Talking Allergies

Annamarie, I've added the recipe to that section. Now all you have to do is find safe coconut and butterscotch chips... sometimes easier said than done. Enjoy!

I know of a safe brand of coconut. If I can't find safe butterscotch, I'll just substitute - either white or choc or a combination of both. But, I think there are butterscotch that are safe for me. Thanks for the recipe.

NoNuts peabutter is available at our Atlantic Superstores and Sobeys. I have found it in the organic section as well as well as the peanut butter section.
I made peabutter balls this past christmas and my mom made peabutter cookies. No-one could tell the difference and I just used my regular old peanut butter recipes.

My only concern with this product is that it is so much like peanut butter (colour, smell etc..) that one would be hard pressed to tell the difference at school. I send my daughters with peabutter sandwiches and they are never questioned because they are the allergic ones. I haven't spread the word at school because I fear that someone will try to sneak a peanut butter sandwich in and claim it's peabutter. Is it aweful to think that some would do this? Am I just too paranoid?

Hey, Islandmother - you are from my favourite island. (Wish I was going again this year.)

It's horrible to think that someone would try to *pass off* peanut butter as a safe alternative. But, I'd worry about that too.

My son does not have food allergies, I'm the one with pa. I have been trying to get him to eat more things, and peabutter was one of the things I was hoping to get him to eat. Partly because it would be a healthy lunch sandwich.

But, I think like you. I planned to take a jar of it in to the school office to actually show it to the principal to see whether or not it would be OK for my son to bring it. I was also going to give her time to talk to the parents of the children with peanut allergy - if they objected I wouldn't send it in. (There is a peanut ban at my son's school.)

I admit I would have liked to be able to send it in - BUT I would rather raise the suggestion quietly, and be told NO, rather then send it in and give nightmares to some other parent.

In the end - my son won't eat it.

My 3 year old son has multiple food allergies including peanut and green peas. As someone else mentioned, some individuals can be allergic to other legumes, so caution may still need to be used with pea-butter around allergic individuals. But for those that can safely use it, isn't it great to find a new food?! I'm always excited when I discover a "new" food that my son can eat!

Peanuts are legumes as are peas, beans etc. Would peabutter not be an allergen to children allergic to peanuts??

The legume family is quite large, and yes it does include peanuts (and peas, and soybeans). Some people are allergic to an entire family of foods - but some people (like me) are just allergic to a specific food within that family.

I seen it at our local Health Food Store.

I've tried the soynut butter too, but I find the peabutter a bit closer to peanut-butter.

Also, I found peabutter in Walmart last night - $4.95 a jar. We found it at the Scarb. Town Centre - but I guess any Walmart with a grocery section probably has it.

Anyone know if the peabutter is soy free?

That darn canola oil gets me everytime

I just checked my jar, and it does not say the word *soy* on it at all. As in, not listed as an ingredient, but doesn't specificy *soy free*.

It does have canola oil (and rapseed). But, is canola related to soy?

The web-site is on the first page of this thread. I'm pretty sure there is an e-mail address to contact them. They are an allergy aware company, so I'd suggest you contact them to find out if it is safe for you.

TMcG, someone else posted a link to the specialty shop at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital somewhere on this board. I looked it up, here's a link to the page about Peabutter.

www.specialtyfoodshop.com/

click *shop online* and then follow the links through food allergies. Here's what they said about Peabutter:

Awesome!

I think I may try to recreate my old favorite - Hershey's Peanut Butter Cups... Now to search for soy free chocolate...

Thanks!

I found Peabutter at a local health food store & despite the price tried it. 3 years later we now buy it at our very small Foodland store at least once a month. All I did was ask the manager to bring it in & she does. I've told a few folks about it but have been told by others I should try it. (which means others are trying it) Needless to say I love it. Before we found out my youngest son was allergic to peanuts we were a big nut family. Now we are all nuts!

We emailed the manufacturers to see if we could get coupons or soemthing for the school but after a lot of thought we worried about someon passing a peanut butter sandwich off as safe. I think it's better to keep it out of our school for now. Maybe when everyone is more knowledgeable about it I'll remention it.

I tried making pb cookies with it with no luck. I'm glad to know we can make the marshmellow squares, again I need to find safe coconut.

Living in a small town is making baking more of a challenge. I went in to find a bag of raisons, no luck, they all may contain! Needless to say, when I go to the city I visit COSCO & get a big bag of them! Thanks for the tips!

hickmom, I think Dalton's might have a safe coconut. Some of their products have warnings for nuts/peanuts, so I contacted them a few years ago - and they do have some safe stuff and put warnings on anything that *may contain*. I think the coconut is safe - but check the label if you find it, I haven't bought any for a while.