From: Satchell, Felicia B
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 10:46 AM
To: Kane, Rhonda R.; Nalubola, Ritu; Thompson, Susan
Subject: FW: FAAN Product-Related Member Calls, February 3-7, 2003

I have tried once again to redirect these messages to you.  Let me know if I messed up anything else.

Thanks

Felicia

-----Original Message-----
From: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network [mailto:faan@foodallergy.org] 
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 5:22 PM
To: Satchell, Felicia B
Subject: FAAN Product-Related Member Calls, February 3-7, 2003


As always, everyone who calls FAAN about a product is instructed to call 
the manufacturer if they haven't already done so.

Nabisco Ritz Crackers - this e-mail from (privacy) is another 
incident of a commonly-reported problem:
I am the parent of a child with a peanut allergy.  I am diligent about 
reading ingredients on boxes in order to ensure that my child does not 
ingest something that has been contaminated with peanuts.  This afternoon I 
opened a new sleeve of Ritz crackers  (brand seal 04402808) and was about 
to give my son a cracker when I noticed something strange on the side of 
the cracker.  My worst fears were realized when I tasted the site of the 
strange substance.  It was indeed peanut butter.  I am obviously extremely 
upset about this discovery.  I almost endangered my child's life by 
innocently giving him a product that has NO DISCLAIMER regarding potential 
cross contamination with peanuts.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites - (privacy) called to 
report that her 13-year-old daughter, who is allergic to tree nuts but not 
peanuts, had a reaction.  The product, made by Taste of Nature, Inc. 
indicates that it contains "traces of peanuts". (privacy)  saw this, and since 
tree nuts are not peanuts, she interpreted the fact that they warned about 
one allergen as a good indication that the manufacturer was careful and 
that the product would be safe.  Her daughter took a few bites and said she 
felt funny in the throat.  The reaction was mild compared to others she has 
had, but it frightened them and caused them to rush to the doctor's 
office.   After taking Benadryl and Zyrtec she was fine.  When (privacy)  called 
the company at 1-800-89 TASTE to report the reaction, she was told that the 
product is made on the same line as a product containing walnuts and 
"that's why we put 'traces of peanuts' on the label."  She still has the 
remaining product and would like to have it tested for contamination with 
walnut or another tree nut.

Ready Sponge - Member (privacy) reported that her son, 
who is allergic to milk and egg, reacted to a bagel she bought for him at a 
chain called Bagelz.  This was a bakery-kind of situation, not a packaged 
food.  She asked if the bagel was dairy free and they told her it 
was.  But, when she asked to read the list of ingredients after the 
reaction, it contained "ready sponge" and upon further investigation she 
found out the first ingredient of ready sponge is whey.  I have heard of 
this before in other bakery settings, but have not heard of "ready sponge" 
being listed on a food label in a retail setting.

Oreo Coffee 'n Crme - member (privacy) sent this e-mail:
     This past Sunday, I allowed our seven year-old (peanut allergic) 
daughter to have a cookie after church. This is something I never allow her 
to do; she is fine about waiting for a treat when we get home. This time, I 
broke our own rules. I let her have an Oreo because it was on a plate with 
other Oreo cookies and Oreos have always been on our OK list. I have spoken 
with Nabisco (in the past) and been assured that Oreos were peanut-free. 
Nabisco has always done allergy labeling.
     We spent the afternoon and evening in the emergency room after our 
daughter experienced anaphylaxsis. We used our Epi-Pen for the first time. 
Her only previous exposure was her first exposure as a toddler. I thought 
that the Oreo must have touched another cookie, hence the reaction.
     I walked down the cookie aisle in the grocery yesterday and was 
astounded to see that it was in fact the Oreo that caused the reaction. The 
Oreo was the Coffee& Cream variety and it lists peanut flour as an 
ingredient! There is also NO ALLERGY LABELING.
     Please warn your subscribers that that companies change ingredients 
and past information is not reliable. I am very disappointed in Nabisico 
for including peanut flour in a non-peanut cookie and also for the lack of 
allergy labeling. Ultimately, it was my fault that our daughter ate the cookie.

Brach's Candies Small Conversation Hearts - this e-mail is from (privacy):
My son is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. My son's pre-school asked me 
to buy some safe candy for Valentines. So, I bought Brach's candies 'small 
conversation hearts'.  I called a 1800 # off of the Brach's internet site 
and left a message. To make a long story short, I got a phone call back 
from a representative from Brach's saying that they were made in a plant 
that contains peanuts. The woman on the phone sounded as if she wasn't 
really sure of her answer. When I asked her why the package wasn't labelled 
to show that it was made with nuts, she had no comment.  Feeling a bit 
frustrated. I called their main headquarters in Tennessee. They gave me the 
name and number of (privacy) ( phone number 1-630-271-8416)  who was the 
Manager of Customer Relations. He told me that the conversation hearts were 
not made in a facility with peanuts. That at one point they were, but not 
anymore. But, just in case, I should make the teachers aware of how to 
react in case of an allergic reaction.  (What kind of answer is that???) 
.... Then he went on to tell me that, "it is just too expensive to change 
and update their labelling to reflect weather or not a product was made in 
a plant with nuts". That I should always call and make sure any of their 
products are safe, which I do anyway (but, do all people with 
allergies?).  That it is not their responsibility to properly label an 
ingredient label . He said that, "someday they will get there and be up to 
date with listing allergy information on their labels".  He also said that 
he has been though some training on food allergies. Well, I can see that 
was effective... NOT! -  This man has no clue that his inability to 
understand allergies could kill someone. I find this disturbing since their 
negligence could cause someone to die that is allergic to nuts. I just 
can't believe that they are so behind the times. Who runs a company that 
makes candy for children and doesn't label their products to show 
ingredients or allergy information (made in a plant that processes 
nuts...)? Isn't there 3 million people in the USA with this allergy?

Bisquick Complete Mix Cinnamon Swirl Bisciuts - (privacy)  called to tell us this now lists egg in the ingredients but 
used to be safe for her egg-allergic child.

Saco Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks - this e-mail is from (privacy):
I thought you might want to inform your members about undeclared peanuts in 
Saco Real Semi-sweet Chocolate Chunks used for baking. I called the company 
to verify that this product wasn't processed on equipment that also 
processed peanuts, and sure enough it is. The company says they will be 
putting that information on the packaging in the future.  The phone number 
is 1-800-373-7226, the website is www.sacofoods.com and e-mail is 
askus@sacofoods.com.



_______________________________________

Debbie Scherrer, Member Communications

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
10400 Eaton Place, Suite 107
Fairfax, VA  22030
1-800-929-4040
Phone: 703-691-3179  Fax: 703-691-2713
http://www.foodallergy.org/
_______________________________________