• Just wanted to share a great experience at the Panera Bread on University Avenue today at lunch. Our son Mitchell has severe peanut and sesame seed allergy. The manager, Chris Carpenter, was wonderful and made everyone change their gloves, clean utensils, and clean countertops to make sure that our son_s ham & cheese sandwich had no cross contamination. We are always careful at restaurants to make sure our son is safe and we really appreciate when the management is as concerned as we are. Please pass the word to your members that the manager at Panera on University is very helpful and should be applauded for his efforts to keep our children safe.


• I have been to Panera Bread (different from the West side), but have not felt comfortable. First, the bread is probably contaminated in some way as they have seeds and nuts in their bread. Is this just a case of rolling the risk dice?


• We just had a fantastic birthday party for my 5 yr. old (tree nut allergic, and we don't expose him to peanut either) at Bean Sprouts - this adorable kid-focused restaurant in the strip mall across from Copps in Middleton Hills. http://www.beansproutscafe.com/ The staff is incredibly attentive to detail, they make everything from scratch, and they do all healthy food that easily caters to individuals with food allergy. The chef even called all her suppliers (i.e. Sysco) to ask if their flour was processed on shared equipment, etc. Nobody has ever done that for me before!


• Coconuts are technically tree nuts although there is very rarely any cross reactivity between them and other tree nuts or peanuts, so in general if some one is tree nut allergic they do not have to worry about coconut (unless they have had problems with it).
Submitted by Neal Jain MD


• Thank you for contacting Stretch Island Fruit Company. All of our products, with the exception of Fruitabü Twirls, do not contain any of the following allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soy.The Fruitabü Twirls available in Smoooshed™ Grape, Smoooshed™ Apple and Smoooshed™ Strawberry contain soy ingredients. This information may be found below the ingredient list on the Nutrition Facts back panel.In addition, because product formulations can change at any time, we encourage our consumers to check the ingredient statement on each package they purchase for the most up-to-date information on the ingredients contained in that product. Our fruit leathers, flats and twirls are made with all natural yummy ingredients. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Thanks again for e-mailing us.
Fruitfully yours,
Cheryl Bartolomeo
Stretch Island Fruit Company