If your child has food allergy, it’s quite important that you check the entire list of ingredients on food labels to see if his allergen is present and prevent severe problems with allergic reactions.

Here’s what you need to do:

-Carefully check the list of ingredients, looking for your child allergen’s common name. Don’t miss what’s in parentheses, for they often include the major allergens.

- Check the statement following the expression “May contain traces of”.

- Don’t buy a product that doesn’t have an ingredients list.

- Get to know more about your child’s allergen, its less-common names and when it often appears.

- Understand food labelling limitations; some allergen ingredients may be disguised and hidden behind other names that are not easily recognized as allergy triggers, like coloring, spices and natural flavours.

- If you doubt the safety of any food item, call the manufacturing company asking about its ingredients and manufacturing process.

- Be careful when you read phrases, like "peanut-free", as this type of statements is usually not regulated and doesn’t mean that the product was made in facilities where said “allergen” is not present.