M&M's does anyone know what the "real" risk of peanut exposure is?

[luci]

I've called M&M's manufacturer,  Mars, in the past.  Been given the idea that they could never be safe. So we've been avoiding them for 10 years now.

But I wonder if anyone is familiar with 1) ingredients and associated x-contam of ingredients, and/or 2) the manufacturing process and facility.  If you have any in depth info, would you please share?  I'd love to know how big a risk I'm taking (not for feeding to the person with PA, but for just having in my house and kitchen and being eaten by the person who cooks all the food - me).

Thanks,
Luci

[hedgehog]

This is based on hearsay, but my understanding is that they reuse the chocolate. That is, anything that drips is caught and used in another batch.  And that they may use chocolate from the peanut lines to make the plain.  as I said, based on hearsay.  But it could explain why my friend's son had an anaphylactic reaction to just 6 plain M&Ms, spent several days in the hospital, and was still sick with asthma among other complications for a full month.  Poor kid.

[Mfamom]

pre dx, my ds broke out in hives EVERY time he ate M&Ms.  I suspect they are highly cross contaminated

[twinturbo]

For having it in your house and eating it yourself? I'd say you could definitely lower the risk of contaminating the food you prepare for the family member with PA by eating it in between meals and washing your hands very well after. You might want to be aware if you're the type to share drinks, utensils or somehow get some contamination by mouth. That would be a stretch so I would identify the biggest risk by having it in the house if the peanut allergic individual actually ate what is most likely a grossly contaminated product.

I eat pn may contains all the time. I don't typically not eat something because it could contain traces of nuts but I don't share drinks, utensils with my kids. I also am extremely meticulous about not eating anything when I prepare their food.

[Jessica]

I've quit eating may contains. I have seasonal allergies and I'm worried that I'll be eating something and sneeze without warning. I do cover my mouth, but I'm sure it's not 100%.

[rebekahc]

Plain M&Ms reek like peanuts to me. 

When I was a kid, they actually listed peanuts as an ingredient.

[GoingNuts]

I eat pn may contains all the time. I don't typically not eat something because it could contain traces of nuts but I don't share drinks, utensils with my kids. I also am extremely meticulous about not eating anything when I prepare their food.

Ditto.  I eat nut products at work and out of the home as well.  But my kids are almost 19 and 22, and not likely to sit and snuggle in my lap, or let me kiss them. 

[twinturbo]

Sorta. I don't eat any overt nuts, ruminant milk, egg, very occasionally eating an already made wheat product. On occasion I will eat pizza with DS1 who is "only" PA EA. That's only because the milk is baked and we immediately shower, change clothes, brush teeth when we get home. I have to segregate that laundry and keep my youngest out of that bathroom.

While we do eat extremely simple whole food homemade foodit would be nearly impossible to eat any manufactured food that wasn't a may contain for one of their combined allergens since we're talking 7 out of 8 of the top 8. Even Philly Swirl is a decent risk in our house for milk contamination and temperature.

[Macabre]

DH eats may contains. But I've got to say that I couldn't have something in my house that my DS really wishes he could have but can't like m&ms.  He's 14 and we have things in the house that he can't eat and that I can't eat (but he can). But a candy like that are so present in his friends' lives--I just couldn't have around him.  He's quite mature about his allergies, but I couldn't do that to him.  In our case it would almost be cruel to him (not yours--just talking about our situation--which would be very different if I had several children with different allergies).

I guess I see a scale of xc (cross contamination), and some products rate higher on that scale than others. M&Ms are higher on that scale by virtue of the stories of reactions I've heard about them.  So from that perspective I probably wouldn't have them in my house but have other may contains. We keep a PF home).

Again--this is just our experience and my perspective.

[momtoAidenDeclan]

DH eats may contains. But I've got to say that I couldn't have something in my house that my DS really wishes he could have but can't like m&ms.  He's 14 and we have things in the house that he can't eat and that I can't eat (but he can). But a candy like that are so present in his friends' lives--I just couldn't have around him.  He's quite mature about his allergies, but I couldn't do that to him.  In our case it would almost be cruel to him (not yours--just talking about our situation--which would be very different if I had several children with different allergies).

I guess I see a scale of xc (cross contamination), and some products rate higher on that scale than others. M&Ms are higher on that scale by virtue of the stories of reactions I've heard about them.  So from that perspective I probably wouldn't have them in my house but have other may contains. We keep a PF home).

Again--this is just our experience and my perspective.

Bold mine...I couldn't of said it better...have I eaten m&m when I'm out and about, yep - tho' after years of not having them and eating the non-peanut versions out there, they reek of peanuts to me, now...

[CMdeux]

I agree with Mac-- to a point.    (And realize that some of this is the innate disposition of our respective children here, because I can't say that I wouldn't do exactly the same thing if her DS were my child instead of my own DD.)

That is, we also weigh "how much does this mean to _____{other family member}" relative to the ACTUAL risk it poses to the allergic person.  If the risk is fairly low, and it means A LOT, then we've done it.  We've gotten Chinese/Indian take-out and eaten it on disposable plates and basically decontaminated everything afterwards.    I have even occasionally been treated to (or treated myself to) Almond Roca, which is LOADED with cashew contamination-- it definitely "stinks" to my DD, so we know...

The key to doing things like that is, IMO...

a) it can't cause the allergic person PAIN or suffering-- of any kind.  I generally run such things past my DD to make sure that she's okay with it now that she's older... and when she was younger, I didn't bring stuff that seemed that appealing into the house to start with.  (I'd eat it elsewhere, as others have noted.)  But we are all multiply allergic, and we all like one another's allergens, to some extent.  As long as it doesn't pose a risk of anaphylaxis, we tend to view such things with a fair degree of permissiveness.  I've BOUGHT my own allergens for DH and DD.   

b) because of DD's threshold (VERY VERY low), I have a firewall between allergens (including may-contains) and FOOD PREPARATION FOR HER.  That is really what I see as problematic in the OP's post-- if (and she didn't say that she WAS doing this) she is eating them WHILE preparing food for the allergic person.  I can think of all kinds of 'what-if' things that would very easily lead to contaminated food in that scenario.  I keep my stash away from our standard food-prep areas.  I would be terrified to eat ANYTHING from my kitchen if I handled our fish food in there, and I consider it compassionate to afford DD the same level of consideration there that I'd want myself in her shoes.  KWIM?



My answer is, therefore, a complicated one.  How important are M&M's-- to you?   Secondly, how important are they-- to your allergic child? (That is, are they an emblem of all that s/he CAN'T have/do?  Or 'just candy that stinks'?)  Finally, how low is the allergic person's threshold?  (If cross-contamination that seems impossibly small has resulted in a scary ER trip, then I'd rethink it, but if s/he eats in restaurants and is regularly AROUND the allergen without any ill effects, then it might be pretty low risk.)

[twinturbo]

DS2's milk allergy has been scary enough long enough that I can't even produce the spark of thought housing the idea of safe chocolate to begin with. What did YKW say? It's like voting except pitting the kids' allergens against the least restrictions for each.

Upon seeing his brother's restrictions DS1 went from complaining about bringing his own pizza to birthday parties to being stoked he can even have pizza. Anyhow, OP if you're worried about peanut only we used to use Nestle Smarties. I never really cared for M&M's so I have no reference for taste comparison but my pn allergic child ate them without problem.

[paparenttoo]

Vermont Nut Free has a M&M type candy called Skippers that is delicious.  Here is and link to them:

http://www.vermontnutfree.com/Skippers/productinfo/2-2027

No safety issues when you eat them.

[Jessica]

Two of my kids like smarties better than skippers, and one likes skippers better than smarties. I say they're all picky. I like both.

[YouKnowWho]

We keep all of the allergens in the house but have strict rules in place.  And there are limits.  Like I can bake pre-made gluteny cookies but I cannot mix them up from scratch due to DS1's inhalant issues. 

Neither child can say "Wow this is so good, I wish you could eat it".  And we have also had long talks about not feeling bad for what you cannot eat, especially if a peer says it to them.  It's a fact of life.

I made a huge error in judgement and once fed "Smarties" to the gluten but not peanut allergic child.  I didn't read a label, was stressed and just assumed they were safe because I kept reading about them here.  Well they have wheat in them and he had a significant reaction after eating three of them.  As a result, the child who can eat M&M's or Reese's won't touch them. 

However the kid who cannot eat M&M's bugs me to drive over to the import store for Smarties about once a month

It gets confusing in a MFA household.  But in trying to give everyone a balanced diet and not remove foods, combined with dealing with foods that have labels that are unsafe for other allergic child, we voted to keep the foods in the house with strict rules in place.