My sister had an allergic reaction the other day to some bread she bought from the bakery at HEB. The bread was marked whole grain, but was not marked with any allergen information (which is a federal law, btw).

My mother called the store and the corporate office to ask why they did not mark their food and their response was they "just didn't." They also told her that they were never careful about cross contamination. They were extremely flippant and unhelpful.

My mother is now writing letters to the head of HEB and to allergy advocates.

Please, if you have allergies steer clear of buying items from HEB's bakery until they start putting information on their products.

My sister is extremely allergic to tree nuts, such as cashews, pistachios, walnuts, and almonds. If she eats a nut she goes into anaphylaxis and could die in minutes without her epi-pen. If there is cross contamination (bread baked on the sane equipment as a walnut muffin perhaps), she runs the same risk. Her mouth starts to itch if she gets close to a nut.

To not have these foods marked could very well be a death sentance for people like my sister. This includes all breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, anything that is baked directly at the store.

If they refuse to even put a sign up, what kind of lawsuits do you think they could face?

Just a word of warning. 

WOW! I would expect more from HEB! That's really dangerous on their part. 

That could have been tragic, I hope she is doing okay. 

She's doing ok. It was very scary though. She thankfully didn't need her epi-pen, but ended up having to down almost half a bottle of liquid Benadryl. 

How do they get away with it? 

I don't know. They shouldn't. 

Exactly! 

Glad your sister is ok! I am curious, can anyone tell me why we suddenly have all these horrific cases of allergic reaction to nuts? When I was a kid there was NEVER anything like that! 

I read a study once that said children who were on more antibiotics were more susceptible to allergies because the medicine killed all those healthy stomach bacterial cells that attacked the allergens.

I'm not sure how true that is, but it was interesting nonetheless. I read in the study that someone was working on developing a pill to recreate those antibodies and try to eradicate allergies. 

If a slice of bread kills I wouldn't experiment with store brands. Stick to brands you know, unless this is a setup to sue HEB...

You ready to call a vote yet? 

Please keep your dislike of me off an information thread. Thanks.

There is no lawsuit because, thankfully, she did not require emergency medical attention. If she had, I'd be telling a whole different story. 

I like you! We are going to have fun! 

Great. Start a new thread to discuss it. 

I wonder how many bakeries really are careful? My son is allergic to pickles and half the time his burgers come out with them anyway. Some just say "do you want me to take them off?" Ummm, no...make a new one.
Glad she is okay. 

Thank you for sharing this information. My son has a life threatening peanut allergy, so we are always careful. 

I have food allergy for certain food preventives as well. Im never far from my epi pen. I always asked a bunch of questions about my food. Cross contamination is always a concern and I'm sure it happens more than we know. Can't blame the store I would look more at the person baking the bread. If you have any doubt don't eat it. 

My son has a tree nut allergy as well. We haven't had problems with HEB in the past, but I'm very glad that you posted the info. It's so scary.

Incidentally, I've never found a single bakery that can ensure no nut cross contamination. I suppose I will need to take a class on cake decorating, because in that scenario, you can only trust your own kitchen. 

@ inspiring:

Does your sister have an Epi pen? Dd has to carry one due to food allergies 

Yes, she has several. She keeps a couple at the house, two in her car, and two she carries around with her in her purse. She's always hyper vigilant and this is the first reaction she's had since her senior year of high school (she's 21). She went into full anaphylaxis then and had to use her pen and be rushed to the hospital. Thankfully this instance wasn't as serious.

We always try to be aware as to what we bring around her, and the only reason we started buying HEB bakery goods was that they started printing the ingredients on the package. She'd never had a reaction to them until now. This was definitely a case of cross contamination. All we ask is that they label their goods as ones processed on equipment that processes nuts, or at least put a sign out that says as such, so this doesn't happen to someone else. 

Disclaimer: I am NOT being sarcastic, I'm HONESTLY curious here.

My son is allergic to pickles

Is he allergic to cucumber or vinegar? 

I bet it is the dill. I wondered that too, JMHO. Dill allergies are actually somewhat common, though. 

I Googled it and they say normally an allergy to "pickles" is from the mold spores in the vinegar or the sulfites in the preservatives. 

I didn't know vinegar had mold spores- I just assumed it bothered me because of the acid- 

Suddenly less a fan of pickles. . . 

I can't live without vinegar. I love it so much. lol 

Common food sources of mold include:
Cheese
Mushrooms
Vinegar and foods containing vinegar, such as salad dressing, catsup, and pickles
Sour cream, sour milk, and buttermilk
Meat or fish more than 24 hours old
Breads and other food made with yeast
Sauerkraut
Pickled and smoked meats and fish
Dried fruits such as dates, prunes, figs, and raisins
Soy sauce
Hot dogs, sausages
Canned juices 

Frightening! I'm glad your sister is OK.

Thank you so much for posting this. Both of my kids have the pistachio/cashew allergy and I never would have imagined the bread would be a safety issue. Just goes to show that you can never be too careful.