Beth,
Thank you for the information.  I agree with you, the food industry is very 
in tune to the word "allergy." In fact recently when I told a  waitress who 
was waiting on our family that our daughter was milk allergic she was prompt 
to inform me that their meatballs contained cheese. Since I don't add cheese 
to meatballs at home, I wasn't even thinking about this when we were 
ordering them at a restaurant.
Colleen


>From: Beth Kevles <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Milk/Casein/Lactose-Free List <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: milk-free chocolate chip, also varieties of allergic reaction
>Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:38:25 -0500
>
>  Hi --
>
>  First of all, I want to second the use of Trader Joe's semi-sweet 
>chocolate chips. They're parve, which means that they're milk-free and also 
>made on lines that have been scoured (and blessed) if a milk-using product 
>was made on the same line.
>
>  Yes, there's a (slight) risk of cross-contamination, since milk is added 
>to OTHER products (on other lines) in POWDERED form, and it's possible for 
>milk powder to travel through the air to the milk-free line. This 
>cross-contamination possibility is true of any product made in a factory 
>where milk is added to chocolate. There are, however, some chocolate 
>manufacturers who don't ever use milk. A couple are linked from my web 
>site, and will be of use to those who are severely allergic to milk 
>protein.
>
>  Second, someone talked about "true" allergy vs. gastric reaction. The 
>word "allergy" isn't as well-defined as one might think. Some allergies 
>lead to hives, asthma attacks, anaphyaxis. Others lead to severe gastric 
>symptoms which may be confused with lactose intolerance, but are NOT 
>lactose intolerance. (And some gastric reactions occur in parts of the 
>digestive tract where lactose enzyme deficiency is a non-issue.) If the 
>effect of consuming milk protein is nasty and consistent, it doesn't really 
>matter what you call it; it matters that you avoid milk protein. And if it 
>gets you safely through a restaurant meal to label your problem an 
>"allergy" (a word that is taken seriously by people in the food service 
>industry) then it's okay to call it that, no matter your true opinion of 
>the word.
>
>  My web site also contains some sample menus and lists of some safe foods 
>for those new to milk allergy, in case anyone here is still interested :-)
>
>  I hope this helps,
>  --Beth Kevles
>  Eating without Casein
>  web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html
>
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