Allergy Foodie is so excited to have its first reader contribution – thank you Ali! I wrote an article about flax seed allergy a few months back and since then Ali has helped me answer the many questions other readers have had about this uncommon allergy. But for her I would have never known that microwaveable neck /back/foot wraps may contain flax seeds and cause a reaction in those people who are severely allergic to flax seed. Her input has been so invaluable that I requested her to write a guest post about flax seed allergy. What follows is her personal journey – the symptoms, the many missteps towards isolating the food that caused her allergic reaction, online resources and much more.
April of 2004 was my first encounter with (what would take nearly a year to discover) a severe food allergy. Back then, I actually thought that it was food poisoning and didn’t give it much credence.
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Categories: Useful Links & Articles
Tagged: flax seed allergy
Most of us are sure that we are going to be served what we order for in a restaurant or a food can will contain what the ingredient listing claims. However, we live in a world of cross-contamination, mechanical glitches and human errors! So, food allergy sufferers should always be wary of anything that they have not prepared themselves from scratch…
Yesterday I ran into a friend whose 4 year old son has severe peanut, dairy and egg allergies and had this scary incident to relate. The family had gone out for dinner to Cheesecake Factory. My friend had ensured that her little boy had already been fed dinner to avoid the risk of giving him something that he might be allergic to at the restaurant. Just so he did not feel completely left out, they ordered an orange juice for him. What harm could good old OJ do apart from injecting an extra dose of immunity boosting Vitamin C into the tiny sweetheart?!? Not so…the little one wanting to be extra affectionate to mom insisted that she take a sip of his orange juice. Not wanting to create a scene in the restaurant, she took a small sip and suddenly felt a big solid particle in her mouth. Imagine her horror when she spit it out on to a napkin…the particle was a big chunk of peanut!!! That chunk would have sent her son into anaphylactic shock in seconds had he ingested it. Recovering from her shock, she asked for the waiter. The waiter was apologetic and the only way he felt he make up for it was by offering a free meal. It reminded me of an episode from ‘King of Queens’ where Doug and Carrie are offered a free week at a hotel when their house gets infested with bed bugs after a stay at that same hotel 
A similar incident happened to me on 3 separate occasions at Taco Bell. One would wonder why I went to the place 3 times but Taco Bell is one place which offers a huge number of choices for my son and it is one the few places he loves eating at. The particular franchise (located at (225-227 US Highway 22, NJ 08812) that I visit has extremely poor service. Despite repeating many times what I don’t want in the taco, they have served it up with allergens and their attitude to the mistake has been, ‘what do you want me to do?’ I sent a mail to the parent company and within a couple of days got a call from the manager of the local Taco Bell. He apologized profusely and begged us to visit him again for a meal on the house. So, we decided to give them another chance but managed to get there only a fortnight later. Here the joke was on us…the manager had got transferred and they were not able to honor their commitment 
One is not sure if in Cheesecake factory the peanut was in the can it was packaged in or got cross contaminated when it was being served up. At Taco Bell, it was obviously a case of human error because the order was taken correctly but fulfilled with mistakes. Whatever the case maybe, a few valuable lessons reinforced…
1) When ordering in a restaurant, first order clearly for the person with food allergies. Once the waiter has completed that order, the others should place their meal request. I had noticed that the Taco Bell made mistakes whenever I ordered other things apart from what the allergy friendly meal I was ordering for my son at the same time.
2) A food allergy sufferer should always have epipen handy.
3) Always check the food before ingesting it. The more layered the food is, the more thorough the examination should be – an orange juice versus a chicken taco!
4) Food companies and restaurants should have social responsibility. I wish Taco Bell would have taken a more socially conscious approach when dealing with my complaint. The bitter truth is we cannot rely on that. A particular franchise of even the best chain of restaurants may have a few careless employees so, we have to be careful always.
Safe eating out!
Categories: Useful Links & Articles
After months of being unavailable Vegan Rella is back on store shelves. I had asked my local health food store, ‘Fountain of Vitality’ to save me a couple of blocks the moment it came in. Awesome of them to do it because they had managed to get only a small supply and that had flown off the shelves by the time I got there. If Vegan Rella is the only kind of cheese you or someone known to you can have, make the trip to the store immediately. The joy on my son’s face as he bit into the cheese – priceless
Vegan Rella is manufactured by Panos Brands. Their customer servicer personnel are quite helpful and can be reached at:
Phone #: 1-201-843-8900 Email address: info@panosbrands.com / customer.service@panosbrands.com
Categories: Product Review
January 18, 2010 · 1 Comment
Recently a reader asked me for some resources to make quick, nutritious but ‘cool’ meals for her son who has multiple food allergies. Making interesting dishes for my son has been my objective from the day he was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. Quite a few sources have helped me in this ‘cool’ quest:
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Categories: Useful Links & Articles
This nutritious and allergy friendly dish is a contribution by one of Allergy Foodie’s readers, Veena. Thanks Veena – it constantly amazes me how moms of kids with food allergies constantly innovate to make life better for their kids. The tip about overcoming the overpowering flavor of quinoa is a sure winner…
“The strong flavor of quinoa flour can be masked by adding fried black lentil powder(fry the powder either in the pan or in the microwave for about 5 min stirring every 2 min) or by adding rice flour to the quinoa.”
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Categories: Recipes
Wow – the human race does eat out a lot!!! Birthday, Mother’s Day, friends from out of town, kid on the honor roll – we use the slightest excuse to celebrate with food ;-) However, dining out can be nerve-racking for someone with multiple food allergies. But, eating out has become so synonymous with celebration, relaxation and socializing that being armed can sometimes be a better solution than being paranoid because feeling part of the larger community is also very important. The moment we leave our kitchen, the outside world is fraught with potential food pitfalls but there are some pointers I have found useful. I will keep updating this list too because I seem to learn something new every day about managing allergies. Readers – do add to this list from the lessons you have learnt managing your own or a family member’s food allergies. The more we know, the better we can keep allergic reactions at bay…
- Always have medicines handy (Epinephrine shot and Antihistamine dose): One cannot repeat this often enough – we just cannot afford to forget EpiPen and Benadryl even once. Ensure that the medicines have not expired and they have been kept under temperature conditions specified on the packaging. Be armed with meds even if you are not planning to eat anything outside.
- Even safe is unsafe: Even eating something that you have not been allergic to in the past does not mean that you will not have a reaction today.
- Do your homework: When possible, check out ingredient listings, menus and potential choices beforehand. Call the restaurant or the parent company if ingredient listing is not available. You will be surprised what things can go into even a simple dish! Even a techno-phobe like me switched to a blackberry so that I have instant access to online menus, nutritional information and ingredient information.
- Stick to known and simple dishes: As a lifelong vegetarian, I had no clue that chicken could be marinated in yogurt. Therein I made the mistake of giving baked chicken marinated in yogurt to my son who is allergic to dairy. So, when in doubt stick to the relatively simple and the known!
- Beware of generic terms in ingredient listings: An ingredient like ’spices’ may include allergenic items like sesame, mustard, sunflower seeds etc. The term ‘dry fruits’ includes one of the most dangerous food allergens – nuts…scary!!!
- Remind the server: Do not expect the server to remember that you have allergies when ordering dessert just because you had mentioned it an hour back when ordering entrees and appetizers.
- Be wary of every dish: Something as innocuous as a fries may have been deep-fried in peanut oil or a loaf of bread could have milk in it! Why have we stopped making simple food?!?
- Mentally alert: Despite all these measures accidents may happen any time and that’s why it is good to be mentally prepared for the worst. I remember seeing on a TV show about self-defense that under moments of extreme stress people react at the lowest level of their training. So the more prepared we are, the more likely that we are to take quick and correct action.
Safe eating out…
Categories: Dining Out
For all those consumers who are wondering what happened to Vegan Rella Cheese – I called up the company to enquire about the non-availability of Vegan Rella. The customer service representative I talked to said that due to supply problems of one of the ingredients, there has been no production of vegan rella for the past 2 months. This problem should be set right in the next 2 weeks and consumers should start seeing vegan rella cheese in store shelves starting January 2010.
I heaved a sigh of relief since this is the only brand of allergy friendly cheese whcih actually melts and tastes reasonably good!
Categories: Product Review
Whoever would have thought that dairy-free, egg-free, wheat-free, soy-free donuts can taste so good and have the texture of the real thing. This recipe is adapted from a recipe that I got from the ‘Living Without’ recipe corner. However, I have ensured that it is free of the top 8 food allergens and more.
Frying the donuts...
The final yummy product
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Categories: Recipes
Keeping on top of things and constantly innovating is the biggest challenge when managing food allergies. To this end one of my favorite resources is a magazine called, “LIVING WITHOUT” – The magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities (http://www.livingwithout.com/)
Picture taken from www.livingwithout.com
The magazine devotes a lot of ink to gluten-free living but it also talks about other food allergies, latest research, recipes, substitutes and so much more. The contributors are excellent – so, the articles are packed with useful information. They also have an interactive section which answers many queries which even an allergist may feel hard-pressed to answer. My favorite part – I become aware of companies manufacturing allergy-friendly products and organizations offering valuable resources for allergy-friendly living.
Every food allergy sufferer should get their hands on this magazine at least once to judge its usefulness…chances are you will become a subscriber So, the next time you are are at the checkout line at the supermarket, pick up a copy for yourself or for a family which is dealing with food allergies! Also, subscribe to their free recipe e-newsletter, http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes.html - some of the recipes are pretty good!
Categories: Useful Links & Articles
This dish brings the wholesome goodness of spinach in a way that makes it extremely palatable to people of all ages. Best of all it is so easy to prepare. So, put on your aprons and head to the kitchen to whip up this allergy-friendly yummy and nutritious treat… Keep reading →
Categories: Recipes
