Nut Allergy Fail

[dis-happy]

Last week I ate at Les Halle's with my 7yo who has a nut allergy.

I wanted soup and together we planned to share a seasonal dessert, La Bouche Noel.

Of course he wanted to eat it right away, but before giving any to him I thought I should double check to make sure it was nut free (although a traditional Bouche Noel wouldn't have nuts).

I returned to the front counter and the manager with the notebook came. He opened to the page, scanned the bottom line where major allergens are listed, and said it was nut free.

I sliced off a small piece for my DC to eat. He asked for more but I said he had to wait. After I finished the soup I ate the small piece of bottom crust he had left behind.

I had an OMG moment as alarm bells starting ringing in my head. There was definitely a strong nut flavor there!

I ran back to the counter and asked to see he notebook again. The same man brought it out. The entire time I'm telling him there is a strong nut flavor. First he said there was orange used in the dessert. I asked him if he bothered to actually taste the dessert. I said the base of it tasted very strongly of hazelnuts. He replied that the base has rice puffs in it and that was what I was tasting.

Finally the book comes out and he again points to the bottom list of main allergens to show me there are no nuts listed (and they weren't there).

However, as I scanned through the ingredients list (several paragraphs by section of the dessert) I got to the list of ingredients in the base crust. Sure enough "hazelnuts" was listed here.

Needless to say, someone messed up big time when putting this seasonal item's allergy list together. My child has had anaphylactic episodes in the past. Thankfully, and I'm guessing because he didn't eat the base, he didn't react. I gave him a single serve Benedryl as a precaution and watched him like a hawk the rest of the day.

I did stop by GS to say what happened...was concerned that this same dessert might be served elsewhere on site with the incorrect sheet provided. However, GS stated that the French Bakery items are only served at Les Halles and are brought in separately from an outside bakery.

 

[lanejudy]

So sorry that happened, that must have been scary for you. So very glad your son is OK. Thank you for sharing your experience and the warning for others to be alert. I hope you had a wonderful vacation otherwise!

 

[Mum23]

I'm very sorry that happened. I know all families handle things differently but bakery items in general are a very high cross contamination wish for people with nut allergies because they use the same equipment for everything and there are so many nuts used in bakery in general. Also, I believe this is a place that isn't Disney owned but I could most definitely be incorrect about that. There are know differences between those restaurants run by trained Disney staff vs. those not.

I am very relieved your child was safe. It is so scary! I know people always talk about how wonderful Disney is with allergy management but it is still very hard. My DS had a very minor reaction on our last day at BOG. I am glad it was the last day or I would have been more of a mess at every meal!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Soooo glad he is ok.

Does your action plan still call for benedryl for accidental exposure? Most doctors, ours included now say DO NOT give benedryl. It can't stop an anaphylactic reaction and can mask the symptoms of one. The side effects of benedryl are so similar to the symptoms of a huge drop in blood pressure that come with anaphylactic reactions. This thought is somewhat new so many established kids may have not seen their allergy doctors recently enough to have their action plan updated. Most are now saying epi if accidental ingestion occurs, even with no symptoms. That's a hard one to swallow. Of course your doctor knows best for your kid but just finding a lot of PA parents have not been informed of the new standard protocol. Hugs. I know you were scared!!

 

[OurBigTrip]

Soooo glad he is ok.

Does your action plan still call for benedryl for accidental exposure? Most doctors, ours included now say DO NOT give benedryl. It can't stop an anaphylactic reaction and can mask the symptoms of one. The side effects of benedryl are so similar to the symptoms of a huge drop in blood pressure that come with anaphylactic reactions. This thought is somewhat new so many established kids may have not seen their allergy doctors recently enough to have their action plan updated. Most are now saying epi if accidental ingestion occurs, even with no symptoms. That's a hard one to swallow. Of course your doctor knows best for your kid but just finding a lot of PA parents have not been informed of the new standard protocol. Hugs. I know you were scared!!

I'll have to ask my sister about this - my niece is peanut allergic, and their plan still says Benadryl first.

 

[Mum23]

.

 

[dis-happy]

Soooo glad he is ok.

Does your action plan still call for benedryl for accidental exposure? Most doctors, ours included now say DO NOT give benedryl. It can't stop an anaphylactic reaction and can mask the symptoms of one. The side effects of benedryl are so similar to the symptoms of a huge drop in blood pressure that come with anaphylactic reactions. This thought is somewhat new so many established kids may have not seen their allergy doctors recently enough to have their action plan updated. Most are now saying epi if accidental ingestion occurs, even with no symptoms. That's a hard one to swallow. Of course your doctor knows best for your kid but just finding a lot of PA parents have not been informed of the new standard protocol. Hugs. I know you were scared!!

OP here.

Thanks for this reminder. The Ped allergist had told me previously to skip the Benedryl and move straight to the epi-pen if DC had a reaction. We've never discussed accidental exposure but I plan to now. One thing I got out of this incident is we need to see the allergist again as it's been awhile. I'm also curious to know if he's possibly outgrowing a nut allergy, or perhaps he wasn't as reactive to hazelnuts to begin with. I know peanuts and walnuts tested very high and we were told to avoid all tree nuts plus peanuts.

The week before the trip I had just completed re-certification in health care provider CPR and first aid. I had the epi pen out and ready and feel confident using it. Because he was showing no reaction, and he's now old enough to communicate any reaction symptoms to me (and I prodded him with questions), I felt ok about waiting it out.

In the end it was fine. I probably added a few gray hairs though.

 

[bookgirl]

I'm new to the allergy thing but one of the first things I noticed was that the ingredients list does not always list the entire dessert. Separate components often have separate lists.

Pie filling one list
crust another list
topping another list

Sometimes it winds on to the next or backside of the page.

Glad you caught on before he had too much exposure.

 

[SueM in MN]

Very scary, but glad it worked out OK.

I'm new to the allergy thing but one of the first things I noticed was that the ingredients list does not always list the entire dessert. Separate components often have separate lists.

Pie filling one list
crust another list
topping another list

Sometimes it winds on to the next or backside of the page.

Glad you caught on before he had too much exposure.

Especially if the items are put together on site, since they may sometimes get a new component.

 

[dis-happy]

I'm new to the allergy thing but one of the first things I noticed was that the ingredients list does not always list the entire dessert. Separate components often have separate lists.

Pie filling one list
crust another list
topping another list

Sometimes it winds on to the next or backside of the page.

Glad you caught on before he had too much exposure.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the allergy information sheet.

To be clear, the majority of the page consisted of the separate components of the dessert, with each ingredient listed.

At the bottom of the sheet was an overall listing of major allergens for the dessert, such as egg, soy, etc. It was this section the manager originally examined before telling me it was nut free, and continued to say it was nut free after I questioned it (again showing it to me). After I found hazelnuts listed higher up and pointed it out, I pointed it the page bottom and said it was wrong. After agreeing, he then hand wrote the word "nuts" in.

It's a seasonal item brought in for Christmas and I honestly think that whoever prepared the sheet goofed up and didn't equate hazelnuts as a nut or somehow left it off otherwise. In the future I will examine everything more closely, lesson learned.

 

[disfan07]

Soooo glad he is ok.

Does your action plan still call for benedryl for accidental exposure? Most doctors, ours included now say DO NOT give benedryl. It can't stop an anaphylactic reaction and can mask the symptoms of one. The side effects of benedryl are so similar to the symptoms of a huge drop in blood pressure that come with anaphylactic reactions. This thought is somewhat new so many established kids may have not seen their allergy doctors recently enough to have their action plan updated. Most are now saying epi if accidental ingestion occurs, even with no symptoms. That's a hard one to swallow. Of course your doctor knows best for your kid but just finding a lot of PA parents have not been informed of the new standard protocol. Hugs. I know you were scared!!

That's exactly what I was told at my appointment a few months ago. Benadryl is great for seasonal allergies and in conjunction with epi but not as a replacement.
I have used my epi 10 times this year. 4 times I have been hospitalized afterwards. It's hard because it's scary to have to use the epi (and for me, I've had about 15 doses this year....a lot for the body to handle) but the pros of using the epi obviously outweigh the cons.

I think at Disney, a lot of people tend to let their guard down. I know I had a lot more trust in Disney than any other restaurant. But Disney can't guarantee anything even though we wish they could.

I had to use my epi at storytellers cafe in Disneyland this past Thursday. We have no idea what caused it, but I have 20 allergies so anything is possible, but we've never had problems before anywhere in Disney. But right after I ate I started not feeling good and had some minor symptoms and since we obviously didn't know what might have come in contact with it, it was automatic epi (plus 911, and Benadryl, steroids, Pepcid in the ER)

But OP, I'm glad your son was okay. Allergies are always a scary thing to deal with and a lot of people don't understand the seriousness of it if they've never had to deal with it. But definitely check with your allergist because it is definitely possible he might not be allergic anymore, or at least not allergic to hazelnuts specifically.