1)    French Fries: Burger King Fries don’t have wheat in them. Oh yes – fries are not just potatoes! Most often they have wheat and a million other chemicals added to them to enhance flavor and texture. So, check the ingredient listing very carefully. BK is also one of the few places where the fries are fried separately.

2)    Tendergrill chicken: Even a piece of grilled chicken is never just chicken. Soy protein is a common lurker in many chicken dishes. Thankfully, soy flour is not used in BK’s grilled chicken which goes under the name ‘tendergrill’. It is really tender and delicious – just ask my son J

3)    Apple Fries: Plain old slices of apple with a preservative. However the caramel dipping sauce that comes with it is an absolute no-no!

Couple of things to keep in mind before dining out are:

1) Keep in mind that restaurants change their recipes without notice so look up their website every time or you can even ask for it at the counter in many places. The latest BK ingredient statement can be accessed at: (http://www.bk.com/cms/en/us/cms_out/digital_assets/files/menu_nutrition/IngredientsDeclaration.pdf)

2) Always check the food before consuming it. I found an Onion Ring (contans wheat) once in the BK Fries!

3) A reader brought up a very good point – ingredient statements are different in different places (especially  different countries) even within the same company.  Thanks Karen

Happy and Safe Dining Out!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/19/aaas.food.allergies/index.html

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.

At the time, I was in excellent shape, working at a women’s fitness center and trying to eat healthier. I would suffer from hideous menstrual cramps but didn’t like to take anti-inflammatories because they would wreak havoc on my stomach. Someone had told me that flax seed oil was a natural anti-inflammatory, and also had other health benefits, so I decided to try it. The problems to come weren’t immediately noticeable because I didn’t take the capsules all the time. However, I did observe that I would get nauseous for some unknown reason and but wrote it off as being related to having my periods. Then all of a sudden I started to get really sick after eating certain foods. I would get extremely nauseous and have violent pain in my stomach like a knife stabbing my gut and twisting.  I was never able to throw up and had to take many trips to the emergency room, but each time, they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. When they asked me to describe the pain, I kept telling them that it felt as though I was being poisoned. I went to a gastroenterologist to have an endoscopy, among other tests, but again, he found nothing wrong. He then sent me to another GI specialist. The specialist said it looked as if I had idiopathic gastroparesis (http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gastroparesis/), a serious stomach disorder. After seeing another specialist in Philadelphia, and then a surgeon, they suggested that I have a stomach pacer put in. At this point in time, I weighed only 104 lbs and looked anorexic because I had become fearful of eating anything that might make me sick and would send me to the ER. Thankfully, I had subscribed to a support group on line and after reading the stories from the other members; I insisted that this was not the disorder that I had, so I refused to let them perform the surgery.

When I got violently sick one day after having lunch at work which resulted in having to go to the ER yet again, I called the restaurant from which our lunch had come from.  I knew that the salad could not have been the source of the problem, and, at this point, I already had my suspicions about flax seed.  However, every doctor I would bring up the flax seed issue with would just wave me off and say they didn’t think that could be the cause. I don’t think any of them believed that something that is normally so good for you could be causing all of this pain.  When the restaurant returned my phone call, and confirmed my suspicions about what was in the roll that their employee had originally told me was whole wheat, I knew I had found the source of my problems. The roll, as it turned out, was whole grain, and it did indeed contain flax seed.  I went back in my head and thought of everything that had ever made me sick, and, one by one, the answer s led back to the same component -  “flax seed”. My trips to the ER were caused by:  a granola sample in Costco that stopped me in my tracks, when, within seconds of eating it, I got that strange metallic taste in my mouth; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I had made on 7 grain bread, instead of my usual white bread; the finger sandwiches at mom’s birthday party made of whole grain bread; the whole grain pretzels, the flat bread sandwich and so on…

When I finally went to an allergist, she confirmed it, and I was more than happy to go to my other doctors and tell them “I told you so!”. As a result, now, I have to read everything before I eat it, and if there are no listed ingredients available, I don’t eat it. There is a lot more to this story besides the pain and the year it took to discover my real problem. There was the medication I was given for a stomach disorder I didn’t have that caused me to spiral into a major depression (a “RARE” side effect), the loss of money from having to drop out of massage therapy school because of the depression.  The anti-depressants that didn’t work because I was still taking the medicines that were causing the depression. Researching my medicines and finding the answer to my depression to be the medication I was given for the disorder I didn’t have. This was something that both my doctor and my pharmacist should have easily figured out if they actually knew what the side effects of the first medication was. I went through hell.

One of the biggest problems I had was that when I would look up flax seed on the Internet, all I could find were the benefits of taking it. Then one day, I finally had the clarity to look up flax seed allergy and found this under the heading of “Safety” in this article by the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/flaxseed/NS_patient-flaxseed Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain are reported in two individuals shortly after taking flaxseed products by mouth; these reactions may have been caused by allergy.

So, I hope by sharing this, someone will look up the words “flax seed allergy” and see this story, saving them months, or even years of unnecessary pain, misdiagnosis’, or, God forbid, something worse resulting from a misdiagnosis. I can offer this suggestion to you: If you feel like you may have an allergy to something that is uncommon, don’t wait, go to an allergist. If something unknown is making you sick, start a food diary and know everything that is in what you are eating so you have proof that there is that one common factor. And, if a doctor makes a suggestion or diagnosis that you are not certain about, get a second, third, fourth opinion until you are sure, and comfortable that what they are telling you is true.  If I had not been so inquisitive and not done my own research, who knows what may have happened, or how much longer it may have taken to discover what was wrong. I wish you all the best of health.

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 

1. Magazines: Living Without (www.livingwithout.com) is an excellent source of recipes and allergy friendly products. I am a satisfied subscriber of this magazine. Allergic Living (www.allergicliving.com) is another good resource.

2. Online stores: Not all of us live within convenient distance to food stores which stock allergy friendly products. www.Amazon.com is a great place to buy items in bulk. I have also used Scott’s Gluten Free mall extensively (www.GlutenFreeMall.com) and have never been disappointed. There are quite a few other allergy friendly online stores like www.allergyfreeshop.com.  The website http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/shopping.htm has a listing of a few more online retailers.

3. Retail stores like Whole Foods (www.wholefoodsmarket.com), Wegmans (www.wegmans.com) andany other local organic/health food store. These days more and more regular food stores like Stop n Shop and Shop Rite are carrying allergy friendly foods in their health food sections.

4. Some companies that make a wide range of allergy friendly foods that I have found to be anywhere between ‘not bad’ to ‘really good’ are:

1. Living Harvest (www.LivingHarvest.com): Hemp seed based products like hemp milk, frozen desserts etc.
2. Taste the Dream (www.tastethedream.com): They are the makers of rice milk “Rice Dream” amongst other products.
3. Pacific Natural Foods are the makers of organic Oat Milk. This is the only dairy-free, soy-free beverage I have come across which is creamy and tasty.
4. Galaxy Nutritional Foods (http://www.galaxyfoods.com/Products/RiceCheese/RiceVegan/) are the makers of vegan Rice cheese slices which are quite tasty.
5. Ener-G (ww.ener-g.com): They make a wide range of allergy friendly products: breads, buns, mixes etc. Their unique packaging gives their products a very long shelf life so we can stock up from Amazon.com
6. Enjoy Life Foods (www.enjoylifefoods.com): cookies, chocolate bars etc.
7. Turtle Mountain (www.turtlemountain.com): Dairy-free and soy-free products which are coconut milk based (yogurt, milk, ice cream and the like). The coconut milk chocolate ice cream is to die for
8. Ian’s (http://www.iansnaturalfoods.com/allergen_free.html): Frozen snacks and entrees. The frozen food taste could be better but the packaging etc id extremely kid-appealing!  
9. Glutino (www.glutino.com)
10. The Craving’s Place (www.thecravingsplace.com): They offer a wide variety of mixes (brownies, cakes, waffles, pancakes etc.). I highly recommend it especially their ‘Ooey Gooey Chocolatey Chewy Brownie Mix’ – so good!!!
11. Orgran (www.orgran.com):
12. Barkat
13. Newman’s Own Organic (www.newmansownorganics.com): Their Wheat-free, Dairy-free Newman O’s and fig bars are excellent.
14. Ancient Harvest:
15. Andean Dream (www.adreamshopping.com): Quinoa based cookies and pastas
16. AllerEnergy (www.allerenergy.com): Energy bars
17. Nature’s Path Organic (www.naturespath.com): Frozen foods, cereals etc.
18. Cherrybrook Kitchen (www.cherrybrookkitchen.com): Cake mix, cookie mix etc.
19. Tinkyada (www.tinkyada.com): Wide variety of rice pastas
20. Bob’s Red Mill (www.bobsredmill.com): Excellent source for allergy friendly whole grains and flours like teff, corn, black bean, brown rice, gluten-free flour mixes. 

Caution: Check the ingredient listing every single time even if you have used that product a million times in the past.

There are a lot more good companies and products out there and I will keep updating this list!

5. Use Alternative grains: Talk to your allergist about using alternative grains – quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, teff, millet, red millet, tapioca flour, Sorghum, flax, rice, matpe bean, mung bean just to name a few.  

6. Be adventurous: Try recipes from other parts of the world…I grew up in a South Indian household. South Indian cooking is naturally allergy friendly because it is rice-based. With just a few omissions, I was able to serve scrumptious dishes for my son. These dishes maybe off the beaten path but since our choices are limited; it is definitely worth a try. Since then I have explored cuisines from other parts of the world too.

7. Keep scouring the Internet for blogs, websites and online communities dedicated to allergy friendly living: People are making an amazing effort to bring news and tasty food to allergy-sufferers around the world. www.bestallergysites.com is an excellent resource for further information on other websites and blogs. The non-profit organization Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (www.foodallergy.org) is a very enriching community to be a part of. There are also a lot of online groups like the yahoo group for users of the hypoallergenic infant formula, Neocate.

7. Let your imagination run wild – A friend of mine made a ‘Jello cake’ decorated with slices of oranges and strawberries. I have finally found the perfect recipe for donuts after multiple attempts at different flour mixtures.

Above all, it is important not to let fear rule our lives. We have to be careful always and learn to enjoy within the food limitations.

“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.”

 
Veena says that her son loves this dish and I am sure many of our kids will too

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1 tablespoon quinoa grain
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp pepper
1/4″ ginger root- grated
salt to taste
any allowed dairy-free, soy-free margarine or oil
2 tablespoons of black lentil (also called matpe bean flour or urad flour)

Method:

1. Fry cumin seeds, pepper and grated ginger in oil/margarine.
2. Add these to rice and quinoa.
3. Add 3 cups of water. The rice/quinoa mixture can now be cooked either in the pressure cooker or in the rice cooker.
4. Once done, add the fried black lentil/matpe bean powder and salt to taste.

Tips:

• The rice and quinoa mixture can also be cooked on direct flame in a heavy bottomed pan on low flame. Stir the mixture every 5 minutes to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom. Turn off the flame when all the moisture has evaporated.
• To increase nutrition substitute replace part of the water (about 1/2 cup) with coconut milk.
• Add 1/2 cup of mixed cut vegetables – carrots, beans, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, green pepper, corn, potato.

//

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.  
4. 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!
5. 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!!!
6. 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.
7. 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?!?
8. 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…

I heaved a sigh of relief since this is the only brand of allergy friendly cheese whcih actually melts and tastes reasonably good!

Frying the donuts...

The final yummy product

Ingredients:

White rice flour: 1¼ cups
Sugar: 1 cup
Potato starch: 7/8 cup
Tapioca starch/flour: ½ cup
Matpe bean flour / Mung bean flour: ½ cup + 1 tablespoon
Xanthan gum: 4 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 ¾ tsp
Instant dry yeast: 7½ tsp
Warm milk (rice, oat or hemp milk) or warm water: 1¼ cups
Dairy-free / soy-free margarine, melted: 1½ sticks
Egg substitute equivalent to 2 large eggs
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Place the dry ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater. Beat briefly to combine.
2. Add rice, hemp or oat milk, melted margarine and egg substitute to dry ingredients. Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed.
3. Let dough rest for 20 minutes in a warm and dry place.
4. Cut 6 inch squares of parchment paper. Spoon dough into a plastic bag with the bottom corner cut to create a 1/2-inch opening. Pipe a donut shaped circle onto each parchment square. Set squares on baking sheets and let proof for 20 minutes in a warm, humid environment like inside the oven or cupboard with a bowl of hot water next to it.
5. In a deep frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Gently slide 3 or 4 donut sheets into the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove the donuts with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with of paper towels to soak up the extra grease.
6. While still warm, sprinkle donuts with sugar, powdered sugar or cinnamon, if desired. If you want to put chocolate syrup on top – wait for the donuts to come to room temperature.

Tips:

1. Some egg substitutes are:

• Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 4) 
• For each egg: 1 tbsp flax meal ((Now Foods Flax Seed Meal Organic, 12-Ounces (Pack of 4), Bob’s Red Mill Golden Flaxseed Meal, 16-Ounce Bags (Pack of 4) ) + 3 tbsp hot water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until thick – about 10 minutes. (This comes from the ‘Substitution Solutions’ section of  ’Living Without’ magazine)

     2. To help form the donuts, shape them with plastic wrap that’s sprayed with vegetable oil

     3. If possible, use hemp milk because it is nutritionally far superior.