If you’re like me, there have been times when you wondered whether your child actually had a food allergy or whether they had outgrown the allergy. Both of our children outgrew dairy allergies which we didn’t know until we actually tried milk with them under our doctor’s guidance. Until recently, we thought Megan might have outgrown her kiwi allergy but she wasn’t willing to do an oral challenge. Unfortunately, as you may know from an earlier blog post and the Nonuttin’ News, we found out the hard way in December that kiwi is still very much one of her food allergies.
What if there was a blood test that was far more accurate than anything we have right now (skin or blood) that could give a definitive diagnosis without an oral challenge? Would you feel relieved? Read more »
In last January’s enewsletter, I had mentioned that we had received many requests for products with sunflower seeds. At that time, I asked for feedback on both the pros and cons after which we received several emails for both sides.
After carefully reviewing the feedback and, in many cases, having further discussions with the people who sent in feedback on the con side, it was evident that sunflower seeds would be overwhelmingly well accepted as long as they were were controlled on the pouch line only (trail mixes, baking ingredients, etc.) in the same manner that we currently control the soybeans. Read more »
Oh boy, you’d think that being deprived of peanuts and nuts for approximately 1-14 hours was akin to snatching a bottle out of a baby’s hands. Add in food allergies being referred to as a disability and you’ve got people frothing at the mouth. Read more »
On Friday night our daughter had her first food allergic reaction in 9 years. It was also the first time she self injected and the first time she had a reaction at a friend’s without an adult present. Her big sister also experienced the first time she was present at a reaction that she remembers. And it was the first time I was out and received a frantic phone call about a reaction.
All in all, a lot of firsts that I would rather have done without. While we have learned a lot from the incident including phoning 911 before phoning Mom and that all of the training that we’d done was successful, the fear box has been opened. You know, the one you stuff all of your allergic parent fears into so that you can lead a somewhat normal life? Read more »
My heart is feeling 2 sizes too small these days. I may not be green but I seem to be feeling the same biological issue affecting one of my favorite Dr. Seuss characters. It’s not that I want to steal Christmas but that I’m feeling like I’d rather avoid it altogether.
I’ll be hosting my side of the family which is the first time we’ll all be together in the 7 years since we moved from Alberta to Vancouver Island. The distance was just too great to drive over the wintery Rocky Mountains for 15 hours to my sister’s house and 17 hours to my parents’ house and too costly to afford airfare along with everything else that comes with Christmas. But this year we all decided to make sure we could get together since my eldest nephew will be out of high school this year and most likely moving on to other things. It was time to bite the bullet and be in the same place.
Add to our family of 10 the French exchange student that we’ll have for Christmas (don’t ask, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and we’ll have 11 people in the house for a week, 5 of them teenagers.
I’m now working on Christmas presents for the family and the French student along with planning meals and baking, all a bunch of things I haven’t had to worry about for years. So I’m starting to feel the Grinch as I worry about what food is coming to our house and planning dairy free meals for our French student along with all of the allergy issues we always deal with.
I’m sure it will work out just fine but I forgot how stressful it can be, right at the time when society’s expectation is that we’re joyful. Guess it’s time to get rid of the Grinch and channel my inner Who.
The diagnosis of Celiac disease is on the rise and as such, there have been many studies lately about the causes and possible prevention. While Celiac disease is an immune response to the proteins in wheat, barley and rye (known collectively as gluten), it is a non-IgE response, meaning the reaction is not anaphylaxis but a myriad of symptoms from headaches to gastrointestinal upset and nutritional deficiencies. Damage of the intestine and other body systems (such as osteoporosis of the bones) can be undiagnosed for years.
Up until this point, once properly diagnosed with Celiac disease, the only way to avoid the symptoms and subsequent damage is complete avoidance of gluten; not always a very easy prospect in our food supply. So bring on the parasitic hookworms! Read more »
Did you miss me last week? I flew to Chicago to attend a food allergens/gluten conference specific to food manufacturers.
There were 41 companies represented with anywhere from 1 to 12 attendees per company. The companies ranged in size from tiny, like Nonuttin’ Foods, to large, like Kraft. Amongst those attendees, I met people who had different roles in the companies such as quality assurance manager for 39 facilities across the United States to Consumer Relations people, the ones who answer your questions when you phone in about food allergens. Read more »
Just when Health Canada has recognized mustard as Canada’s 11th priority allergen, word is that mustard flour is a bacteria killer in processed meat products. This might be good news for Canada’s beleagured processed meat industry after major recalls due to listeria over the last year that killed several people.
A recent study at the University of Manitoba and reported in Food in Canada shows that heat treated cold mustard powder used as a binder, not as a spice, in meat products such as sausage will create toxins that kill off E.coli bacteria. It’s a natural way to ensure that E.coli, a potentially life threatening bacteria when ingested, cannot contaminate our processed meats. Read more »
Time today for a little rant. What’s new? The topic is demos. You know, where ladies stand behind a table in your grocer’s aisle, complete with a hair net and gloves. They offer little samples of various food products, coupons and more. Many people love food demos and even go to Costco every Saturday to “lunch” on the samples. Companies do food demos because if consumers try the product we may like it or simply feel guilty and agree to buy an item from that kindly lady behind the table.
99% of the time I avoid food demos, whether or not my allergic child is with me. In fact, I really try not to make eye contact and have been known to avoid aisles completely if it means I can bypass a demo. When I have stopped, I’m inevitably disappointed, if not downright ticked off. Sometimes I can see right away that there are food allergens that we need to avoid in the product but other times I have heard allergen information from the presenter that’s not even close to the mark. As an example, several years ago Nestle came out with a new Real Dairy product line of ice cream. Of course, we Canadians know that Nestle has several peanut free chocolate bars on the market here so hope surged within me that I just might be able to get a delicious new ice cream that was safe for our whole family. Read more »
I spoke to the producer of a national talk show last week and part of that discussion was telling her all of the major national brands in Canada that have begun producing and labeling items as Peanut Free. She asked me to send her a couple of those products along with Nonuttin’ samples so that she could see what kind of selection is available to Canadians but not to Americans. So off to the grocery store I went.
Many items such as candies and chocolate bars were really easy with Halloween coming soon. The store had huge displays of all of the peanut free items currently being offered and I had no problem finding all sorts of goodies. I then headed to the cracker and cookie and fruit snacks aisles where I added several Dare products to my cache.
Along the way, I decided to try and get at least a few items that were both peanut free and dairy free because the producer’s child suffers from both of those allergies and I hoped to send a pleasant surprise their way. That’s when the going really got tough. I haven’t had to shop dairy free for several years since both of my girls outgrew their dairy allergies. I discovered that it hasn’t gotten any easier and with all of the peanut free items that I could find I was only able to get 1 item that didn’t have dairy or traces of dairy in it.
While I’m thankful that my own children’s allergies no longer include dairy, it seems to me that the manufacturing world’s focus on peanut free has really given dairy the short shrift. And it has somehow communicated to the world at large that only peanut allergies are life threatening and need monitoring. For those of you with dairy allergies, I know I’m preaching to the choir but this grocery trip really opened my eyes up anew.
I’ve said for years that I believe the most difficult allergens to avoid are dairy, wheat and soy. I find this holds true in my search for ingredients for Nonuttin’ products too. And despite my desire to have Nonuttin’ products soy free as well, I have discovered that even if we were to remove soy from our own facility, so many of the ingredients we source have soy cross contamination issues that I wouldn’t be comfortable labeling our products as soy free.
I’m not sure what it will take to have other major allergens come to the forefront like peanut has but I think we’ve got a long way to go.
