Allergy Happenings

Reacted
We got on the 757 and immediately wiped down my son's area with disinfectant wipes. When he sat on the earlier flight, we noticed a peanut next to his seat. It made my skin crawl. On both flights, complimentary peanuts were served. Not much smells worse to me than the smell of roasted peanuts on an airplane.
It is difficult, if not impossible, for a 5 year old to walk off of an airplane without touching something. Who knows how many people were eating peanuts on that plane. I am sure there was peanut dust everywhere. The moment we got off the plane, my son said his eye really hurt. It was already red and his eye lid was slightly swollen. It just kept getting worse. We gave him Benedryl immediately. (Unfortunately, the eye drops got packed in the suitcase and were not in his medicine bag. We had to use those a lot on the trip due to seasonal and animal allergies.)

Appreciated
I appreciate how caring our church was during the cook-out on Father's Day. The postcards advertising the event reminded everyone to avoid bringing peanuts and peanut products. Beyond that, there was a dessert marked with a sign that said it was bought at a bakery that processes peanuts. We wouldn't serve my son a dessert we weren't sure about. However, the hand written note on the dessert (that had been put on a plate) warmed my heart. The constant efforts to inform everyone make us feel comfortable and loved.

I appreciate how our families took allergy precautions when we visited. They read labels constantly (and then, of course, I followed up). My husband's family ordered sunbutter for sandwhiches and made several desserts with sunbutter. They surprised me with how much they took his allergy into consideration.

Seen
While on vacation, I saw a restaurant (that I had not heard of) with a huge sign in the window stating something to the effect of: We use 100% peanut oil with no perservatives. The sign made me cringe. It screamed never come here. I check out there website. Here's what they have to say:

Over the past 20 years, peanuts have become part of the Five Guys identity. We by no means want to exclude guests from our store, but at the same time we would not want to disappoint our peanut eating guests. We make sure that we have signage on our doors and in our restaurants about the fact that we serve peanuts in bulk containers as we would never want someone to risk their health by coming into our restaurants.

I have decided that I respect the store because of their large signs on the store window and their resolve to make sure customers are informed. Of course, I will never eat there.

Discovered
This past weekend we visited some friends out of state. My friend was trying out a new recipe that called for liquid smoke. At store, we found Stubbs liquid smoke. We check out the label. It did not contain nuts or have a peanut warning. At their house, she was trying to decide whether she would need to refrigerate it after opening the bottle. Her husband looked up the Stubbs website.

To our surprise, the website said:
"If you are allergic to wheat, corn, mustard, grape or peanuts, DO NOT use our products."

Yes, the "DO NOT" was in all caps. I couldn't believe it.

Something needs to be done about labeling.

Found
Last night I found these peanut-free cupcakes at Wal-mart.

I was shocked. I took the container over to the bakery to investigate. (Ironically, they were on a shelf that was under a bakery allergy warning sign.) The lady in the bakery said that these cupcakes are made in a nut-free facility (which is stated on the label). They come to Wal-mart frozen and they are not opened in the bakery. I think these might be a wonderful back-up item for me to keep frozen in my freezer!