Allergy Foodie - thrive with top 8 food allergies! » Product Review

Yayy – Vegan Rella is back!!!

anurao — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:16:10 +0000

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

Where is Vegan Rella cheese?

anurao — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:09:07 +0000

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!

Enjoy Life Allergy Friendly Chocolate!

anurao — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:50:16 +0000

Whoever said ‘Save Earth. It is the only planet with chocolate’ got it right. When my son was diagnosed with being allergic to all the top 8 food allergens and more, my second thought (first was ‘why me?’) was, ‘my son can never eat chocolate .’ Then the good folks at Enjoy Life foods came up with chocolate made from rice milk and it is definitely their best product yet. My son and even his friends who have no allergies love it!

***This picture has been taken from Enjoy Life’s website.

Review: The rice milk chocolate is so good that I would go so far to say – it is one of the best allergy friendly products out there because it is pretty close to the real thing. It is available in 3 varieties: Milk, Dark Chocolate and Crispy Rice. The Dark Chocolate and Crispy Rice are especially good. It is smooth, rich and leaves no weird after-taste. Of course, it should come as no surprise that like all allergy friendly foods – it is relatively expensive! A small 1.4 oz bar costs over $2.00. Even if you buy it in bulk – it is not much cheaper. However, the joy of seeing my son relish a piece of chocolate is priceless!

Ingredients: For an up-to-date ingredient listing of this product, visit the company’s website at www.enjoylifefoods.com.

1. Crispy Rice: Evaporated Cane Juice; Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter; Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic); Rice Crisps (Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Raisin Juice, Honey, Salt); Rice Milk Powder (Rice Syrup Powder, Rice Starch, Rice Flour, Salt, Carrageenan); Salt.
2. Dark Chocolate: Evaporated Cane Juice; Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic); Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter.
3. Rice Milk Bar: Evaporated Cane Juice; Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter; Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic); Rice Milk Powder (Rice Syrup Powder, Rice Starch, Rice Flour, Salt, Carrageenan); Salt.

Availability:

Through www.Amazon.com: Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Bar, Dairy Free, 1.4-Ounce (Pack of 24)
All major health food stores and many grocery stores in the US and Canada. Go to http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/where_to_buy/index.php to find stores near you which carry Enjoy Life products.
Through online stores like www.glutenfreemall.com

Nature’s Path Buckwheat Waffles

anurao — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:06:18 +0000

Ask anyone with food allergies and you will realize that they spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen because it is near impossible getting allergy friendly, tasty stuff straight off the shelf. Nature’s Path Buckwheat Wildberry waffles delivers on that count! What bliss to be able to get up in the morning and have breakfast ready in under 3 minutes Buckwheat sounds an awful lot like ‘wheat’ but as Wikipedia puts it…buckwheat ‘is called a pseudocereal to emphasize that it is not related to wheat’.

Review: These toaster waffles are made using a mix of rice flour, buckwheat flour, potato flour, corn flour and tapioca starch – the result is quite delicious! Couple it with with syrup, margarine, fruit and whatever else you fancy and they taste even better. However, they have a slightly dry and crumbly texture which very young children may find it hard to enjoy. Nutritionally – they are not bad because they are wheat and trans fat free and contain a reasonable amount of protein and dietary fiber.

Availability: I have found them in Trader Joe’s (www.traderjoes.com), Whole Foods (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) and Fountain of Vitality (www.fountainofvitality.net ) and through online stores like www.wellnessgrocer.com and www.goodapples.org

Ingredients: Water, organic brown rice flour, organic potato starch, organic corn flour, organic soybean oil, organic tapioca starch, organic evaporated cane juice, organic buckwheat flour, organic potato flour, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), natural flavor, non GMO soy lecithin, organic blueberries, sea salt, sodium citrate, sodium alginate, citric acid, organic elderberry juice extract.

Visit the company’s website for information on any changes in ingredient listing: www.naturespath.com

***Always read the ingredient listing before buying any product even if it is something you have bought before!

Glutino Allergy Friendly French Toast

anurao — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:06:35 +0000

The one problem I have had with most allergy friendly foods is the low calorific value of the foods. This poses a special problem for kids who then have to eat large quantities to meet their calorie needs but it is impossible for them to do that. This product is good on this count – it packs in 420 calories in 2 small French Toasts! What makes it even better is the fact that it is also free of most common allergens

Review: The toast needs to be heated in the oven for 8-10 minutes. In my experience, when using a toaster oven, heating the toast for a couple of minutes lesser than indicated on the packaging yields a softer toast. The taste is good but not excellent. Its biggest drawback is it become hard within minutes of warming it. I think that if the bread and the batter had a little bit of matpe bean flour or mung bean flour, it would be much softer and also have a higher protein content. However, it is a good fallback for those days when convenience wins the battle over taste.

Availability: It is available in the frozen section of many health food stores like Fountain of Vitality, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans. It is also available in general grocery stores like Stop & Shop. Visit the company’s website www.glutino.com to find stores near your area.

Ingredients:

Bread: water, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, canola oil, evaporated cane juice, potato starch, guar gum, yeast, cinnamon, salt.

Batter: water, white rice flour, evaporated cane juice, tapioca flour, potato starch, cinnamon, sea salt, Xanthan gum.

Allergen labeling: may contain traces of soy.

Visit the company’s website for information on any changes to their ingredient listing: www.glutino.com

***Always read the ingredient listing before buying any product even if it is something you have bought before!

Ian’s Chicken Fingers

anurao — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:26:41 +0000

At last – a kids meal that avoids all the top 8 allergens and looks appealing to kids. The meal consists of 3 pieces of chicken fingers, corn, mashed potato and a brownie. The concept is great but the execution leaves a little to be desired…

Review: The chicken itself tastes ok but the breading is very hard especially if one heats the meal in the microwave instead of the oven. I think that a rice flour based breading would work better than a corn based breading. The brownie tastes awful. Rice flour based brownies of other brands and even home made ones taste excellent so, there is no reason why this should not taste better than it does. However, the mashed potato and corn taste good. That being said, Ian’s is one of the very few companies which has made a sincere attempt to make allengen friendly and interesting food. This helps kids with allergies feel that they are eating something similar to the fun stuff their counterparts are.

Availability: Ian’s Chicken Fingers is available in most health food stores - Whole Foods (www.wholefoodsmarket.com), Fountain of Vitality (www.fountainofvitality.net) and many local grocery stores like Wegmans (www.wegmans.com) too. To learn more about the company and the ingredients follow this link: http://www.iansnaturalfoods.com

Coconut milk yogurt

anurao — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:27:29 +0000

Dairy-free and Soy-free…unbelievable but true

(Picture taken from http://www.purelydecadent.com )

Ingredients (in plain flavor): water, coconut milk, organic evaporated cane juice, pectin, chicory root extract, dextrose, algin (kelp extract), magnesium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, rice starch, locust bean gum, agar, culture, carrageenan, guar gum, dipotassium phosphate, vitamin b12. Live Active Cultures include: L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Plantarum, L. Rhamnosus, L. Paracasei and Bif. Lactus.

It is also available in these flavors: Blueberry, Chocolate, Passionate Mango,Pina Colada, Raspberry, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Vanilla

For detailed ingredient listing of each flavor please visit the company website at: http://www.purelydecadent.com/products/coconut_yogurt.html

Review: This is one of the few products that I have come across which avoids all the top 8 food allergens and still tastes of pure decadence. It tastes more like a coconut milk mousse rather than the original dairy based yogurt which makes it all the more delicious. This also has a good percentage of fats which is often lacking in many allergen friendly foods. Hence this is extremely nutritious especially for young children suffering from food allergies.

Availability & Contact Information: This is easily available in Whole Foods stores (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/). The product is manufactured by Turtle Mountain, an Oregon based company.

Website: http://www.purelydecadent.com/

Their customer service personnel are friendly and helpful and were able to tell me where I could get the Coconut Milk Yogurt.

Vegan Rella (Rice Cheese)

anurao — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:25:35 +0000

Yummy Vegan Rella cheese…

Ingredients:

Cheddar Style – Filtered Water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, organic canola oil, salt, xanthum gum, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, oat flour, natural flavor, natural color(annatto).
Mozzarella Style – Filtered Water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, organic canola oil, salt, xanthum gum, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, oat flour, natural flavor.

Review:

Vegan Rella is available in 2 varieties, ‘Cheddar’ style and ‘Mozzarella’ style. This product definitely gets a ‘thumbs up’! Use this cheese like you would regular cheese – for e.g. grate it and use it on pizza or pasta. It tastes almost like the real thing when consumed without heating. However, it does not melt and brown like real cheese. Instead it just turns into a sticky thick fluid which does not solidify again even after it becomes cold. It still tastes good and is an excellent alternative for those with “Multiple Food Allergies”.

Availability & Contact Information:

I have found it difficult to get this cheese easily. The only place which carries it near my place is the Fountain of Vitality store (http://www.fountainofvitality.net/). You can also contact the company directly for local stores in your area which might carry Vegan Rella:

Company name: Panos Brands

Phone #: 1-201-843-8900

Email address: info@panosbrands.com / customer.service@panosbrands.com