As always, talk to your doctor about this topic before consuming anything I talk about. I’m not a doctor.

Our allergist had originally told us that we did not have to worry about peanut oil. However, we have still avoided it for years now. Also, when you go into restaurants, if they use peanut oil, they will usually turn you away when you tell them that you have an allergy in the family.

Then, this past Thanksgiving, we head over to a family member’s home for dinner and were having a nice meal when another person at the table asked from where the pre-cooked turkey came. They replied that it was from a big fast food chain that inexplicably made the world turn into angry zombies just to get their chicken sandwiches. Seriously, haven’t fried chicken sandwiches been around a while?

That person, who also had a family member with a peanut allergy, got frightened and said that the fast food chain uses peanut oil to fry their turkeys. We all start googling like crazy and found that people seemed to be split over the issue.

With that said, I’m going to reference the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology who say,

Most individuals with peanut allergy can safely eat highly refined peanut oil. This is not the case, however, for cold-pressed, expelled, extruded peanut oils. If you are allergic to peanuts, ask your allergist whether you should avoid peanut oil.

Source: ACAAI Ask an Allergist

They, of course, also say to ask your allergist because - you know - you can’t get a definitive answer on the Internet. With that said, I’ve asked our allergist and we have chosen to not worry about it any longer as long it is the cheapo version of the stuff and not the cold pressed stuff. You know what you should do? Ask your allergist.

Just so you know, everyone at Thanksgiving was fine so we could get back to arguing about politics and the last season of Game of Thrones.

It is your responsibility to contact the restaurant or speak to a manager while there to determine if the food if safe for your or your family. I don’t know if you are reading this in 2020 or 2096 and you have to realize that policies change.

Portland does not have a shortage of fancy donuts. However, you have probably noticed that the famous place with the pink boxes or those super expensive ones that have a star on the box definitely use nuts and peanuts. I was thrilled to find out that the Beaverton location of Sesame Donuts does not use peanuts or tree nuts at all. I spoke to the manager while there, but am sure to still ask every time that I am there. We’ve been there at least a baker’s dozen times so far without incident.

Keep in mind, I am not an allergist; therefore you should only trust your allergist about treatments for allergies.

It’s been a little while, I know. In the time since I last posted, there were definitely some big things happening in the world of peanut allergies. I’ll be posting about our experiences with oral immunotherapy soon, but I wanted to be sure to get this information out about the Viaskin Patch since I had been so hopeful in the past.

It appears that company behind Viaskin Peanut is still moving forward. However, the benefit just may not be there for us to try it. I was terribly disappointed when I read the news about it.

There was a competing product also moving forward in the FDA approval process and I had read that it was being fast-tracked. Now, I’m seeing this article that Aimmune’s product, now called Palforzia, may not be worth the risk either. This article from BiopharmaDive says,

Although positive, results also showed more study participants taking Palforiza discontinued treatment than those on placebo, while experiencing a higher rate of allergic reactions and increased use of epinephrine.

What’s the verdict on both treatments? I have no idea.

Our allergist’s office was one of the clinical trial sites for the drug. After discussing the two drugs with our doctor, we decided to move forward with oral immunotherapy instead of waiting any longer.

I was in my local grocery store and a little child was crying. I heard his father trying to explain to him that they could not buy something for his party because they wanted a little girl, presumably a friend, to be able to eat it as well. The father, who I don’t know but assume is in the Dad Hall of Fame, was trying to explain the concept of food allergies to the child. He gently told the child that they needed to protect the young girl in a way that made the boy understand.

Explaining food allergies to a young child is tough. I suggest outsourcing the job to my favorite Australians (sorry, Wolverine, but you haven’t tried to explain food allergies to kids as far as I know). Legend has it, and by ‘legend’ I mean The Wigglepedia, founding member Anthony Field has a son with a peanut allergy.

Many thanks to The Wiggles for teaching their fans, who are mainly under five but occasionally are over 30 (no judgements here), around the world about food allergies.

On Day 6 in New Orleans, I have to make an admission: I’m a beignet addict. After riding the streetcar out to City Park, we could not resist having beignets at the historic Morning Call cafe in City Park. As opposed to Cafe Du Monde, the cafe does not bring in a dump truck to drop a metric ton of powdered sugar on the beignets. Instead, there is a powdered sugar shaker on the table. Just like Cafe Du Monde, the waiter stated that everything was nut safe, and we did not have any reactions.

Disclaimer: Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

The trip was wonderful. The city is wonderful. However, we were exhausted at the end. We have to sadly admit that we went straight to one of our safe places rather than go down the list from our research of non-chains there in the city. We just wanted a quick meal from a place with an online allergen menu so we went with the Canal Street IHOP. Don’t judge me.

There were only two other tables being used (again, what’s up with that?). One was a homeless vet who told the server that it was his 70th birthday. The other was a nice couple. I’m really just assuming that they were nice because they paid for the vet’s dinner.

We had a nice breakfast for dinner at the IHOP with waffles and pancakes and called the vacation done. We felt very fortunate that the city provided plenty of opportunities for safe dining even though we were a little nervous. I hate to admit it, but I feel safer at the chains since we are still relatively new to life with this allergy. I’m sure that we’ll get more confident as time goes on or, better yet, the OIT or patch or some other treatment will go well. Fingers crossed.

IHOP Allergen Information

First image from Flickr user Infrogmation of New Orleans. Creative Common License. Second image from Flickr user Ankur Gulati. Creative Common License.

We have previously blogged about the Viaskin® Peanut patch (see The Patch That Was Promised) and how the previous phases of the clinical trial have offered those of us affected by peanut allergies some hope. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, a safety study is currently recruiting children to be study participants at 32 study locations in the United States and Canada. They need children between 4 and 11 years of age where they will either receive the patch for six months or a placebo. After that time, all participants will receive the active treatment for a period up to three years. More information is available by clicking the link below.

Safety Study of Viaskin Peanut to Treat Peanut Allergy (REALISE)

From the website:

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study: 4 Years to 11 Years (Child)
Sexes Eligible for Study: All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physician-diagnosed peanut allergy;


• A peanut Skin Prick Test (SPT) with a wheal largest diameter ≥8 mm;


• A specific-peanut Immunoglobulin E (IgE) ≥14 kU/L;


• Subjects following a strict peanut-free diet.

Image from Flickr user Glenn Strong. Creative Common License

If you have already read through the forums at some dated recommendations of places that are safe in New Orleans, one place that probably came up over and over again is The Court of Two Sisters restaurant. It’s a landmark, and is as cool as all of the reviews have stated. We actually ate there years ago for the Sunday jazz brunch and were looking forward to going back.

Disclaimer: Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

We walked there this afternoon and found the place to be very quiet with only a few tables taken (this appears to be a theme on this trip). As we entered through the old tunnel, we met the host and told him about the peanut and nut allergies. He gave us a binder which we could take with all of the ingredients of the dishes they use in the buffet. This was incredibly helpful as we chose the dishes to eat. A few were not in the binder but there was plenty of staff in the buffet line to answer questions. Strangely enough, the binder would place in all caps next to the relevant items, “THIS ITEM CONTAINS GLUTEN.” However, the items with nuts said nothing. Oh, modern world.

The Court of the Two Sisters completely lived up to the hype in terms of allergy-friendly food. The service completely exceeded all expectations and was, quite honestly, the best staff of servers I have ever encountered in my life. The outdoor dining in the courtyard was exceptional in terms of ambiance. The three-piece band playing was fantastic. The place is just so darn cool. Bravo, The Court of Two Sisters, bravo. Slow clap.

Also, we ended the day back at Cafe Du Monde for beignets again. I want to marry that place.

The Court of Two Sisters website does have a few recipes available, but the restaurant has a cookbook that you can buy on Amazon or, if you’re secretly a superhero, on
BetterWorldBooks.

First image from Flickr user Gary J. Wood. Creative Common License