CONSUMER ALERT<\/p>\n
Steve L. Taylor, Ph.D., Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP), University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE and Sarah M. Boudreau-Romano, M.D., Division of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hospital, Chicago IL<\/p>\n
Slinky\u00c2\u00ae Brand and More Fingerprint Science kit, also labeled as Experiment #163: This kit comes with multiple components packaged in a box including a small plastic bottle of white powder to use when making the fingerprints. Dr. Boudreau-Romano identified this kit as the possible cause of a severe allergic reaction involving upper airway swelling and requiring epinephrine and antihistamine for treatment in a 9 year-old boy who received this kit as a holiday present. This child has multiple food allergies including wheat allergy. This child reportedly has a history of upper airway reactions occurring in poorly ventilated pizza restaurants and described this reaction as similar. The FARRP Laboratory subsequently identified the white powder in these kits as containing a large concentration of gluten. We surmise that the white powder is wheat flour. The identity of the powder is not described on the bottle or elsewhere within the kit. A call to the toy distributor indicated that the toy was assembled in China and they believed that the white powder was corn starch.<\/p>\n
We wish to alert the parents of wheat-allergic children that the white powder in this fingerprint kit is wheat flour. Exposure to this powder could cause reactions though direct contact, inhalation, or even ingestion.<\/p>\n
February 13, 2016 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CONSUMER ALERT Steve L. Taylor, Ph.D., Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP), University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE and Sarah M. Boudreau-Romano, M.D., Division of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hospital, Chicago IL Slinky\u00c2\u00ae Brand … Continue reading