Another Symptom Source Clue

My naturopath (Dr. Stephen Wangen) posts blog comments about "food, health and delivering better quality healthy care" on his clinic website. I think those posts describe how to live well despite food allergies. His recent post about "Food Allergy Labeling Not Always Accurate" provided one more clue in my continual search for the source of my intermittent gut symptoms (cramping pain, bloating, gas and irregularity). He said:

"One of the more common food allergy questions that I get (at his clinic) is what to make of labels that say "may contain traces of...." or "made on equipment shared with products that contain...." Of course, you can't really tell what these statements mean because the situation can vary so much from one place or product to another. Now there is finally a small study on this exact issue.

U.S. News reported this month that a study has finally ascertained what was suspected all along - that some of these products do in fact contain a food allergen ... Big companies produce gigantic amounts of a product, reducing the potential for an allergen to show up in it even if it is made on shared equipment. It is simply a matter of statistical probability. But it's still useful information.

However, the bottom line is that the more processed food that you eat, the more likely you it is that you will ingest something that you didn't intend to ingest."

After reading his post, I checked my refrigerator and pantry for 'processed food'. I eat mostly fresh vegies, fruit, nut butter, meats, legumes. I also consume gluten free grains (rice, cereals and breads) made in certified GF factories. However I also consume Pacific Hazelnut milk, Imagine broths and Annie's or Drew's Salad Dressings. I didn't notice any 'may contain traces' or 'made on equipment shared ...' labels on the milk or soups. However the Annie's Salad dressing very plainly mentioned that my flavor of salad dressing (which is free of all 7 of my allergies) is 'made on shared equipment' where dairy, soy, etc. are processed.

That Annie's label MAY explain why I have intermittent cramping gut pain and ongoing bloating and irregularity. The cramps feel just like my 'soy' reactions (not as intense as dairy or gluten but still painful) and seem to last a few days and then disappear. That pattern matches how often we have entree salads for dinner and I use Annie's dressings. Getting just a tiny bit of soy occasionally would keep my symptoms going. With delayed IgA food allergies abstinence from an allergen causes an even stronger reaction the next time that allergen is ingested. So only a tiny amount (from factory cross contamination) can cause days of painful symptoms.

Soooo I tossed my opened bottle of Annie's dressing and plan to make my own salad dressing the next time we have salad for dinner. I have safe ingredients and several great recipes for salad dressings. I also have the ingredient which 'dressing' companies use to keep the ingredients from separating ... xanthum gum, which I must use for gluten free baking. Fortunately xanthum gum keeps my dressing ingredients in suspension. So I don't have to do the shake vigorously thing every time I use homemade dressings. That never seems to work anyway, because the oil usually pours off first leaving me with vinegary/watery dressing after the first serving. Anyway I'll try using homemade dressing AFTER my current symptoms (OUCH!) subside.