Food Allergy Parents Share Their Feelings

It's Food Allergy Awareness Week and what better way to inform others about what it's like to be a food allergy parent by sharing this YouTube video: Parents Speak About Their Children's Food Allergies. For my fellow food allergy parents,you'll get chills watching it because we can really relate to it. For people who don't deal with food allergies everyday, this video may help them better understand what it's like to think every day, "Please don't let anyone slip up today".

Share it on your Facebook page, send it to your email contacts, forward it to your kids' teachers. It's a powerful one.

Food Allergy Awareness Week Plans

Food Allergy Awareness Week begins May 13 and I hope that everyone will choose just one thing to help educate and spread the word about food allergies. Here's what I've got planned so far:

Welcome Home Magazine article

• On Monday May 14, my article, Challenging Journey: Food Allergies will be posted on the Family and Home Network's Facebook page.
• On Tuesday, May 15, I'll be part of the Food Allergy Twitter Party which starts at 8 pm Eastern. Food Allergy Buzz has posted some easy-to-follow information about participating in a Twitter party. I'll be using Tweetdeck that evening. Let me know if you have any questions.
• I plan to communicate with our school district's head of food services about their plans to have a Food Show at the beginning of next school year. I want to make sure they have cafeteria food ingredient information on-hand and can talk about cross contamination so our food allergy families can make safe and informed choices. 
• I'm also going to sit down and craft a letter to my representatives concerning the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act. My school district does stock epinephrine, but it's not a law in my home state.

What do you plan to do next week to spread the word about food allergies. It doesn't need to be huge. I've always appreciated the acronym TEAM- Together Each Accomplishes More. Let's all work together next week to bring food allergy awareness to the forefront.

Still need ideas? Check out FAAN's suggestions.

First Reaction in 14 Years

Epinephrine for Food Allergy Reaction

"Why are you telling me this?" my food allergic tween asked.

I was sharing Keith's story, "First Reaction in 14 Years", published on the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis (FAAN) website.

"I'm telling you this as a reminder to both of us of why you carry an EpiPen® everywhere you go," I responded.

I was reminding us both that an allergic reaction can happen any time, any place- even when labels are checked, hands and utensils are washed and all precautions are taken. I think when you go years without an allergic reaction, it is easy to become complacent.

• Should you turn the car around and grab the forgotten medication bag? It's just a quick trip and no one will be eating.
• Does she really need to bring her EpiPen when she's just going out to play in the neighborhood? She's only a few doors away and can get home quickly.
• Do I really want to fight the school bus company that doesn't allow self carrying of EpiPens? He won't be eating on the bus after all.

Keith's story serves as a reminder that we must always be vigilant and prepared. This is a good reminder to us and our kids that medications need to be readily available and that we shouldn't hesitate to use them if symptoms warrant.

Check out some of the other stories shared on the FAAN site and consider sharing one of your own. Who knows? Your story may be the conversation topic at someone's dinner table!

Best I.M. Healthy Soynut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Recipe for Soynut Butter Cookies

I used to make soynut butter cookies for my peanut allergic child. He liked them, but this peanut butter lovin' mama wasn't a big fan. When I saw that I.M. Healthy is offering a percentage of their sales to Food Allergy Initiative to celebrate food allergy Awareness Week May 13-19, I knew that I had to try again with these cookies.

I did some recipe searching and some tweaking and I'll tell you, I can't stop eating these cookies.

Seriously, someone needs to stop me!

So if you want a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie that is free of peanuts, milk and eggs that everyone will love, look no further. Buy up some extra jars of IM Healthy soynut butter during food allergy awareness week and get baking. By the way, these freeze well too...and they taste fantastic frozen...

Here's exactly what I did to make the Best Soynut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick Fleischmann's Unsalted margarine (only unsalted stick is dairy free)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup IM Healthy soynut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoon water,  1 1/2 tablespoon canola oil ,  1 teaspoon baking powder mixed together until bubbly (this is the substitute for one egg)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the soynut butter, vanilla and water, oil baking powder mixture until well blended. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Let me know how much you loved these!

Book Review: The Thriving Child

Book on Parenting Kids with Allergies and Asthma

I was recently given the opportunity to review the soon-to-be released, The Thriving Child by Erica Reid. While this is a book that covers a family's journey through the diagnosis of food allergies and asthma, it is also an advice book for any parent seeking to create a healthy family environment.

Erica Reid and her husband L.A. Reid (I'm familiar with him as a judge on Simon Cowell's X-Factor) are the parents of two children. A serious illness in their young son led them down a path to an eventual diagnosis of food allergies and asthma, Erica Reid did what many of us have done when we hear this diagnosis- she re-examined every aspect of her family's life. From the foods they ate to the items in their home, nothing was off-limits as she tried to find out what was making her son sick and what would keep him healthy. The Reid family made many changes. This book describes that journey and what they learned along the way.

The style of "The Thriving Child" is conversational and non-judgmental. The author is quick to point out that she knows the changes she made in her family won't work for everyone, but she hopes readers can pick out things to try that may work in their family.

The Reids' journey will sound familiar to many food allergy families- varying diagnoses from different doctors, too many medications hastily ordered by doctors to fix symptoms and a suspicion that everything is making your child sick. Erica tracked down experts- doctors, a macrobiotic guru, Erica's own 5th grade teacher (I love that they are still in touch!)- and their knowledge is shared throughout this book. Another fun aspect of the book is the celebrity parenting tips that begin each chapter. Hearing from fellow parents like Melissa Ethridge, Holly Robinson Peete and Gayle King shows that all parents face challenges and that we all just want what is best for our families.

The Thriving Child is scheduled to be released May 8, 2012. If you're looking to re-energize and re-vamp your family's life, Erica may provide just the boost you need to get started. 

Wait, Nutella isn't a Health Food?!?

Nutella and Food Allergies

I had to shake my head this weekend when I heard about the Nutella® lawsuit. Apparently some people watched TV ads for Nutella and believed the gooey, chocolaty spread was a health food. That in spite of the fact that the first ingredient listed on the label is sugar. 


"I don't have time to read ingredients when I'm grocery shopping. It would take me like 4 or 5 hours to shop," said San Diego mom Athena Hohenberg (the plaintiff behind the class-action suit) this weekend in a TV interview.


Welcome to our world. A world of reading food labels so you know what you're buying and feeding your family. Trust me, I'd like to not read food labels too. It sure would make for quicker grocery shopping and I could go on believing that carrot cake is a health food.


A couple of tips for people who eat food:

• don't trust advertisements by companies trying to get you to buy their food product .
• spend a few minutes reading the ingredient labels of the foods you eat and feed to your family. 

Many food allergy families would have avoided Nutella due to the nuts, dairy and soy clearly listed on its label, but if you happened to buy Nutella between Jan. 1, 2008 and Feb. 3, 2012, you can file a claim. 
 You may be eligible for up to $20 from the company.


However, if you choose to purchase more Nutella with your winnings, know that you're getting a spread of sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, reduced minerals, whey, soy lecithin and vanillin. 


I know, because it says so right on the label.

McDonald's and Food Allergies: A Few Fast Food Tips

McDonald's Hamburgers and Dairy Allergy

I've mentioned in the past that McDonald's has become our go-to restaurant when we're traveling or otherwise on the go. We stopped there last week and I wanted to share our experience:

Us to cashier: "We'd like two hamburgers, but our son is very allergic to milk and eggs so please ask the person making the burgers to change their gloves and use clean utensils. Please make sure they don't touch anything like cheese while making the burgers."

Cashier: "Certainly"

Cashier turns toward food prep area.

"GRILL CREW," (all McDonald's employees in the vicinity stop what they are doing and turn to her- including the guy mopping the floor) "WE'VE GOT A FOOD ALLERGY! CHANGE YOUR GLOVES AND DON'T TOUCH ANY CHEESE!"

It was like an airport lock-down.

Cashier, turning back to us says sweetly: "Will that be everything?"

She then positioned herself to watch her grill crew make those burgers. We all saw both employees change their gloves (even though only one of them actually prepared our food) and pointedly concentrate on the task at hand. The openness of the kitchen area allows everyone to see exactly what is going on (This came in handy a few weeks ago when we were traveling and I had to alert a McDonald's manager that an employee grabbed a slice of cheese and hurriedly put it down to continue making our burgers. The manager apologized and re-made the burgers.).

Here are a few tips we've learned about ordering at fast food restaurants:

• Avoid the drive-through.
• Try to arrive at less busy times.
• Be clear about the food allergies and what you need for them to do.
• Model a consistent dialogue and tone knowing that your child will eventually need to order for him/her self
• Watch the food preparation.
• Don't hesitate to alert the manager if you are uncomfortable with anything you've seen.
• Thank the employees for their extra efforts.

Remember to check out Allergy Eats to find and rate restaurants. The more ratings, the more helpful the information will be. Happy dining!

Food Allergy Research Boost With Multi-Million Dollar Grant

Milk Allergy

Perhaps you've read the news that David H. Koch, Executive Vice President of Koch Industries, has donated 10 million dollars to the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. This donation, one of the largest in the Institute's history, will create the David H. and Julia Koch Research Program in Food Allergy Therapeutics.

This is great news for the food allergy community. Mt. Sinai has already brought to light the possibility of introducing baked milk and egg to people with milk and egg allergies. They have also lead the way in researching the link between bullying and food allergies, and the lack of a link between waiting to introduce foods to infants and the development of food allergy.

Part of this donation may go toward some of the clinical trials currently underway at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, such as using Xolair to help develop milk tolerance and the effect of Chinese Herbal medicine on food allergies. All great research paving the way toward figuring out what causes food allergy and how to prevent it.

Eczema Resources

Treat Eczema

It's a funny word that's easy to misspell, but for those dealing with eczema, there's nothing humorous about it. We've had our share of keeping fingernails super-short so as not to cause cuts when scratching. I once spent a small fortune on the softest sheets imaginable and I think I could buy a pony with all the money I've spent on special laundry detergents and moisturizers over the years.

It is very common for people with food and environmental allergies to also deal with some level of eczema. Here are a few of my favorite eczema related resources:

The National Eczema Association offers support and helpful tips. I really like their suggested list of cleansing and moisturizing products. Their patient conference will be held in Atlanta GA this summer.
The National Eczema Society has a great list of FAQ's.
The Mayo Clinic lists the symptoms, causes, treatments and more for anyone new to eczema.
Penny's World is a cartoon site for kids to learn all about eczema and how to treat it.
It's An Itchy Little World is a blog filled with tips and additional eczema resources.

Did I miss any of your favorite eczema places?

Allergy Free Eggs

It may seem a little science fictionish, but researchers at Deakin’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences in Australia believe they can modify the proteins within egg whites to produce chickens which will lay allergy-free eggs.

Maybe we can also answer that age-old question- "Which came first, the chicken or the egg? 

In this case, the egg wins.

Researchers at Deakin, in collaboration with CSIRO in Geelong and the Poultry Co-operative Research Centre, state that there are four proteins in egg white that cause allergic reactions. They have found a way to effectively switch off those allergens in the egg, which will make a chicken that will then lay eggs free of allergens.

This could lead to a flu vaccine free of egg allergen and may even lead to bakery items and other commercially available foods that can be labelled as containing "allergen-free eggs". 

While the research is expected to take another three years to complete, there is a possibility of allergy-free vaccines in five years. 

This leads me to wonder if allergens can also be switched off in peanuts, dairy and other foods that cause allergic reactions for many people.

Stay tuned!