Sunflower Allergy

[Rissa]

I have had a sunflower allergy my entire life but it has recently worsened. I've been doing research on it and found a company that said they handle their soybeans and their sunflower seeds in the same place. How do I find out if this is common for most companies/factories? Does it apply to oils as well? I also learned that vitamins in things can get their vitamins from sunflower seeds. How do I find out where the vitamins came from? Are there other oils that could be cross contaminated? Anyone with this allergy have any avoidance tips?

[rebekahc]

It's going to really depend on how sensitive you are to sunflower.  Are you currently having reactions?  If so, we can try to help you narrow down the cause.  If not, it sounds like you're probably doing a fine job of avoiding what you need to.  Yes, cross contamination can be a problem, but trying to find the source and contamination risk of vitamins added to foods may be more than you need to do.  For overt/major cross-contamination, you'll really need to call manufacturers to assess the risk.  I know we have a couple of members here who are very sensitive to sunflower and should have good advice for you.  You might take a look down in the Specific Allergies section under Seeds and see what info is there and which members post about sunflower allergy.