Hidden Ingredients in Foods Concern Allergy Specialists

After watching two young patients with milk allergies react to dill pickle-flavored potato chips, a doctor warns it’s sometimes the hidden ingredients that get you.

Within 10 minutes of snacking on the chips, a 2-year-old girl developed facial swelling and hives; a 9-year-old boy developed those symptoms, plus an itchy, swollen throat.

The packages didn’t list milk or milk products as ingredients, so Dr. Wade T.A. Watson took a closer look at what goes into “dill pickle seasonings” and “spices.”

After inquiring about the ingredients in at least two manufacturers’ products, he learned that one brand contained whey, while another contained lactose and casein. All three are milk products.

“We spend a lot of time educating our patients to read labels,” said Watson, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s pediatrics department, who discussed hidden ingredients Monday during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology. “In this case, the ingredients were not listed,” Watson said. “Reactions can occur when patients are being conscientious. All packaging should list all foods.”

Both children, who are Canadian, became sick after eating Old Dutch chips.

Old Dutch Foods Inc. of Roseville, Minn., said its American product contains a complete ingredients list, including whey and lactose, to comply with U.S. labeling requirements. But in Canada, the laws are less stringent and the product is labeled more vaguely.

Steve Aanenson, whose family owns Old Dutch Foods Inc., said he’d be happy to offer a more detailed ingredient list. But he said the problem was that the spice manufacturers fear competition and disclose to his company just enough to stay within the law.

“It’s a food company’s worst nightmare to have a problem, whether it’s an allergic reaction or something else. But for the most part, that’s out of our control, because we don’t make those flavors ourselves,” he said.

The Canadian company says it will modify its labels to exceed the requirements of Canadian food and drug laws and try to include ingredients known to set off allergies.

“We’re making a change because we feel it’s important that if people have those allergies, they be informed of the ingredients in the product,” said Emily Smith, a company purchasing manager.

Watson advises his patients with milk allergies to avoid processed foods whose labels list such general ingredients as natural or artificial flavoring, spices and seasoning.