For the parent of a child severely allergic to everyday items like milk or peanuts, the first visit to a new day-care or the first day of preschool can be nerve-racking experiences.
Will the people in charge remember my child’s allergy? Will they remember what he or she looks like among all the other kids?
Is that medic alert bracelet enough to protect my child? It’s lunch time, is my child safe?
Questions and worries like these can race through a parent’s mind and consume their thoughts all day long.
But those days are over. Now a child’s safety and a parent’s piece of mind can be assured thanks to a $19.99 t-shirt.
A new Oxford-based company called ‘Aller-Tees? is marketing t-shirts featuring caricatures of a child’s food allergen covered with the international sign for ‘no? ? a red circle with a line through it.
The t-shirts depict five food allergies ? eggs, milk, peanuts, wheat and the combination allergy of milk and peanuts.
Above the food graphic are the bold, red words, ‘DON’T FEED ME, UNTIL YOU READ ME!? Below the picture it says, ‘I’M ALLERGIC TO (one of the five choices above) AND THEIR BYPRODUCTS!?
Oxford resident Kendrea Shenfeld founded the new company because of her own children’s food allergies.
Her oldest son, Gustav, 5, is allergic to peanuts, milk and eggs. Her second child, Will, 3, is allergic to peanuts. And her third child, Griffin, 1, is allergic to milk and they’re assuming peanuts also.
With two siblings allergic to peanuts, the odds are 98 percent Griffin is too, Shenfeld noted.
She explained that the reason more kids are allergic to peanuts these days is because products containing them used to be made with ground ‘raw? peanuts. Now, they’re made with roasted peanuts.
‘Roasting a peanut actually makes the allergen in the protein more potent,? Shenfeld said.
If one of Shenfeld’s children was to consume a food they’re allergic to, they would have a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. ‘The throat and tissues of the mouth swell causing an inability to breathe,? she explained. Anaphylaxis can become fatal within minutes if untreated.
Shenfeld got the idea for the Aller-Tees after dropping Gustav off at safety camp in July 2002.
Even though she explained Gustav’s condition to the adults in charge and gave them his bag of special snacks and his EpiPen (an auto-injector that administers epinephrine, an emergency treatment for severe allergic reactions), Shenfeld was concerned her son would blend in too easily ‘with all the other little blond-haired, blue-eyed boys? and someone would simply forget his allergy.
‘I thought to myself, ‘He has a medic alert bracelet, but is it enough for them to notice and remember he’s the kid with the allergy??? she said. ‘I thought, ‘This kid needs to be labeled!??
Thus, the Aller-Tee was born.
The product and company name came from Gustav.
‘He used to say that he had ‘allertees? rather than saying he had allergies,? Shenfeld said. ‘We thought that’s a great name for the shirts.?
Shenfeld said the ‘main idea? behind the shirts is for kids to wear them on those occasions where they’re meeting new people, such as the first day of preschool, the first visit to a new day-care, the first time with a new baby-sitter, large family or church gatherings, etc.
‘The t-shirt makes sure people really understand this child cannot have this food,? she said. ‘It’s not just that we (parents) don’t want him to have peanut butter, it’s that it could kill him. We’re branding him to make sure everyone knows.?
Shenfeld said the shirt is marketed for children ages 2 to 4 (toddlers and preschoolers).
‘Basically, the children who can’t talk for themselves, who can’t say, ‘I can’t have this,?? she said. ?(The t-shirt) is something to let everybody know.?
Although the t-shirts are currently only available for five particular allergies, Shenfeld is hoping to eventually do custom orders for children allergic to different or unusual items.
Shirts sizes come in youth extra-small (2-4) and small (6-8), but Shenfeld is working on releasing smaller sizes for 18-to-24-month-olds.
For more information about Aller-Tees call 1-888-KID-TEES (1-888-543-8337) or log on to www.aller-tees.com.
Or write Aller-Tees at P.O. Box 31, Oxford, MI 48371.