Second, I think the other comments covered alot of what I would have said. But I wanted to touch again on the loyality part. I believe that it is the truest thing we all share as mom’s of kids with food allergies (or having allergies oursleves) is our loyality to a product we feel is safe. Along with that comes the free advertising. I called and spoke with Ghirardelli about their chocolate chips and now they have a loyal customer and I feel confident telling others about my experience with the company.

Food allergies are not something we can put on the back burner and deal with later. We must be ever vigilant with every meal and snack every time every day. There can never be a time we let down our gaurd. Our support group is those that have been there; we fight our schools, even our famlies for understanding to keep our children safe. We need help to make our jobs as parents (and caregivers) easier, so we can get back to worrying about skinned knees and monsters in the closet.

We need better and clearer labeling, we need places to go for more information, real sources besides eachother. Thank you for all you are doing. My Daughter is 3 and I don’t have alot of experience but her food allergies have turned our lives upside down and changed how we do everything (family outings, dinners with families, vacations).

If I can help, you have my email and you know me from twitter (@paigepen).

Thanks again, Jenn

Something that comes to mind for me is the gloves that sandwich makers wear. There is a sub shop that has a sandwich that meets our needs (no dairy, eggs, or peanuts) on a particular sandwich, but they need to change their gloves from the previous sandwich made (cross contamination with cheese or mayo would be a HUGE problem).

Right now that’s the only thing that comes to mind, but I’m going to think about it some more. I’m also going to post a link to this post on my blogs to help reach some more people. Thanks again for all your hard work in putting this together. You did a great job putting allergies into “normal people” terms referring to arsenic, too! Good job!

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife and MustFollowRecipes

To be honest, I’m a little weak in this area, too, because we’ve largely given up on manufactured foods due to weak ingredients lists. We’re dealing with several uncommon allergies, including garlic, and it’s virtually impossible to tell what falls under “spices” or “natural flavorings.” So we simply don’t buy.

That’s why, for me, complete ingredient lists are the most important point. I know it’s not impossible. Some companies, such as Annie’s Organics, manage it. I’ve found that organic companies in general do a much better job of labeling, probably because their manufacturing process emphasizes knowing the origin of each ingredient and they share that information with consumers. The irony is that I’ll find this type of labeling in organic lines by major manufacturers, but not in the “normal” line produced by that same company. It makes my head explode.

Your point about compound ingredients is a good one, and the issue can strike at even seemingly simple ingredients. Tomato sauce, for example. Many contain the mystery “spices” that keep me from buying it. Some also use citric acid - and I understand that’s an essential preservative - that might or might not originate from corn. Same with vanilla extract, which might or might not have its origins in corn-based alcohol.

I think the main point I would like to deliver, though, is the one you hit in the introduction: That if you give us this information, you’ll create a loyal customer. There’s an ice cream shop up the street from us that does this - lists ingredients, labels in the display case what’s safe, instructs employees on cross-contamination - while the one of the big chains in town refuses to do as much as segregate its scoops. Guess where we go! As a bonus, the local store also is less expensive than the chain. It’s a win-win for everyone, and it didn’t take the local owner much extra effort to do it.