How to clear confusion from food allergy warnings

Margaret Sova McCabe and her son Tommie pose in her kitchen with some of the foods Tommie can eat, Friday, Aug. 22,2008, in Sanbornton, N.H. It's one of the biggest frustrations of life with food allergies: Those confusing warnings that say a food might accidentally contain the wrong ingredient. The warnings are voluntary -- meaning there's no way to know if foods that don't bear them really should. And they're vague: Is "may contain traces of peanuts" more reliable than "made in the same factory as peanuts," or vice versa? Now health officials in the U.S. and Canada are debating stricter rules, amid increasing concern that vulnerable families are so confused they're starting to ignore the warnings. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)