Protecting a Child from Allergens Isn’t an Easy Task
By staff | Nov 20, 2007 | No Comments »
As I was walking into our elementary school right before Halloween, I was with another mom going to her child’s class as well. We were both going for “Fall Centers” as I guess they don’t like to distinguish them as Halloween parties anymore for fear of offending someone. More to the point, the other mom expressed her concern, and I think wonder, at all the children in her daughter’s class with some sort of allergy. I believe she said there were two children with peanut allergies and one with milk allergies. Continue reading…
Another Allergen-free Thanksgiving Recipe
By staff | Nov 20, 2007 | No Comments »
As it is the week of Thanksgiving, I’d like to share with you another recipe. It uses two ingredients which showcase the holiday, pumpkin and cranberry and is also free of most of the major allergens. It is dairy and nut free, and you can substitute the flour to meet your needs as well as use an egg substitute. Continue reading…
Grocery Shopping for Food Allergic Might be Easier with Miss Roben’s
By staff | Nov 15, 2007 | No Comments »
Shopping in your mainstream grocery store for someone with a food allergy has gotten easier over the past few years, but it still can be confusing. Bakeries share equipment, items can be in odd places, managers may not be fully aware of all allergies. You’ve also got your natural and health food stores, but those can be challenging, too. There is still a possibility of cross contamination due to handling and in house preparation, and while there may be a lot of wheat or gluten free products, nuts are a major player in health food stores. And then there is Miss Roben’s. Continue reading…
Thanksgiving Recipes - Dairy, Wheat, and Gluten Free
By staff | Nov 14, 2007 | No Comments »
With Thanksgiving a week away, we’re probably all thinking about food. It’s the biggest eating holiday in the United States and here we are getting ready for it. There are our traditional foods like pumpkin pie and stuffing/dressing, but for those with food allergies, even tradition can be a challenge. Here are two recipes, a general one for pie crust and a stuffing/dressing recipe that is dairy, wheat, and gluten free. Remember, adapt if you need to and look for more holidays recipes to come. Continue reading…
Teaching Your Children to Avoid Cross Contamination
By staff | Nov 8, 2007 | No Comments »
After writing the last piece on avoiding cross contamination, I realized that we are not always with our children to look out for them and their allergies. From the time we diagnose their allergy to college, to probably always, we will worry about them and their allergies. If we teach them the skills early on (as in all aspects of life) we can feel more confident that they will make the right choices and stay safe when they are on their own. Continue reading…
Avoiding Cross Contamination of Foods
By staff | Nov 7, 2007 | No Comments »
Once when bringing cupcakes to one of my daughter’s classes, a friend whose daughter had a peanut allergy inquired about them. She asked, of course, if they were peanut free, then she asked if we used a lot peanut products in our home. She asked this for fear of cross contamination, the same reason some of us avoid foods that have been processed on shared equipment or in plants that process certain high allergy foods. With packaged foods, it may be a little easier due to labeling standards, but when dining in restaurants or with friends, it may be a little more difficult to be worry free. Continue reading…
Kid Talk: How Kids Describe Food Allergy Symptoms
By staff | Oct 31, 2007 | No Comments »
We hear a lot about the symptoms of food allergies and the terms like anaphylaxis, hypersensitivities, and systemic reactions. Well, we might know what these mean (or maybe not), but do our children? We try to teach our children with food allergies about their allergy from a very young age in order to keep them safe. But in turn, we need to learn from them to keep them safe as well. They have a whole different language they may use in order to express their symptoms. Continue reading…
Milk Allergy Symptoms and Milk Substitutes
By staff | Oct 27, 2007 | No Comments »
With milk allergies, you can get all of the “traditional” food allergy symptoms, like hives, stomach distress and even anaphylaxis, but you can also suffer from a number of other symptoms. Along with pinpointing the symptoms and identifying the allergy, it’s important to learn good alternatives to milk as well so as not to suffer any nutritional deficits. Continue reading…
Trick or Treating Safely with Food Allergies
By staff | Oct 18, 2007 | No Comments »
Your child has a food allergy and all year long you carefully monitor what he eats. He’s careful about checking labels and asking questions about food if he’s not sure. Now it’s October and one of the biggest candy holidays is right around the corner, Halloween. How can you make sure that your child has fun and at the same time is staying safe with all of the candy around? Here are some valuable tips to aid you through the holiday.
• Review with your child all of the precautions you both normally take throughout the year. With all the excitement, it may be easy for your child to forget. Continue reading…
Trick or Treating for Food Allergies
By staff | Oct 17, 2007 | No Comments »
Halloween can be a frightening time in a non-traditional sense if your child suffers from food allergies. Candy can not only be full of the major allergens, but is also often made in factories that manufacture nut/milk products. FAAN (The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) has incorporated a way to raise food allergy awareness, keep your children safe, and let them have fun all in one. Instead of trick or treating for candy, kids can get a food allergy collection box from FAAN and raise awareness of food allergies while collecting funds instead of candy at Halloween. Continue reading…
