Allergies and Reading Food Labels
Surprising Examples
If you or someone in your family has a history of food allergies, you need to become expert at reading labels on baby food and other commercial food products since many contain allergenic ingredients. Some surprising examples:
Cheerios contain wheat and soy protein
Instant Infant Cereals contain soy
Stage '2', '3', and Toddler Meals contain wheat, soy, milk protein (casein), and egg (albumin)
Gerber Puffs contain wheat and soy
Wheat, soy, milk protein, and egg, are all among the top eight food allergens (see: http://www.itsamomsworld.com/food-allergies.html)
If your baby is allergic to eggs, avoid foods that contain the following ingredients:
Albumin
Egg (white, yolk, dried, powdered, solids)
Egg substitutes
Eggnog
Globulin (also in vaccines-speak to your pediatrician)
Lysozyme (in European products)
Mayonnaise
Meringue
Ovalbumin
Ovomucoid
Ovovitellin
Simpleese
Note that baked goods with a shiny brown top have likely had an egg wash.
If your baby is allergic to soy, avoid foods containing the following ingredients:
Miso
Shoyu sauce
Soy (flour, grits, milk, nuts, tofu, sprouts)
Soybean (curd, granules)
Soy protein (concentrate, isolate)
Soy sauce
Texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
Tofu
These ingredients may indicate the presence of soy protein:
Flavorings
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed soy protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Natural flavoring
Vegetable broth
Vegetable gum
Vegetable starch
*Soy lecithin and soy oil are often tolerated by soy allergic individuals
If your baby needs to avoid wheat or gluten, here are some ingredients to avoid:
Bread Crumbs
Bran
Cereal extract
Acker meal
Enriched flour
Farina
Semolina durham
Gluten
High gluten flour
High protein flour
Vital gluten
Wheat bran
Wheat gluten
Wheat starch
Whole wheat flour
Oats
Barley
These ingredients suggest the presence of wheat or gluten:
Gelatinized starch
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Modified food starch
Modified starch
Natural flavoring
Soy sauce
Starch
Vegetable gum
Vegetable starch
If your baby needs to avoid milk, look for products marked "Parve" which may be found in the kosher section of your local grocery. A "D" next to a "K" or a circled "U" may indicate the presence of milk proteins. Also, avoid foods containing the following ingredients:
Artificial butter flavor
Butter, butter fat, buttermilk
Casein
Caseinates (ammonia, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium)
Cheese
Cottage cheese
Curds
Custard
Half and half
Hydrolysates (casein, milk protein, protein, whey, whey protein)
Lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate
Lactoglobulin
Lactose
Milk (derivative, protein, solids, malted, condensed, evaporated, dry, whole, low fat, non fat, skim)
Nougat
Pudding
Rennet casein
Sour cream, sour cream solids
Sour milk solids
Whey (delactosed, demineralized, protein concentrate)
Yogurt
The following ingredients suggest the presence of milk protein:
Brown sugar flavoring
Caramel flavoring
Chocolate
High protein flour
Margarine
Natural flavoring
Simplesse
If your child is allergic to nuts, avoid the following ingredients:
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Chestnuts
Filberts/hazelnuts
Gianduja
Hickory nuts
Macadamia nuts
Marzipan/almond paste
Nougat
Nu-Nuts artificial nuts
Nut butters
Nut oil
Nut paste
Pecans
Pine nuts
Pistachios
Walnuts
Use only imitation or artificial flavored extracts
If your child is allergic to peanuts, avoid the following:
Cold pressed peanut oil
Ground nuts mixed nut
Nu-Nuts artificial nuts
Peanut
Peanut butter
Peanut flour
No Chinese Food
These foods often contain peanuts in small or large amounts:
African, Chinese, Thai and other ethnic dishes
Baked goods (pastries, cookies, etc..)
Candy
Chili
Chocolate (candy, candy bars)
Egg rolls
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Marzipan
Nougat
