Watch out for coconut in cereal

I don't think of breakfast cereal as something that usually contains coconut... and I thought I had read this label before I bought it. I guess I didn't read it carefully enough!

I recently bought these Oat n Wheat Bran Swirls at Trader Joes for my husband and 2 year old. My kiddo LOVES them, and until last night I had only tried one or two swirls with no reaction at all. The only reason I don't usually eat them is because I like to eat totally organic and very low sugar, and these are not. They are about the size of a quarter and pretty hard to chew, but they are fun for toddlers. Last night I decided that we were going to munch on them for a bedtime snack and by the time I ate my fourth little piece of cereal, my mouth was itching like crazy. It was just crawling! I glanced at the label at that time and STILL missed that there was coconut in them- I must have stopped after I got to Palm oil, because I thought to myself, "Am I allergic to palm oil, too?" It wasn't until this morning, when I woke up with the roof of my mouth so swollen that I thought my teeth were going to wiggle their way loose, and my eyes were puffy that I went and read the label AGAIN, this time I payed more attention. They've got "Dried Unsulphered Unsweetened Coconut" in them. I totally wasn't expecting it. I should have had some Benadryl before bed, but who knew?

And thus is the life of someone with a coconut allergy. Why on earth have they started putting coconut in random cereals? Aaaagggh!