Why You Do Us Like That, Peanut

 Ok, something that frustrates the ever living hell out of me as a parent with a child with allergies, is the fact that most food labels are unclear of their allergens. 

My daughter has a peanut allergy that requires an epipen. Allergies are something very new to me, my sister and I were both fortunate to not have any allergies growing up. There are a few companies we have grown to love because they have the giant peanut free symbol right on the front of the packaging. However most have nothing so we need to read the ingredients. I don’t get why they can’t just put the symbol on the package if they are nut free, and have no peanuts in their facility. 

We have had a horrible experience with a company that will remain nameless, but I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out. They have delicious crackers with peanut butter, and the same crackers with cheese filling. I have bought the cheese ones a few times and the box does not have any mention that it may contain nuts, so I trust the package. However after eating a few my daughter had an allergic reaction to the cheese crackers. Her only allergy is peanuts so after some intense googling I found out that several other people had similar reactions that also had peanut allergies. Why wouldn’t this company have it stated that they May Contain Peanuts. I was livid, she could have died. I have not bought any products from that company since. I try my hardest to stick only to the brands that state clearly that they are peanut free. 

But seriously, if there is no chance of the allergens, why not just add that statement to the box. (Because they are stupid that’s why not) Clearly the heads of these companies have never had to deal with a serious allergy. Even if there is the slightest chance that there may be a cross contamination, I’m sure we’d all rather our kids have to eat with caution then to get a reaction from something not properly labelled. State it clearly either way that it may contain or is nut free. Sincerely parents with allergic children and people with allergies. It’s so much extra work to have to Google companies, but can’t trust the internet anyways.