Food allergens can be disguised by alternate names and hidden in the long words of an ingredient list. Unless you know what words to look for, it’s easy to overlook an allergen. As parents of children with food allergies, you all know how serious such an oversight can be. This month, we are doing a blog series on hidden food allergens to help you recognize hidden ingredients so that this doesn’t happen to you and your little one.

Hidden Sources of Soy:

Last week, Nita discussed hidden names and sources of dairy. Today, we’ll focus on soy. Soy is especially tricky to avoid because it is often found in unexpected places such as in baked goods, cereals, crackers, infant formula, canned tuna, prepared meats (like sausage and lunch meats), sauces and soups. In fact, soy is found in an estimated 60% of processed foods! Therefore, if your child is allergic to soy, it’s incredibly important to always read and decipher food labels. Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) provides a great list of “Ingredients to Avoid”. It may be helpful to print this out, laminate it, and take it along to the grocery store as a guide. They also have a travel card that you can take along on trips, when dining out, etc.

Soy Oil:

Refined soy oil is usually safe for patients with soy allergies. The FDA exempts refined soybean oil from being labeled as an allergen. Talk with your child’s health care provider to determine what’s appropriate for your child. It’s important to note that not all soy oil is refined so unless it is specified as such, you should not assume it is safe.  For example, the ingredient list for Neocate Infant specifies that it contains refined soy oil because our purification process removes all soy proteins to make it safe for patients with soy allergies.  Soy oil described as “cold pressed”, “expeller pressed”, or “extruded” is not safe for those with soy allergies.

Managing a Soy Allergy:

Deciphering labels can be time-consuming and avoiding soy may seem to limit your child’s diet drastically. However, there are still many soy-free food options and plenty of soy substitutions for recipes. The main food limitations are with processed foods, which we could all probably use less of in our diets anyways! Plus, research shows that half of kids grow out of their soy allergy by the age of 7[1].

I must say, I was most shocked by the fact that soy is in canned tuna! Have you come across any other surprising hidden food allergens?

-Mallory

Back in our vitamin series we often referenced the ingredient list on formula & food labels and helped identify some of those long words as vitamins.  This sparked us to think about ingredients in general and the importance of understanding ingredients when dealing with food allergies.

There is so much more to ingredients then what’s listed on the label.  So, of course, we decided to blog about it!  Understanding fats, carbohydrates and proteins will be the topic of our next series.   Within the next few months we hope to cover some common inquiries such as types of fat, healthy vs. unhealthy fats, types of carbohydrate including corn, identify sugars, and hidden allergens such as dairy, and explain the building blocks of protein.

A few things to keep in mind while reading those labels and looking at ingredient lists: 

• The FDA requires all manufacturers to list all ingredients in the food on the label.
• Based on the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, manufacturers are required to list the top eight foods which account for the most food allergies in commonly used terms.  This does not include allergens accidently introduced during manufacturing or packaging through cross-contamination. 
• Ingredients are listed in order of predominance.  The ingredient used in the greatest amount is listed first, followed by those in smaller amounts listed next, in descending order.
• There are several different types of ingredients such as:
  • Preservatives (ascorbic acid, citric acid) to prevent food from spoiling
  • Emulsifiers (soy lecithin, mono-and diglycderides) which allow smooth mixing and prevent separation
  • Sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium) to add sweetness with or without the extra calories
  • Color Additives (citrus red no. 2, beta-carotene) which offsets color loss due to exposure to light, air, temperature extremes or moisture

Don’t forget to check back with us next week as we kick-off our ingredient series with the topic of fats.  Do you have any questions on what’s listed in the ingredients on food labels?

- Sarah