As we approach summer, we begin to shift our focus to outdoor fun and vacations. For those of us with food allergic family members and friends, gathering supplies for such outings may take a little more leg work. It is important to take along plenty of your favorite allergen-free supplies, just in case it is not available at your destination.
With food allergies, the focus understandably tends to be on ingestion of the offending food. Many food allergy sufferers, however, strive for complete avoidance altogether. It is so reassuring to be able to find a product whose label states it is free of particular food allergens. It makes protecting ourselves and our loved ones markedly easier.
There are a handful of sunscreens and mosquito-repellents that may be worth investigating. In fact, I have only found one mosquito-repellent (listed below) that broadly advertises its lack of food allergen ingredients.
- California Baby SPF 30+ Sunscreen. It is sold by online retailers such as the Babycenter Store and also on the California Baby website. According to California Baby, all California products are free of "nut oils", "gluten", "soy", "oats", "dairy", "sulfates", "DEA", "colors", "dyes", "synthetic fragrances" and more. They also sell other nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free, oat-free, dairy-free sunscreens as well as other toiletries.
- California Baby Bug Repellent Spray. Like the sunscreen, it is available from online retailers such as the Babycenter Store and also can be purchased on the California Baby website. The Bug Repellent Spray is all natural and does not contain DEET. Like their sunscreen, it is nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free, oat-free, and dairy-free. As always, consult their website or telephone for additional product information.
- Baby Blanket Sunblankie Towelettes. These are sold online by Baby Blanket Suncare directly as well as the Babycenter Store and drugstore.com. There is a note that "this product is peanut-free and gluten-free" in the product description on drugstore.com.
- Arbonne Baby Care Sunscreen SPF 30. Arbonne's website states it is "formulated without nut oils". Shea Butter oil is listed as an ingredient in the website's product description. To purchase, you must contact an Arbonne consultant. See the Arbonne website for additional information.
Again, be sure to check your labels, make telephone calls or send emails to verify any product's safety for your particular allergies. If any of you have already tried these products or know of others, please share your knowledge and send in a comment!
9 comments:
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for this! We certainly need to be vigilant about non-food products. I'm always looking at soaps, lotions, etc.
These are great resources!
Thanks, Jenny. Seems so many cosmetics and toiletries contain wheat, milk, peanut oil and/or tree nuts. We really have to do our homework if we're determined to avoid a particular allergen. Thankfully, product labeling for non-food items seems to have improved somewhat following the food labeling law. Even so, I still find many items that only list active ingredients but not inactive ingredients, and some with no ingredient list at all.
I have used all the Arbonne baby products since my son was covered with exema as an infant. They are great - especially the sunscreen!
It's good to get some feedback on these products. I know many visitors to Food Allergy Buzz are looking for safe sunscreens. I am still searching for other similar sun products out there; there must be more!
Hey Jennifer. Do you mind if I link to this post in an upcoming post on my blog? We had an incident with Tyler that involved a reaction and sunscreen and there is almost no information on this topic...except your post!!
Hope you're having a great start to the week!!
-Robyn
Hey Robyn, it's nice of you to ask! Yes, it's ok to link to this post. Isn't it remarkable how little information is available on food allergens in sunscreen? Odd since it is something we slather all over ourselves (and our kids). We worry about skin contact reactions with food, but somehow sunscreen doesn't get the same attention. We also see some eczema flare-ups from OFF mosquito spray as well...
Just an FYI for anyone who is allergic to soy. I contacted the customer service for Arbonne and they said they use soy oil in this product. I found that very disappointing.
I'm so confused. Shea butter comes from a tree nut, so how can Arbonne list this product as "nut free"??
I'm not sure if it has changed, but California Baby sunscreen now notes just that it is peanut-free, not nut-free, and it lists several ingredients that are noted as "being sourced from coconut or olive". Not ideal for my little one, given we don't know if he'll be allergic to coconut (our allergist says we should treat coconut like a tree nut).
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