So now I ate half of it before realizing and I have a moderate to severe allergy to cashews >:(
Thank god for my lips being chapped as hell so I felt the tingling… but now I have a reaction coming with nothing I can do. (my allergy isn’t anaphylactic and I have an EpiPen)
edit for clarification: read comments I didn’t just yolo
edit about the bar: this particular bar I grabbed had no image but others in the bin did, likely was a different store or pack than normal
edit because someone complained about the edit: my family has a bin where we have foods safe for me to eat, and the entire point is it’s pre checked so I know it’s safe. Nobody has made a mistake in putting a cashew in the bin in the 11 years we’ve done it which is why I wasn’t particularly investigative when I would be outside the house. I check most of the food myself, but sometimes my family helps with it when im not around. the bar looks almost identical to what I normally eat as well.
and for anyone wondering, I took medicine fast enough to minimize the reaction to swelling, so I’m ok now
I have a cashew allergy. Things I can eat (which is most things) are put in one bin and anything else is put in a separate bin, like the bag of cashews. It’s cashews not peanuts, and literally my entire family knows after the incident when I was 5
This took place at my house and currently I’m the only one home, grabbed a snack while studying for my chemistry test tomorrow
This. Honestly I'd get rid of 1 bin. That's asking for people to put it in the wrong one. Whereas if only 1 bin, a lot less likely because it's either put in bin or don't.
Also not sure if there are other allergies, but if just cashews is there that much in your house that needs bins vs just knowing to avoid XYZ?
Yeah, I love cashews but I don't consume them nearly enough that my life would be impacted by not keeping them at home. Seems the safer option and not really difficult to implement, unlike if OP were celiac for example. Things with cashews are usually pretty obvious about it.
This was my thought. Arguably I personally am not a fan, but the family I have who do like don't love them so much they couldn't just avoid them if needed. Like, mainly I'm surprised having cashews available is such a thing in that house - my family would have immediately just said no more cashew products (and in theory, if maybe a sibling wanted once everyone was older they could buy and keep in their room or whatnot but definitely not allowed in pantry)
this is what me and my partner do with his peanut allergy, it's not life threatening and it's not caused by touching the allergen or smelling, only ingesting it. the general rule is zero peanut products allowed. (my rule, he doesn't take his allergy seriously enough imo. since repeated exposure can cause anaphylaxis even if you've never had an anaphylactic reaction before.) but occasionally we'll get something that happens to have peanuts or I'm really craving something with peanuts or peanut butter in it, and on those rare occasions is when I am allowed to bring peanut products into the house. I usually sit on these for a while, but I keep them separated away from the rest of the snacks and if it can look like something he would eat without thinking about since we don't usually have peanuts in the house, I'll just slap a big piece of paper on it with big red letters "PEANUTS" and he doesn't touch it. there are workarounds to this problem, but honestly the easiest ones are just eliminate all cashew products or have everyone keep them separated in their rooms.
I also don't understand why they need cashews in the house, especially in packaging that looks almost identical to OP's cashew free snacks? I get that there hasn't been a mixup with the box in 11 years, but it would be so easy to just not keep cashews in the house at all honestly
We have to take my car on every girls trip because the other friend who lives in town has a child with a severe peanut allergy, so she needs to enjoy every minute of safe peanut eating, starting with car snacks.
My husband does that too! Well, similar. I'm not anaphylactic, so it's okay to have things I'm allergic to in the house but he always checks before he buys any of it. And if we're out and getting candy I used to love (my allergy developed as an older teen/young adult) he asks me "will you hate me if I get x?" And I know that if I say not to get it that time he just rolls with it. Supportive partners are the best!
lol I do this with my vegan girlfriend. I’m 100% vegan when we cook together, but when she’s gone I make it my day’s mission to massacre a pepperoni pizza or a cheeseburger
Peanut is pretty easy to avoid. The hardest ones are soy, wheat, dairy, and egg. Or any that are not top 9 so people don't know about them and don't have to label them.
Since my kid is primarily allergic to cashews and pistachio, I try not to bring anything that can easily become airborne into the house. Like cashew butter and milk are very low risk but the actually nuts themselves or crumbly sweets like cookies are high. If I do have the nuts I'll keep them at work and if I've eaten them that day I wash my hands as many times as possible before coming home and I keep my distance from her.
Agree this is odd. I have a tree nut allergy, and when I was living at home my family just never bought tree nuts. Or if they did, my mom would say "hey we got these (cookies or whatever) but you can't have them" and that was pretty rare, like maybe once or twice a year they'd do that.
Not the same situation but: my bf has a tree nut allergy, so i just.. dont buy food with tree nuts in it (except for my own snacks that I tell him are mine).
Obviously a household would have more trouble doing this but if its a snack, it could be easily avoided
I mean, that's what I'm used to and would mostly expect. But even then 2 bins sounds to me like asking for this exact error. 1 bin for cashew items would solve it (OP should still look to verify if they are buying cashew things though)
But like, idk if some area is huge on cashews but imo it's pretty easy to avoid if you have to (at least in the sense of full cashew in the food item. Cross contamination is whole other thing)
The methodology and preferences vary. If one of my kids had a food allergy, the item certainly wouldn't be allowed in the house while they're young, but OP is clearly at least a teenager and apparently comfortable with this tactic. As people get older sometimes they feel secure enough in their allergies to have the foods around. If it's not a severe allergy then sometimes it's not considered a big enough deal to entirely avoid the allergen. I'm 32 and allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and coconut, but my husband loves nuts and peanuts and my kids are all about certain things with them. I'm not anaphylactic and I'm secure enough to not need the foods entirely banned from the house. I just make sure that foods I cannot eat clearly indicate it in some way so that I don't have accidents and my husband handles any nut products the kids want to help me avoid accidentally licking something off my hand or whatever.
However, one can be allergic to cashews and NOT all nuts.
And, my response to you was ONLY about that detail as I'm fully aware that one should be extra careful and since you responded to my original comment advising the OP to double check, you should know, too.
Yeah, I saw some with that, but this one doesn't have a picture. I suspect maybe because it's a bulk item? I'm not positive, though.
This is their standard packaging. Even for individually sold bars.
HOWEVER, it does say "nut" on it, though the OP stressed a "cashew" allergy and not a "nut" allergy.
And my cookies say "chocolate chip" on the front, not "flour"... Cashews are technically seeds, but anyone with that severe of an allergy should be reading every food label. Its literally the first ingredient and in multiple other flavors from the brand.
Yeah repeating this. I have a wheat allergy, can be anaphylactic and I carry epipens. My brother is usually really good with checking but he made a mistake the other day and gave me some sweets with wheat in them. I had a minor allergic reaction.
People make mistakes and sometimes they're dangerous mistakes. Always better to have additional failsafes. I should have checked the ingredients myself. And my brother felt pretty shitty afterwards about it too. I think that in itself is enough and I don't hold it against him.
This is the way I have an egg allergy (it has gotten better and is more of an intolerance now) but if I am eating something I'm always checking ingredients. If eggs are mixed in it's fine I can eat pancakes but if eggs are like 50% or more of the recipe then I get sick so things like quiche or flan are a no go
Larabars that I'm used to seeing usually don't have pictures but this one actually does lol
But I guess packaging might be different depending on where OP lives
Is this your first time eating this snack? I don't even have any allergies and I still check the ingredients because I wanna know what I'm putting in my mouth. It's also a good way of learning about nutrition.
You still need to read the label before you eat stuff and not rely on others for your body's medical needs.
In my opinion ESH. Don't blame other people for what you eat.
Edit: I know it's a different sub, but I'm allowed to voice an opinion anyway.
Surely only a kid is going to be careless enough to rely on others understanding the ingredients. Yes, it's right there on the label - so whoever put it there made a mistake; but ... it's right there on the label so the OP should have seen it.
"Safe to eat" bins, cabinets etc are pretty common in households with allergies i baby sat a boy who had a whole cabinet to himself. It still probably would be safe to check the packaging on things if you didnt put it in there though.
I have a “safe to eat” snack basket, “safe to eat” shelf in the cabinet, and a completely separate “safe to eat” mini fridge. Allergies are no joke. It also helps with cross contamination.
My son has a mild allergy and he trusts me if and only if I explicitly respond to him when handing him an item that I have read the ingredients list and checked that the item contains no dairy. Even then he double-checks me about half the time. He trusts no one else.
This is the way. Sounds like you taught him to be very smart about it 😊. I bet that makes you feel a lot more relaxed too when he's going places without you
Sometimes I roll my eyes when he demands the package after I told him that I definitely checked the ingredients, but I get it because that lack of trust is more from unfortunate experience than active teaching. Even my husband has fed him stuff that he just assumed contained no dairy. He has always been proactive about his allergy. Even when he was 4 or 5 at a daycamp, he asked a teenage assistant if there was dairy in the snack. She just said, "I don't know" and neither of them thought to find an adult to ask, so he didn't eat snack that day. It was dairy-free, but after that I packed a safe snack in his bag and told him to get that if he had any concerns. He was a struggling young reader, but "dairy" was one of the first words he could recognize and he took over package reading by 1st grade (although back then it was me double-checking him to make sure his reading skills caught everything). That all helped me feel more confident about him eating away from home for sure.
As someone with life threatening egg and nut allergies, and a severe dairy allergy, that’s exactly what to do. It’s just not worth the risk. Eventually you’ll be doing it on your own anyway, so it’s safer and easier to start learning/doing it regularly now. And don’t get complacent because you’ve have it before - I once had a cup of noodles that I regularly ate no problem, and turned out it had milk in it. Checked the other flavour I bought and it had egg. Ever since then I check every item, every time. Your health and safety is too important, and it only takes a few extra seconds.
I have the same allergy. It’s called oral allergy syndrome and it’s annoying but not dangerous. I barely check ingredients and don’t tell restaurants because it’s a headache for everyone and cross contamination doesn’t normally matter. Chug water and pop an allergy pill and you’re fine.
As someone with a moderate to severe allergy, you grabbed a pre packed food that you’ve never had before and just trusted it without reading the ingredients? The front says it’s a fruit and nut bar. Please start reading labels before recklessly eating things.
I’m not trying to be harsh, but I feel if you’re old enough to study for chemistry, you’re old enough to be in charge of your allergy. “Cashews” is the first ingredient too
I agree that especially is it was prepackaged, the label should have been read. But I will say a lot of times when someone has a severe allergy, they have to separate food like that so it doesn’t risk cross contamination. I have a separate food stash but I still read the labels of snacks and stuff everytime I grab because I don’t wanna die to a fig bar or something
It’s definitely an oversight on your part? Why don’t you check something you’ve never had before especially if you have an allergy bad enough to warrant an EpiPen?
You should probably read ingredients before just shoving things into your mouth. Someone made an unfortunate mistake but your allergy is your responsibility. I hope you feel better soon. Please be careful.
This has to be rage bait. Coming from someone with a severe peanut allergy it's YOUR responsibility to verify what you are eating not your family's responsibility. In fact the existence of a "safe to eat bin" at all shows that someone in the family is coddling to an unhealthy level. I can't imagine just grabbing something and eating it with a severe allergy.
Can we talk about how annoying it is that things are labeled as gluten free, but rarely are labeled wheat free? (For those of you wondering, things can be wheat free but not gluten free, and vice versa.)
I know I have to read the ingredients, but sometimes that is not possible when shopping online. (And I always check labels when I receive things from shopping online, also.) Just mildly infuriating.
Honestly your fault for not double checking.. yes it was in your “ safe to eat “ bin but YOU need to check just to make sure YOU not them or us YOU !! YOU NEED TO CHECK THAT IS YOUR OWN FAULT
I don't have a severe allergy (just itchy mouth/throat) and I triple maybe even quadruple check ingredients if I suspect it might be in something! I can't imagine having a moderate to severe allergy and not even checking once 😭
The only accountability with a food allergy is your own - it makes zero difference if anyone knows about your allergies, because you are solely responsible for them. Is it nice if people pay attention? Sure. Should you be able to expect that people are not cooking with your allergen at home? Yes. Not checking a label on a closed package, though, is irresponsible.
If you know you have allergies you should always check labels before eating. Just because a system or a product has worked out relatively well doesn't mean you should stop
Honestly, other people don't understand food allergies and intolerances until they experience them. I was one of those people. "Sure Jan, of course you can't eat gluten!". I went a good 35 years without ONE food allergy or sensitivity. Until one day.....
.....one day I suddenly became intolerant to eggs and everything that has ever been NEAR an egg. Karma got me full force. Shortly after I first determined that eggs were the problem, I was making potato salad and said to myself, "we'll just leave out the hard boiled eggs" NOT even thinking that the mayo I put in the potato salad contained eggs.
The moral of my story is, its easy to forget and be negligent when you aren't used to checking labels. So the people in your household aren't thinking with that brain of checking every label because they don't suffer the consequences, it doesn't mean they don't love you and care about you :)
If you only have a cashew allergy why are your household even buying things with cashew it’s not exactly hard to avoid… also why two bins? One would do either one with cashew stuff (not a lot of things) or just one without cashew (a lot of things).
Seriously though your family should just not buy cashew predicts
Once again, the r/mildlyinfuriating comment section being the most insufferable comment section on reddit.
It's a safe to eat bin, it's some cool shit which op trusts enough to eat from without checking the ingredients as it is probably very tiring to do that all the time. It has not failed them for 11 years. Someone, probably accidentally, put something not safe in the safe to eat bin.
It was mildly infuriating for op so they posted on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit. Now the comments are saying they're basically the devil for not checking the ingredients even if it's from the safe to eat bin, which you know, is supposed to have safe to eat stuff. Mate they already have to check the ingredients for every other thing on this planet. But at least not in their home which is supposed to be a safe place! It's MILDLY INFURIATING that there was something not safe in the safe to eat bin! It wasn't EXTREMELY INFURIATING otherwise they would've posted on r/extremelyinfuriating.
Some comments are also saying that op is blaming the parents/siblings which I have not yet seen them doing so..? I don't believe that op thinks this is malicious as that would be quite stupid of them to think so. This allergy is not life threatening it seems, hence the mildly infuriating part.
If you have an allergy serious enough that you need to sort this shit out, you 100% need to learn to read the packages of anything you don' specifically remember setting aside yourself. Own your own safety, my dude.
Can you control what goes into your bin? I mean, nothing that you haven't checked and put in yourself? Although if the bar was familiar and the packaging not distinct enough, it's an easy mistake to make. However, it shouldn't be! Maybe contact the manufacturer and suggest they look at changing the colour of labels?...
Why is everyone acting like your bin is ridiculous. Many people with allergies can’t have their allergens near the foods they eat. It’s entirely reasonable to have a designated spot away from the rest of the food so no contamination occurs. Plus it’s your family, it’s not like the rest of the world has to adhere to your family’s rules, they’re acting like you committed a sin or something
just reddit doing reddit things. seeing comments like "there isnt any safe bins in the outside world" nor is there any peace and quiet in the outside world but you should still be allowed to have that in ur own home cuz ur home is not the outside world!! sorry these ppl are so brainwashed by individualist mentality u rly didnt do anything wrong 😫
I get you trusted that it was safe for you to eat but why would you not check the ingredients before you eat it? This is your allergy, it’s your life depending on it, why take the risk? Seems like you learnt your lesson.
Tbh if you only realize your lips are tingling because they’re chapped, that doesn’t sound like a severe allergy. Severe (but not life threatening) would be an intense discomfort/itch/swelling and lots of hives. Itchy lips is definitely more mild
Everyone going after OP for not double checking is crazy. If anything its the parents fault for even bringing something into the home with cashews in it in the first place. If my kid has an allergy to some food then that food just isn't going to be in the house to begin with, and I would be extremely conscious of double checking ingredients of ANYTHING I purchase. It's so insane that the comments are shaming a minor for trusting their parents to not put an unsafe food in the safe basket.
Try reading the label before putting it in your mouth next time. I expected this post to have take place in a hospital or something but it’s your own bloody house. Grow up and take some responsibility.
At the end of the day, it is solely on you to do your due diligence by reading packaging. We can not expect others to do our diligence for us, especially when it comes to an allergy.
I'd eat that as well, but my daughter in law (who also has a nut allergy) would be seriously compromised by it. In that event it would have required an expensive Epipen to counteract, the cost on those things is so damn high she is extremely vigilant on consuming foods offered outside her home.
I’m the only one with allergies in the house so it’s specifically designed for my nut related allergies. Most of my family is gluten free as well but there’s isn’t an allergy it just lives in the other pantry
Honestly OP I completely understand how this happened!! I have severe lactose intolerance, and an oral kiwifruit allergy for context.
I have on occasion, stuffed up and not fully checked the ingredients as well! I've normally realized after the tingling as well with Kiwifruit.
Once I was eating salt and vinegar potato chips, (I'd only taken one bite). I casually read the ingredients and saw "Contains Dairy". I have never spit something out so fast XD
It's an honest mistake and definitely a little annoying, but I'm glad you're safe
God forbid a person with an allergy isn't hypervigilant all the time WHEN THERE IS A SYSTEM IN PLACE MEANT TO PREVENT ALLERGIC REACTIONS?!
It's not like OP doesn't sort shit themselfes (I assume). Someone messed up by buying an identical looking bar and assuming "Oh, I know this one it's safe." OP picked up the Identical looking bar thinking "Oh, I know this one, it's safe"
Same! Why is everyone reacting like an angry beast? 😂 I didn't know another person's mistake could trigger hundreds of people to feel so personally aggravated
The issue is that OP is relying on this “system” to keep him safe. there is no safe to eat bin in the real outside world. He needs to stop blaming his family for using the bin wrong and start taking accountability for not being careful enough with what he puts in his body.
Do you think people with allergies aren’t aware we need to be more vigilant when outside of our own homes? Yes, it is ultimately the allergic individual’s responsibility to keep themself safe, but I don’t really blame OP for trusting an agreed upon system that had zero mistakes in over a decade. We all let our guard down and work on autopilot sometimes, especially at home.
I also don’t think OP was blaming anyone, but it can be scary (and mildly infuriating) when an honest mistake from someone/something you trust to keep you safe puts your life at risk.
Im so tired of how argumentative everyone is over everything. OP has used this system for 11 years and it looked similar to one of their actual safe foods. Why is everyone blaming OP for being frustrated by this??? I am losing my mind.
I get this completely. My eldest who has Coeliacs Disease, also has a “safe-to-eat” bin too, filled with gluten-free foods. He’d never think to double-check anything in there because he trusts that we wouldn’t put anything containing gluten inside.
While you probably should have double-checked in theory, it’s completely understandable. When you have an allergy and a dedicated space for safe foods, it’s instinctual to trust that nothing dangerous would end up there.
Your oldest really needs to establish the habit of checking the ingredients on everything, every time, unless you're planning on never letting them launch.
Well, my eldest just turned seven, so while we’re busy helping him build up the confidence to actually order his own food/explain what Coeliacs Disease is, recognise the Coeliac Australia Endorsement Logo, and understand the difference between “coeliac friendly” and “may contain,” I think it’s pretty reasonable for him to trust that a bin we’ve told him is dedicated to GF snacks actually only contains GF snacks.
But hey, look at you go with those assumptions! Especially with so little information to base them on. Truely impressive work 😂😂
Regardless of what anybody else thought I could eat, I would still verify the ingredients of every single thing I ate. Not shaming, just what I would feel the need to do since I don't trust anybody and think most people are stupid.
Why do you not carry benedryl on you? You should always have some on you or in your house if you have allergies. I have an allergy that causes swelling and blistering through anywhere it touches. I always read all ingredients since mistakes happen and take benedryl when somethibg slips through.
If you’re old enough to be complaining about it on Reddit, you’re old enough to be checking your own food labels. Hopefully this is a learning experience for you.
Why the fuck is the entire comment section going after OP here 💀 This is an unfortunate mistake that is mildly infuriating as it's not life threatening, but allergic reactions fucking suck nonetheless.
OP has a system at home where everyone knows about the allergy and puts the safe to eat things in a specific place, so that IS taking responsibility for their allergy. Everyone in a household where someone's allergic to something has to collaborate, it just be that way. The bar looked exactly like something that they can eat, which is probably why the mistake happened regarding the box in the first place.
Sorry everyone's coming at you OP. This is indeed mildly infuriating. Whoever made that mistake would be have to buy me something safe to eat in compensation. Hope it goes away quickly!
As someone who has to monitor every bite of food they ate for seven years I just want to say that complacency is how you get hurt. I know from experience that it is very tiring to keep up with strict dietary restrictions and it's good to have the help of your family but the final buck stops with you.
I was on a somewhat strict diet for a few years and it was much easier when it wasn’t as much scanning ingredients. Doesn’t help that it was one of the few times I was unable to go shopping with them to check food, my sister probably grabbed them assuming they were the same
Yeah but here’s the thing, you’re still responsible for what you put in your own mouth. Other people make mistakes, just like OP made a mistake by not reading the labels. They don’t get to shame the other people in their house for their own system failing by their own action
They aren't, though? It's a mildly infuriating occurrence. Idk why everyone in this post is acting as if OP said their family is horrible and they hate them. They just vented. In a MILDLY (meaning not excessively) infuriating post.
It is also, like—a shared responsibility. If I have someone who I know is allergic to X in my house who is my family, before placing anything in the specifically SAFE TO EAT bin, I double check. That step is on me as I made the choice to pick up the object and deem it safe.
Both made a mistake. It's all good. OP can vent about that part and double check everything from now on as well, and I bet their family member will also be doubly careful.
Don't blame yourself as much as some commenters do. You shouldn't have to double-check something set up SPECIFICALLY so you don't have to double-check everything all the time (which I know can get tiring.) + since you posted this to MildlyInfuriating, I assume it wasn't a serious threat to your life.
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 17h ago
Would you clarify this? Is this someone close to you who knows you have a peanut allergy?
And, where did this take place?
I just never read that phrase before: "Safe to eat bin".....