Monday, February 13, 2012

Thursday, April 30, 2009 Rhonda asks

Q: What are the risks

My 2 yr old has a peanut allergy.  What are the risks of feeding her a product that may have been in contact with peanuts.  Eg:  giving her a lemon sorbet from an ice cream shop that has peanut ice cream?  Other than the actual peanut allergy.  What I am getting it, is would this be making her allergy worse if she were to have a reaction? Thank you.

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4/30/09 11:42pm

Hi Rhonda, This is an important question. Food allergies, especially nut allergies can be extremely severe and unpredictable. It takes very little exposure to trigger a reaction. So, it is entirely possible that your daughter would be at risk eating the lemon sorbet.

 

And, if she were to have a reaction, there is no way of knowing how severe it might be. It could be mild, or it could be life-threatening. And generally, reactions do get worse each time an allergic person has them, but there is no guarantee how it will go.

 

I would strongly urge you to err on the side of caution. In other words, if you have ANY reason to suspect there might be a risk of peanut contamination, don't give her the food!

 

Good luck,

Kathi

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