Hershey’s and I need to have a talk.

Every year I count on Hershey’s chocolate chips for my holiday baking. Now I am thinking that perhaps I will need to buy them from a safe peanut-free internet site. You see, Hershey’s has decided that Mexico is a wonderful place to manufacture some of their products. I do not know the conditions of these factories and I do not know how well they adhere to the food allergy guidelines.  

If a Hershey product says “Mfd. by The Hershey Co.” on the back near the ingredients, I know that it was made in Hershey, Pa. If it says ”Distributed by The Hershey Co.” it did not come from Hershey. In fact, we don’t know where it came from. They’re tricky like that.  

And if you haven’t figured it out yet, the chocolate chips now say Distributed by. I’m very upset. I will more than likely be buying my baking chips from Vermont Nut Free Chocolates. I am not thrilled about this as I hate that I can’t just buy my chips when they are on sale for $2.00 at the store. I am now paying considerably more plus shipping. Yes, my son will be safe but why did Hershey’s have to sell out and take away jobs from us Americans. It’s disgraceful.

Necco All Natural Candy Wafers

Through TwitterMoms.com I was able to participate in receiving a free bag of Necco wafers. As one of the first 50 people you had to send an email to Necco with your address. When I did so, I asked if the wafers were peanut-allergy friendly. If they weren’t I simply said to disregard my email.

A week or so later I got an email stating that I was one of the first to respond and that the wafers were peanut-allergy safe! Yay!

When we got home from Disney our bag of Necco’s were waiting for us. Neither of my kids liked the Clove flavor but I kind of expected that, the orange and lime however were big hits! We also got a few rolls of the chocolate wafers and they were very tasty!

Pick up a bag the next time you see them, the rolls are small so they fit nicely in a diaper bag or purse. It’s great when you need that quick treat for the kids so you can get through the grocery store!

Halloween or in other words “Food Allergy Nightmare Night”

Halloween has always been a source of worry for me. To trick-or-treat or not to trick-or-treat, that has always been the question.

When Alex was first diagnosed Boscov’s department store would give children with diabetes a $10.00 gift card to their store. I approached them about Alex’s peanut allergy and they let him participate also. All you had to do was give your candy bag to the customer service desk and they give you the card. Awesome! That worked until Alex was about 4. When he turned five he wanted to TOT and not give away his candy. Hmmmm. That’s a problem.

So we tried TOT’ing and denying candy with nuts. That left very few houses to receive candy from. It also got old telling people “he’s allergic to peanuts but thanks anyway”. Several times I got the “but this one doesn’t have peanuts” and then I would have to quickly explain that he still can’t have it.

This year we are getting home from Disney the night of TOT’ing. I’m hoping that is my saving grace. I have explained to Alex that he can dress up and give out candy while enjoying candy that is safe for him. Then the following night they can dress up and go to our parents’ homes and TOT there. As of now he seems ok with this. Whether that still holds true on the 30th remains to be seen. Fingers crossed!

The Peanut-Free Birthday Treat

This was a great idea for a birthday treat. It was cute and as peanut-free as I could make it while still buying mainstream ingredients.

Nilla Wafer Hamburgers

Two Nilla Wafers
One Snack Size Peppermint Patty
Vanilla Icing tinted red and some tinted yellow
Sesame Seeds

No need for a description, I’ll just show the picture:

A Peanut-Free Birthday Treat

February 2. Groundhog’s Day. Alex’s birthday.

I am trying to come up with a cute birthday treat for Alex’s kindergarten class that is peanut-free, not boring and still utilizes the snack sheet that I gave at the beginning of the year.

I haven’t come up with anything yet. I thought about buying the Keebler fudge stripe cookies and putting a little icing face on them but that seems kind of dumb. Baked goods are out. Although cookies aren’t exactly healthy, they would be quicker to eat than say a box of Nerds. Alex first requested Lucky Charms cereal. I was trying to figure out if I could make little pots of gold to put the cereal in but I haven’t spent enough time searching the net for ideas.

I guess if all else fails, I’ll just send in a couple boxes of Lucky Charms and they can enjoy that snack for several days. We shall see. I’ll update when I come to a decision.

Allergist Appointment & the Holidays

We have our first allergist appointment tomorrow. When I say first, I literally mean first. Even though my son has been allergic to peanuts for four years, we have always relied on our pediatrician and our own investigating for his allergy. However, I felt it was finally time to see an allergist and get her opinion on where we stand. I know she’s not going to be able to tell me if he will outgrow this but I would like to know where the allergists stand on a future “cure”. I’ll post about our experience after the appointment.

On another note, we made it through the holidays reaction-free. However, we did find ourselves in a very unsettling situation on Saturday night. We were at a Christmas party and my aunt made a peanut butter cake forgetting about Alex’s allergy. That’s fine, I made a dessert too, one he could have. As I wandered into the kitchen I noticed a bowl of nuts. Oh goody. I told Alex not to go near the bowl or the counter it was on. I did let him eat the chips that were in the bowl on the other counter. About an hour later I saw my aunt get a handful of nuts and then go and put her hand in the bowl of chips. Needless to say my breath was caught in my throat at this sight. Alex did not get any more chips the rest of the night and I remembered that we are always learning with this allergy.

Labeling

Is anyone else as confused about labeling as I am? I know that the FDA put the new labeling laws into effect to help us and to some point it has. We no longer have to worry about some scientific sounding word being a synonym for peanuts. My problem is with the “may contains”.

There is a new FDA guideline being considered to change the labeling once again. I can only hope that a “may contain” law goes through. I am so torn on some products that I confuse my family, my husband and even myself. For instance, I am not 100% positive that Oreo’s and Chips Ahoy are safe. I’m pretty sure they aren’t made on a dedicated line but when you call Nabisco/Kraft they give you the run around and say that if the product contains peanuts it will be labeled as such. That doesn’t help me. I would prefer that my son not be exposed to peanuts at all. Allergy wash or not.

I remember specifically not putting those on the safe snack list for Alex’s class. But yet I put down Fig Newtons and Teddy Grahams, both made by Nabisco. What was my reasoning for that? I have no idea. I really am confused. While putting the new “may contain” law into effect will probably take away at least of half the stuff Alex eats right now, it will put my mind at ease knowing that he is eating something without a peanut exposure. I truly hope that this law gets passed so that we can look forward to a more specific label.

Halloween Handover

Alex will be trick-or-treating like every other child in our neighborhood this year however when he gets home, he will hand over his bag for a bag that has been prepared especially for him. Rather than take the chance of cross-contamination I decided to gather up some safe candy and other little treats and put them in a bag for Halloween night. If, while we are out I see something that I  know is perfectly safe, such as playdough or juice boxes etc. I will get that for him and put it in a bag that I will carry. This just makes life a little easier while still getting to enjoy the fun of Halloween. I’m very tempted to make up a sign to wear around his neck that says he’s allergic to peanuts but I’m not sure if that’s taking it too far.

Speaking of fun, my kiddos are going to look super cute this year. My daughter, who will be 17-months-old at trick-or-treat time is going as Minnie Mouse and Alex will be going as Mickey Mouse. They are going to look adorable!! I can hardly wait.

The Dreaded “H” Word

For the last two years Alex has gone out trick-or-treating like any normal child. I would come home and exchange the candy he couldn’t have with candy or chips that he could have. Lately though I have been reading about parents who do not let their child TOT at all. I can understand that. It’s horribly scary to think about your child touching all that candy with heaven knows what kind of residue on it.

To be honest, it never crossed my mind that p.b. cups that were in the same bowl as a mini Hershey bar** could cross contaminate the wrapper of said Hershey bar and thus get on my son’s hands and into his mouth. Now that I’ve read it and heard other parents agree, it makes sense.

So now I am wondering what we should do this year. I think Alex will be very upset if I say that TOT is out this year. He was just starting to really get into the whole knocking on the door thing. I’ve thought about just going up to the door with him and if the bowl has candy mixed with p.b. candies, I’ll place it in a separate bag that I carry. All known safe candy would go in his bag. This sounds very tedious though and I think many people would think I’m some crazy sugar-Nazi mom. Ugh. I don’t know what to do.

I thought about a family Halloween party but part of the fun of getting dressed up is having the neighbors see you. Last year Alex went as a scarecrow and Isabelle, who was only 5-months-old at the time, went as Dorothy. They were so cute!

So that’s what is weighing on my mind right now. It’s trivial I know but to a 5-year-old it’s a big deal.

**I know that the mini Hershey bars say “may contain almonds” but since he’s not tree-nut allergic it’s in my comfort zone.

First Playdate Away From Home

It went well. I was very nervous at first but this mom has her own epi-pen for an allergy, however she’s never had to use it. After a brief tutorial and when to use the second epi etc., it was time for Isabelle and I to head home. Thankfully we only live a four-minute drive from the little girl’s house. The only problem was that the little girl Alex went to visit had eaten peanuts in her bedroom the night before. The mom vacuumed very well and I felt ok with it. I got a call twice for food questions, one about chocolate milk which he could have and one about popsicles that he couldn’t have.

It was nice to have time to myself at home while Isabelle napped but it was still very nerve wracking. I jumped every time the phone rang.

For our first experience it went well. Obviously I much prefer Alex to have his playdates here at the house but that isn’t always going to be the case. He will want to try new things and as a mom I have to protect him but at the same time let him go. It is so hard to be a mom sometimes.