Anaphylactic Food Allergies and Ice Cream Substitutes

[CindyCat]

My 3 year-old daughter has anaphylactic allergies to eggs, tree nuts, peanuts.

She has her heart set on ice cream at WDW. The chef at POP said they serve Eddy's ice cream. Eddy's has cross contamination from peanuts and tree nuts. She has had severe reactions from products with cross contaminations so that ice cream is out.

The chef said they offer tofutti and rice dream "ice cream." Does anyone know for sure wheether these have eggs, a common ingredient in ice cream, or peanuts or tree nuts or cross contamination from these?

What about WDW's soft serve ice cream?

TIA

 

[syko]

You will be fine with Tofutti, Don't know about rice dream as we can't eat it. When you place your order you ice cream will be prepared away from the others.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you haven't looked in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, I'd suggest looking in post #3 of that thread in the Diets for allergies and other special needs section in the bottom 1/2 of that post.
There are phone numbers and other contact information for special diets and allergies for WDW in that post that should help answer your question.

 

[mechurchlady]

Edy's is the east coast version of Dreyer's ice cream which DLR says is gluten free.

http://www.edys.com/brand/grand/flavorlisting.asp?b=134
Some ice cream makers use egg as in french vanilla and some ice cream makers have a warning about product made in the same plant that has wheat, soy, egg, and nuts but I cannot find that warning. You can check the label at your local store or contact the company. Even so you would have to be careful to avoid cookie dough and french vanilla for example as they have eggs.

Alternatives to milk are made from hemp, oat, soy, rice, almonds, and hazelnuts. Rice Dream frozen snacks are egg and nut free unless that is an ingredient of the product.
http://www.tastethedream.com/products/category/206.php

Manufactured in a facility that uses peanuts, milk and tree nuts. Good manufacturing practices are used to prevent introduction of these or any other unlabeled allergens in the product.

http://www.tofutti.com/pp.shtml
The say they are definitely vegan when it comes to eggs.

Are all Tofutti products vegan?
No, not all of our products are totally vegan. Although all of our frozen dessert and cheese (except smoked salmon Better Than Cream Cheese) products are completely vegan, all of our frozen food entrees (except our Pizza Pizzaz) and all four of our cookies do contain egg whites. Of course, every product that uses egg whites will have it clearly listed in the ingredients. We never use whole eggs, as we are always cholesterol free.

Tofutti explains under Kosher how they clean the equipment so that the food is really Kosher PAreve. A few cookies and one frozen novelty has nuts, read #26 for more information and they do seem to care about cleanliness of the lines.
http://www.tofutti.com/dyk-faq.shtml#

WDW soft serve is supposed to be nut free and may be egg free but you have to check with WDW.

http://www.divvies.com/
They are nut, dairy and egg free.

http://www.frenchmeadow.com/products/peanut-free
I found this on an older list of gluten free foods. That is their peanut free list of items.

Delicious Fudgie Brownie
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Manufactured by GLP Manufacturing Corporation
www.okbrownie.com

Both divvies and the other company are prepackaged and labelled.

 

[stephbillalec]

Eddy's has cross contamination from peanuts and tree nuts. She has had severe reactions from products with cross contaminations so that ice cream is out.
TIA

Hmmm...my daughter has a class VI allergy to peanuts and she eats Eddy's ice cream all the time. I've never seen a peanut or tree nut warning on their label for the flavors we've tried. Where are you getting this info??

 

[Selket]

Hmmm...my daughter has a class VI allergy to peanuts and she eats Eddy's ice cream all the time. I've never seen a peanut or tree nut warning on their label for the flavors we've tried. Where are you getting this info??

My guess is that most ice creams are run on shared lines and/or in facilities where there are lines that run ice creams with nuts in them. I think what most of us do is find out from the manufacturer and from other parents of kids with allergies what the deal is and what their experience has been. If a certain company claims to wash its lines and test and etc etc and no one on the peanut allergy board is reporting problems (http://www.peanutallergy.com) then we eat it.

From reading those boards it looks like a lot of people are annoyed with Eddy's/Dryers for how they label - they have one ice cream with peanut OIL in it that they consider to be peanut free. They have ice cream with nestle's chips (which are known to be may contains) and those are labeled peanut free. So...it does sounds like they are someone to watch. If I was going to eat their ice cream I would guess a vanilla flavor is the safest way to go. They do not label for may contains, etc.

I cannot speak to the egg issue at all.

My PA/TN son was there when he was 3 (also has type 1 diabetes) and I have discovered that he would often change his mind. I'd go crazy trying to get one thing and he'd end up all focused on eating something else the entire trip! At that age it was hot dogs and Itskadoozies.

Divvies cookies (and jelly beans and caramel corn) are usually able to be found at the some of the resort food courts and at the parks (like the MK bakery). I had mixed luck on my Sept. '08 trip (could NOT find the cookies!). You might even want to order a box before you go because those cookies have been lifesavers - we all love to eat them! The are pn/tn and egg free.

 

[GoofyFairie]

I have checked into Edy's for my kids. I called them and asked. They do not label for possible cross- they run everything on the same line and Sanitize the line before starting the next batch. They obviously have no personal experience with food allergies.

 

[RevJATB]

Our son's allergies require us to be very picky about ingredients, and Edy's (and it is Edy's, not "Eddy's": think Eydie Gormé or Edie Adams, not Eddie Munster) is one of the few brands that he can eat. Breyer's is another one. (Not to be confused with Dreyer's, which, as someone already pointed out, is the same thing as Edy's.) I realize that everyone is different and that people's allergic reactions vary, but our son has some serious reactions to pretty "tame" stuff, and he's fine with Edy's.

 

[mechurchlady]

Another thing is that if they do rocky road then chocolate then vanilla then strawberry you might not have a reaction but if it were rocky road then vanilla you might. It could be a piece of nut or cookie dough stuck in the machinery. Yoou could have ice cream 100 times without a reaction but if a nut gets lodged or the line cleaning got messed up then boom but I go with the odds and enjoy life as I love food and am not going to miss out over what ifs.

I look at ingredients then the boards for reactions then try some and if I react then no more of that. no more nachos as I reacted to them AGAIN at Rosewood.

 

[ekatiel]

Mickey Ice Cream bars should be ok for your DC. They are currently listed on the Disney "safe list" for peanuts/tree nuts and they do not contain eggs. We generally avoid scooped ice cream unless they are willing to open a new container and get a new scoop for us (which Disney might be willing to do, given that they are so great about food allergies in general). I am generally comfortable with a plant that cleans between lines. My DS has multiple food allergies, including an allergy to wheat, barley, and rye. If we didn't allow a few "made in a facility with" foods, he'd be eating close to nothing (try finding gluten free flours without tree nut warnings!). My policy is to call the company and ask about cleaning practices. If they clean between lines, I let DS eat it. --Katie

 

[DCDisney]

They have soft serve Dole Whip at a few stands in WDW and the ingredients are listed on the manufacturer web site if you want to check http://www.precisionfoods.com/. They are at Aloha Isle in Mk and I think they have it at Capt Cooks in the Poly hotel too. The last time I checked they were using Edy's soft serve at all the other WDW locations but it is perhaps produced differently? They do make soft serve peanut butter froz yogurt though too.

 

[rosegirl]

Last week at the EPCOT ice cream shop, where they sell Edy's hand packed ice cream, the manager, Patrick, personally went down to get a new container of vanilla ice cream so that DS, who has anaphylactic-level allergies to all nuts, could enjoy ice cream safely. It was very late, close to park closing time, and yet, they insisted on doing this for us. I was really impressed. You do get some mixed responses throughout the resorts and parks but on the whole, WDW is terrific about handling desserts for children in this situation.

 

[Smile4Me]

My 3 year-old daughter has anaphylactic allergies to eggs, tree nuts, peanuts.

She has her heart set on ice cream at WDW. The chef at POP said they serve Eddy's ice cream. Eddy's has cross contamination from peanuts and tree nuts. She has had severe reactions from products with cross contaminations so that ice cream is out.

The chef said they offer tofutti and rice dream "ice cream." Does anyone know for sure wheether these have eggs, a common ingredient in ice cream, or peanuts or tree nuts or cross contamination from these?

What about WDW's soft serve ice cream?

TIA

I am allergic to all dairy beef and eggs and have been eating Tofutti for over 20 years now! Its wonderful. Rice Dream is as well. You shouldn't have any problems with any of the straight flavors. If you ordered a rocky road or a chocolate peanut butter..then maybe,,but just chocolate or vanilla- nope not at all! You can also get Tofutti and Rice Dream at all table service and at a number of locations around the parks including the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. They have a manager come talk to you and find out what your need is, and then they prepare it seperately just for you! Take a bit longer but so worth it! We are going to POP on our next trip and I'm really excited to know I can get ice cream there now too!

 

[kimpossible]

May I ask a really studpid question. I am often asked if my son is anaphylactic (he is allergic to peanuts and some tree nuts). Aside from him ingesting it, how do you know? Is this something my doctor could tell from the test readings, or is this just from experience?

The way we found out he was allergic, was when he was 2 (before giving him his 1st pb sandwhich) we put a dear little bit of pb at the base of his bottom lip.

Within minutes he broke out in hives and started freaking out like he wanted to itch his tongue. He also had the (clearing his throat type) of cough. Would this be an indication or is more evidence needed?

Just curious.

 

[dandemom]

May I ask a really studpid question. I am often asked if my son is anaphylactic (he is allergic to peanuts and some tree nuts). Aside from him ingesting it, how do you know? Is this something my doctor could tell from the test readings, or is this just from experience?

The way we found out he was allergic, was when he was 2 (before giving him his 1st pb sandwhich) we put a dear little bit of pb at the base of his bottom lip.

Within minutes he broke out in hives and started freaking out like he wanted to itch his tongue. He also had the (clearing his throat type) of cough. Would this be an indication or is more evidence needed?

Just curious.

Given your DS symptoms, I would definitely tell the asker that yes, he is anaphylactic. some children have very minor symptoms. My kids for example will get a rash if they ingest something they are allergic to. I do not have to SUPER vigilant about how things are manufactured because a very small amount of allergen will not be deadly to my children. I know that I am very lucky!!! (Now if I could just figure out why my son got huge hives from the rice cheese (now with no casein) with no apparent allergens in it....)

 

[kimpossible]

Given your DS symptoms, I would definitely tell the asker that yes, he is anaphylactic. some children have very minor symptoms. My kids for example will get a rash if they ingest something they are allergic to. I do not have to SUPER vigilant about how things are manufactured because a very small amount of allergen will not be deadly to my children. I know that I am very lucky!!! (Now if I could just figure out why my son got huge hives from the rice cheese (now with no casein) with no apparent allergens in it....)

Thanks for the input.

 

[vettechick99]

May I ask a really studpid question. I am often asked if my son is anaphylactic (he is allergic to peanuts and some tree nuts). Aside from him ingesting it, how do you know? Is this something my doctor could tell from the test readings, or is this just from experience?

The way we found out he was allergic, was when he was 2 (before giving him his 1st pb sandwhich) we put a dear little bit of pb at the base of his bottom lip.

Within minutes he broke out in hives and started freaking out like he wanted to itch his tongue. He also had the (clearing his throat type) of cough. Would this be an indication or is more evidence needed?

Just curious.

Sorry to bump this thread up, but I'm researching WDW dining for my egg/nut/yeast-allergic child.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to kimpossible. Have you seen a doctor yet?

Your child is probably highly allergic to peanuts (and maybe all nuts). When I gave peanut butter to DD for the first time, I smeared a little bit on her lip and she broke out in hives. The doctor gave us an epi-pen, but one day she still got a hold of a peanut butter cookie. She started breaking out in hives, her breathing got very labored, and became lethargic. This started within 30 minutes of eating the cookie. We rushed her to the closest doctor we could find and he gave her some steroids and lots of benadryl. Another 20 mins and we would have had to use the epi-pen.

So in case you haven't asked your doctor, you need to request an epi-pen and be vigilant about what he eats.

 

[kimpossible]

Sorry to bump this thread up, but I'm researching WDW dining for my egg/nut/yeast-allergic child.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to kimpossible. Have you seen a doctor yet?

Your child is probably highly allergic to peanuts (and maybe all nuts). When I gave peanut butter to DD for the first time, I smeared a little bit on her lip and she broke out in hives. The doctor gave us an epi-pen, but one day she still got a hold of a peanut butter cookie. She started breaking out in hives, her breathing got very labored, and became lethargic. This started within 30 minutes of eating the cookie. We rushed her to the closest doctor we could find and he gave her some steroids and lots of benadryl. Another 20 mins and we would have had to use the epi-pen.

So in case you haven't asked your doctor, you need to request an epi-pen and be vigilant about what he eats.

Yep. We started seing an allergist shortly after that. You'll find Disney to be wonderful for food allergic people. Make sure you contact Brenda for a list of the counter service snacks as well as the form to alert the restaurants.

 

[DCDisney]

Yes it is anaphylactic if more than one body system is affected so with skin and breathing he would be considered anaphylactic. Normally you would also want to avoid any product with any possible cross contamination like anything labelled processed in a factory where there are peanuts.

 

[Schmeck]

Mickey bars are not always 100% safe - I've gotten one that had what looked like an airpocket/bubble in the chocolate, and it turned out to be a piece of peanut. It was very obvious that it was in there - looked like Mickey had a pimple! As stated before, you can't ever be 100% certain that anything is completely allergen free. As a parent, you just do your best, and say a little prayer.