My parents have both tested positive for an egg allergy, and my father for a wheat allergy. Because I’m a food nerd, I’ve been able to answer a lot of their questions, but I’m not sure on these two.
Eggs: someone at the doc’s office told my Mom there were eggs in Cheerios. I just looked at the box, it doesn’t list eggs as ingredients. Is there any way to hide eggs? Would they show up as something other than egg, or is the doc office person in error?
Wheat: Does any trace of allergy-inducing wheat and/or yeast show up in hard alcohol? Would, for example, brandy (made from wine) still have trace bits of yeast in it? How about vodka or other liquors made from wheat?
I’m thinking no, but I really have no basis for that.
Does he have a wheat allergy, or a yeast allergy, or both? They’re very different things. And is barley also a trigger? How about other grains?
The people I know with celiac disease (not an allergy, but an autoimmune disorder triggered by wheat, oats, barley, or rye) avoid even vodka made from the restricted grains. The gluten, which is the trigger for that disease, may be something entirely different from what is causing the allergic reaction, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
Current labeling laws require any of the eight major allergens to be stated as part of the ingredients list. So if eggs were part of the ingredients, even in hidden form, it would say EGGS. Most companies also state today whether their products were processed on lines or in plant that also process foods with the allergens because of the dangers of cross-contamination.
There is not one kind of Cheerios today, remember. Brand extension means there’s probably a dozen varieties, each with their own ingredients lists.
Many spirits and liquors are off limits because of allergenic potential. They are NOT subject to food labeling laws. I also don’t understand why you’re including yeast in a wheat allergy, though.
Sorry, I realized halfway through writing the OP that he is also allergic to yeast.
He’s got a difficult set of allergies: Wheat, Yeast, Corn, and Eggs.
Mom is supposedly allergic to Eggs and Beef.
All this has come up in the past few months. Very weird. They’re both in their 70s, and were checked out because of generally feeling under the weather combined with sinus issues.
I don’t think he’s got celiac disease, or, at least, doc didn’t mention it. As far as I know, it’s just an allergy to wheat, no other grains.
Well, I can recommend a source of information, the The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network.
I was just using their cookbook in the library a few minutes ago for tips on reading food labels for allergens.
I’m going to have to go with “ask their allergist for extremely precise information on how to deal with this.”
Out of my depth on this one; my knowledge (personal basis, from interacting with friends with celiac disease) is more focused around celiac disease, in which gluten is the focus, and I don’t know what in particular is the allergenic part of wheat. Plus I’ve never heard of an actual diagnosed yeast allergy before - not that they don’t exist, just that I’ve read yeast “allergies” included in a lot of kind of very unscientific talk about food, so I don’t have anything solid to go on.
Actual food allergies can be very dangerous. I have an uncommon one myself that causes an actual IgE-moderated allergic reaction, so far stopping short of actual anaphylaxis, and the allergists that I saw told me to use a lot of caution in my judgement. I just worry that if you don’t get any “from the horse’s mouth” information, they could put themselves in danger.