etc.    As people get upset about the elimination of snacks within the classrooms, perhaps the mental image of this little boy on life support will cause people to pause and think...  We can party - PAR-TEEEE! - without food! 

Oh the stories I could tell about my 13 weeks of parenthood. We are excited that our little guy is sleeping for 7 hours at night, and supporting his head on his own. My husband and I now play rock, paper, scissors to see who has to change the dirty diapers (which I still haven’t won), and we love to show off that he babbles incoherently and smiles. Funny how small things can be so big when talking about infants.

One big worry I have is if he will have food allergies or not. The information I’ve read has been a bit vague and contradictory; eat all foods, stay away from the common allergy foods, if you suspect an allergy, contact your pediatrician. So I asked some friends to share their experiences from when they first learned their child has food allergies.

Ours was by complete surprise. Ana was 19 months old and I was getting a late night snack of a pb&j sandwich which I craved and ate daily while pregnant with her. She took one small bite for the first time and had a anaphylactic reaction within 5 seconds. Really scary. After that we had her tested for the rest.

Well we have 2 one was the egg allergy which he has now outgrown that was hives and breathing trouble from a finger lick of icing when he was 8 months old.
The nut was complete shock. He had fallen at the park and I took him to my mom’s to check him because she was a nurse she gave him a macadamia nut cookie to quiet him down. He instantly started throwing up, mom said to take him to dr because he had a concussion. The dr was less than 5 minutes from her house and by time we got there he was unconscious with whelps head to toe and barely breathing. I will never forget pulling his limp body out of his car seat and running into the office.

When Cooper was 10 months old, we gave him his first scrambled egg. He immediately broke out into hives so we suspected food allergies may be an issue. The pediatrician advised us to not give him any peanuts until he was 3 years old. Unfortunately, we didn’t know much about cross contamination at that time and reading labels was much harder than it is now. When Cooper was 2 1/2 yrs old, we were at a party where they were "crunching round PB&J sandwiches" for the kids. We asked for just jelly for him and it never occurred to me that the cutter was contaminated until he took 1 bite and broke out into hives immediately all over his body. He then started to say "I can't get the jelly off my tongue" and I knew something bad was happening. I called the pediatrician to let them know I was on my way because I didn’t think an ambulance would get to us in time. The poor baby vomited the whole way there and by the time we got to the doctor’s office he was in full blown anaphylactic shock. Thankfully, the doctor and nurses were waiting in the parking lot with an Epi-Pen and got to him in time. That is the last time he went anywhere without his epi-pens and now thanks to the addition of a detection dog to our family we hope to never use one again.

Scary to read and think about possibly going through, but at least they give other new parents some real life examples should something like this ever happen to their child.  

-Katy

Epi-Pens are Headed to Schools in Chicago

The Chicago public school system is forming a plan to stock schools with Epi-Pens and allow students to carry their own. For more details, click the link below.

http://m.nbcchicago.com/nbcchicago/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=FmY6XhJc&full=true#display


-Katy

Allergen Alert Labeling

My husband hates grocery shopping with me for 3 reasons: 1- I take too long, 2- I will go back across the store to save a penny on a can of corn, and 3- I read labels for possible allergens. It's become habit after enough dogs indicating on something we didn't expect, only to read the ingredients list and find an allergen listed. I am still amazed at how many products say "may contain ______" which makes me wonder how many companies are putting the warning on their products just to make sure they are covered legally.

Do you know of products that have never caused you problems with a label like this? Do you stop using a previously safe product because this label shows up on the packaging one day? As families who have to watch what they bring into their homes, would you rather see only products with a real allergen risk labeled or are you in favor of labeling all products with even a minute chance of containing or having come into contact with an allergen?

-Katy

Epi-Pen Petition for your consideration.

Hi All!

There's a petition which you may or may not feel compelled to sign but I think it's important we all take a look and voice our individual opinions.  Petition regarding schools stocking epi-pens  According to the website, it has the support of FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) as well as the Academy of Pediatrics... 

Leslie

Possibly Safe Candy

The Tootsie family of candies has allergen information for each product on their website, and all that I've read say they're peanut free.
http://www.tootsie.com/index.php

Of course, I wouldn't just take their word for it but at least it's a start for people looking for peanut free, easily accessible candies. I would like to hear experiences with these candies; have they been safe for you or not?

A tip for people with detection dogs: If you buy a bag of these candies and the dog indicates on the outer package, try searching an individual candy.

Hope you have a chocolate filled day.
-Katy

Epi-pens... who should have them? Where should they be?

A few days ago, a darling little girl named Ammaria died at school after being exposed to a peanut allergy.  This article gives you a bit of information (CLICK HERE) and you can see links to other articles on the tragic event on my Facebook page (I Smell Trouble - Allergen Alert Dogs).  Meanwhile, as a result of the event, there have been lots of comments in regard to protecting "our" children as well as a few articles (Click here to read one from USAToday). 

Most of the comments and articles focus on having an epi-pen within reach.  There are people fighting for children of all ages (we're talking preschool to high school) to be allowed to carry and use their own epi-pens and that has caused controversy, especially when dealing with the youngest kids. 

Now I will tell you that after my daughter had an anaphylaxis reaction to clover and, later, to cats' dander, she carried an epi-pen in her school backpack )she was in middle school) regardless of school policy!  The school nurse had one as well, although teachers weren't "allowed" to have them in the class!  So, she always had one in her backpack...   (She, her brother and sister ALWAYS had a cell phone in their pocket or backpack as well... and that was DEFINITELY against the rules!  They could use them for an emergency (911 or me!) and never fear being in trouble!)  However, I have my own opinions on young children carrying and being responsible for carrying and using epi-pens.  I'd like to know where you all stand on this...

Meanwhile, on the article to which I first referred has a poll in which I encourage everyone to participate.  The question asked is should schools stock epi-pens just in case?  Currently, 90.5% of those participating says "YES."  With this I agree... but I also know that they need to be stocked in the classrooms, NOT in the nurse's office across campus, and that swift action is necessary. 

Please share your comments - and let us all know how you have dealt with an epi-pen being at your child's disposal should the need (God forbid) arise.  Be sure to include your child's age, if he/she goes to school, and school policy!

- Leslie

INTRODUCING KATY!

Katy and Oscar, chillin'

Because I tend to be so overwhlemed training dogs, socializing dogs and keeping up with other complicated areas of my life, the blog has been neglected.  So, Katy Aderhold Roberts has come to the rescue, offering to blog for me (which reminds me... if anyone has stories or articles they'd like to have posted here, just contact me!!).  Woo hoo, Katy!  Thank you!  Katy is a great young lady who I am thrilled to call my friend.  Thrilled.  I met her at my last place of employment and was happy, happy, happy to teach her about training detection dogs and then equally happy to get to train with her!  We had great times and produced some fantastic dogs - many of which I would like to take full credit for training, but Katy will always remind me her involvement!!!  She is an EXCELLENT trainer...  but is currently focusing on the training of her new baby and not on allergy alert dogs (sheesh...!)  :-p  Anyway, I asked Katy to introduce herself to you... and here's what she had to say!  (Hopefully, you'll see a photo or two of Katy... as she'll be posting her next blogs without the middle man (me!)!   So, without...  HEEEEEEERRRRRE'S KATY!

Hmm, what do I want to write about myself?

I guess I can get the facts out of the way first:

Katy Roberts:

24 years old, married with 1 son. Background is mostly with horses but have had dogs all of my life. Currently have 3 toy Australian Shepherds.

Now the fun stuff:

I was going to school to be a veterinarian and had too much time on my hands so I decided to apply at a dog kennel to see how working with animals everyday fit with me. I started out scooping poop and cleaning runs as well as watching Leslie work with the training dogs. Then I got the idea that I could train my toy Aussie to find peanuts for fun. I watched Leslie and went home and subjected Bear to my less than stellar training tactics. One day, I showed off what Bear could do (it wasn’t impressive) but it did get my foot in the training door.

Leslie decided to give me a chance with a black lab and the rest is history. I’ve trained or helped train in narcotics, arson, termite, bedbug, and allergen detection, but the allergy dogs are the best by far. I love working with these dogs and seeing the end result when a parent cries with relief at the realization that they have an extra shield of protection for their child.

Every dog I’ve trained is special in their own way, but my first dog, Sachi, will always have a special place in my heart and has been the most determined dog I’ve trained so far. Her every waking moment is consumed with finding a peanut and getting her toy.

The clowns have been Riley, Bobber (appropriately named for how he indicates when he finds a peanut) and Oscar. Trying to teach Riley the “down” command was a bit of a challenge since he decided downing on his back was way more fun than his stomach. Imagine the look I got from Leslie the first time I showed off that trick.

Oscar personified “cute”, he had a cute look, a cute walk, and a cute searching technique. He made me laugh about something every day. My favorite story about him is when we started teaching him to be comfortable in tight places in preparation for his first plane ride. We utilized a desk as the “tight place," or "airplane," and had him lay down under it for a period of time. One day, we had about 5 dogs in the training building and decided to let them all have romper room time after a good training session. When we started to gather the dogs back up, we noticed Oscar was nowhere to be seen. He was found, after a short search, hanging out in his “airplane”.

Meeting a few of the families and seeing the struggles they go through on a daily basis, has made me want to gather as much information as I can about food allergies and pass some of it along. My hope is to help make this a place where people can come to learn about food allergies, and the dogs that are working to protect against them.