The WELLalarm Blog

Food Allergy Awareness Week and You

This week is Food Allergy Awareness Week! Since 1997, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network has made an extra push to “Take Action, Prevent Reactions” during this week every year.

How can you and your family participate? Check out FAAN's "Get Involved" page online. The organization has created a calendar of events for you to follow, from creating a Food Allergy Action Plan (see FAAN's template) to telling your story to your local media, and reading Alexander, the Elephant Who Couldn't Eat Peanuts. You could also spread the word with allergy awareness posters and start planning a Food Allergy PAL™ Day fundraiser for next year.

This is also an excellent opportunity to get the word out among your local school administrators and elected officials. FAAN is trying to get proclamations from all 50 states and has provided sample letters and templates for you to send to your governor (download here).

As an extra-special way to mark the week, you could present your child with a WELLalarm™ peanut allergy ID bracelet. The charm bracelet comes with 12 months of free Platinum Service Plan and includes the Parental Alert System™, which immediately notifies you via email or text in a crisis. This is an excellent way to raise awareness of peanut allergies among your child's friends and teachers--and to help your child take ownership of his or her food allergies in a positive way.

However you mark Food Allergy Awareness Week, the resources are out there to help you. Help others to "take action, prevent reactions" and you may end up saving a life!

Food Allergy Magazine Reviews Allergen-Free Foods In Its Supplements

Hope you all had a fabulous long weekend and enjoyed the Presidential Inauguration! What a week.

Ironically, I find myself looking across the pond with a little envy today. I just read about the new "tasting supplement" in the UK's magazine, Food Matters. (Yes, it's a magazine dedicated to food allergy and intolerance.) This it in conjunction with their Food Allergy and Intolerance Week.

The staff at Food Matters, as well as several other professionals and people with allergies, have tasted over 200 allergen-free foods and will be publishing their results in a series of supplements. The tastings will culminate in the Foods Matter FreeForm Food Awards. Click here to see last year's winners.

Super idea, no? I am sure many of the foods they review are probably not available in the US, and it is sponsored by an allergen-free food company so I am not sure how they sort that out. That said, I still think it is a great idea.

Gift Idea: Grill Charms

Over the summer I visited my sister who is allergic to everything. I mean, everything--soy, nuts, seeds, casein, and I can't remember what else. So when it came time for us to grill some bison steaks (she can eat meat!) I had to find a way to distinguish her steak: the one without the allergen-filled sauce.

I wish I'd had some Grill Charms on hand. These are little stainless steel charms you place directly on your steak (or hamburger, portobello mushroom, ribs...) to distinguish whose food is whose. It's a great idea for any group of people with different tastes, but especially helpful if you're trying to keep track of food allergies!

Incidentally, the founder, Leslie Haywood, is a breast cancer survivor. So my favorite Grill Charms set is the Pink Collection--10% of profits go towards finding a cure for breast cancer.

Friday links: Peanut Allergy News and Advice

Lately my radar has been tuned in to the challenges of peanut allergies: managing safety day-to-day and finding effective treatments. The following are some interesting stories I've found recently.

Here are 10 tips for avoiding peanut allergy reactions. The tips are smart, but check out the news story at the end. Apparently researchers at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University may have found a way to make peanuts completely allergen free.

According to this ABC News story, other researchers are using peanuts to fight peanut allergies. I think it's an exciting breakthrough and I hope the trials go well!

Meanwhile, we need to make kids with allergies safe now. I found these cute allergy alert t-shirts (see one of their designs above). They look like a good idea for birthday parties and other events with food. I'll have to add these to the gift guide!

This is a heartbreaking story about a recent high school graduate who died of anaphylactic shock while on vacation in Mexico. I can't even imagine the pain this brought to his parents. Read to the end for some essential advice on handling peanut allergies. Thanks to Peanut Free Mama for posting this story.

I'm wishing an extra safe and fun Halloween to all kids with food allergies and your parents today!

Happy Allergen-Free Halloween

Every Halloween I hear the same collective plea from parents of children with severe food allergies: please be careful of what candy you give out to trick-or-treaters. Most children with food allergies learn at a young age to look carefully at any food that comes their way. But even if they avoid candies with peanuts, for example, many other candies are made in factories that process peanuts. This can still pose a life-threatening hazard to some children. And this is why Halloween is such a scary holiday to their parents.

You can avoid the food issues altogether buy giving away non-food items. Try dime-store treats like temporary tattoos and stickers. (Little bouncy balls, balloons, and novelty erasers are other cute ideas but can be dangerous to kids with latex allergies). I think all parents will appreciate one fewer sugary treat going into their children's bags!

For more allergy-friendly Halloween tips read Allergy Moms' 99 Possibly Safe Snacks for Halloween.

Etsy Goodies for People with Allergies

Are you looking for an excuse to shop Etsy? Love hand-crafted goodies?

I think I'm going to have to add some of these to my peanut allergy gift guide...

Don't you love these sweet, hand felted epi pen holders? They come in a variety of colors and patterns.

Personalized and laminated allergy alert tags you can attach to your child's lunchbox.

This "No Peanuts Please!" pin is a great way to get the point across.

While you're at Etsy, check out Allergy Mama's shop. She makes fun, colorful bags and totes. A portion of the profit from each item sold goes towards Kids With Food Allergies, Inc. Allergy Mama also makes  bags for emergency medicines. None are available at the moment, but here's hoping she makes more soon.

If you're worried about what happens when your child goes to a playdate without you, here are Allergy playdate cards. The cards are customized to include your child's name, birth date, allergies, EpiPen directions, and your contact information.

I like this Don't Mess with Peanuts t-shirt.

For those of you with celiac, I found gluten-free restaurant cards and two eCookbooks, one for adults and one for children.

Recipe: Spinach Chicken Breasts

We thought you might like to sample one of the recipes from Food to Some, Poison to Others!

Spinach Chicken Breasts
(Egg-free, Corn-free, Gluten-free)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
• 1/4 cup shallots, chopped
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1 package spinach, fresh
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 tablespoons fennel, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 to 3 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled (imported/goat)
• 1 cup hot chicken stock or chicken broth

Clean and dry chicken breasts. Pound chicken until 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick. Dip each breast into flour mixture, and brown in a large skillet in hot oil. Remove chicken and set aside on warm platter. Reduce heat. Add shallots and fennel, saute until tender. Wash and clean spinach. Chop spinach and add to shallots in skillet. Add rest of the ingredients: dill, fennel, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Place chicken breasts in 13 by 9 baking dish, and spoon spinach mixture over breasts. Place Feta cheese on top of spinach mixture, and pour hot chicken stock or broth over all. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake until Feta is softened, about 40 minutes.

I tested this recipe last night and would like to add the following notes:

1. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts, and I used double the amount. This worked out fine without also having to double the flour.
2. I couldn't find sorghum flour at my local health food store so I substituted (also gluten-free) rice flour. No problemo!
3. It's unclear if the recipe calls for fennel bulb or fronds, but either will work.
4. If you have multiple food allergies be sure to check the ingredients list on prepared chicken stock.
5. I prefer to do all the prep work -- washing, chopping -- before I start cooking anything.
6. Plan ahead for this one: it took me an hour just to prepare all the ingredients for baking.

Enjoy! This is a tasty one.

Book Review: Food to Some, Poison to Others

I included the book Food to Some, Poison to Others: The Food Allergy Detection Programin our Gift Guide for Kids with Allergies because it looked like a helpful book. Terry Traub has spent most of her married life preparing special meals for her two sons and husband, all of whom have celiac disease. Her youngest is also lactose intolerant. The book includes instructions for an elimination diet and a mini-cookbook with over 175 recipes with busy families in mind -- and picky eaters.

I should state from the outset that Food to Some does not deal with anaphylactic allergens like peanuts and soy. The book is for less severe food allergies. Traub warns, "Individuals with anaphylactic problems should not try this diet. Follow only what your physician instructs."

The 12-day elimination plan is designed to help you eliminate seven major allergy-causing food groups: eggs, corn, wheat, dairy, chocolate, pork, and citrus. She includes menus for each meal throughout, including dishes that can be found in the recipes section (indicated with an asterisk). The elimination diet can be used to complement blood tests such as the RAST test.

Traub also explains the mechanics of food allergies, intolerance, and malabsorption and briefly describes the various food allergy tests. There is a pantry list, a list of forbidden foods, worksheets, and sources of allergens. (Did you know sherbet can have eggs?) And there is a guide to chain restaurants offering gluten-free meals (by state).

I think the recipe section is especially helpful. Traub believes that cooking around allergies doesn't have to result in bland food. The recipes draw from a wide range of cuisines and make much use of fresh ingredients, especially produce.

Each recipe indicates which allergens are avoided. For example, her Quick Spicy Chipotle Bean Dip is dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free. However, only the seven tested possible allergens are listed.

I do wish this book could be a reference for people with anaphylactic allergies as well. I understand why Traub would avoid adding life-threatening allergens to her elimination diet! However, tips for avoiding foods with soy and peanuts would be a helpful perk. Also, it would be great if the recipes with soy and peanuts had likewise been labeled as such. People increasingly have multiple-food allergies, and foods like soy can hide in many forms, like in the miso in the vegetable cocktail on page 198.

That aside, however, I think the book provides an excellent resource for anyone trying to eat well while avoiding the foods that make them sick!

Check back here later this week, when we'll be cooking from one of the recipes in the book!

The FDA Food allergy hearing

Monday evening I was listening to Marketplace and heard that the FDA would be holding a hearing to evaluate the labeling of allergens in foods. If you have severe food allergies, or have children with food allergies, you probably already know how unhelpful labels can sometimes be. If a food label says "packed in a facility that processes tree nuts" what are the real risks?

I am looking forward to reading about the results of that hearing (which was held on Tuesday). In the meantime, here are a few related links.

Read the FDA's announcement of the hearing here.

An article from Healthy News on the hearing

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is asking people with allergies to fill out their food labeling survey.

By the way, I just discovered these two fabulous foodie blogs for people with food allergies: Please Don't Pass the Nuts and Worry-Free Dinners™.

Great Gifts for Kids with a Peanut Allergy

What are some great gifts to give a child with a severe peanut allergy? I have been compiling this gift guide for children with peanut allergies. I'll be adding more items on an ongoing basis, but I thought I'd share the first few of them with you today! The guide will live permanently in this blog's right-hand column so you can refer to it again. Do you have a great suggestion for the list? Be sure to leave a comment! I'd love to hear your ideas.

Beyond a Peanut food allergy awareness flashcards teach children and their caretakers about avoidance and staying safe with a TREE NUT and PEANUT allergy.

 

 

 

Awareness Badges are vinyl stickers, lunchbox tags, luggage tags, and medicine bags that alert care givers to your child's allergies. All come in cute, kid-friendly designs. (Many thanks to Lorraine Burke of Arico Natural Foods, maker of casien free and gluten free snacks, for telling us about Awareness Badges!)

 

 

Sassy bath products are all nut oil free. The shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and face wash are made from organic honey, organic olive oil, and plant extracts.

 

 

 

Food to Some, Poison to Others: The Food Allergy Detection Program by Terry Traub includes recipes, the allergy detection program, information on wheat, nut, dairy and other food allergies.

A Nurse Practitioner's Guide to Smart Health Choices by Carla Mills helps you make sense of all the conflicting health information.