I Had a Brain Freeze, but Brain Thaw Arrived in the Nick of Time

So we spent Memorial Day week-end at the shore. My son is taking Zyrtec daily for seasonal allergies. We ran out of his Zyrtec syrup during the week-end. No problem. We stopped at the closest CVS and picked up more. My brain freeze resulted in my thinking that we should get the children's chewable tablets instead of syrup. As I opened the package, my brain thaw occurred and I read over the inactive ingredients. Duh! I wrote a while back about Zyrtec tablets containing lactose monohydrate. I even sent a letter to them. It went unanswered.

Today I called Zyrtec and chatted with Malika, Zyrtec Customer Service Representative. She confirmed that lactose monohydrate contains bovine milk. She went on to say that the manufacturer of the lactose monohydrate had issued a "Certificate of Suitability." When I asked what that meant, I was put on hold- for 8 minutes. Finally Malika came back and apologized for the long wait. She said, "It contains milk, so those allergic to milk should avoid the product." Okay, I still don't know what a "Certificate of Suitability" is , but I guess it doesn't really matter.

I told her that I wanted to register a complaint that the label doesn't clearly state "Contains Milk" in big bold letters- make that super size letters so even those of us in a brain freeze can't miss it. She apologized and said she would forward my complaint to the appropriate department. Uh, huh- I'm watching...

If you want to register your concern to Zyrtec, call 1-800-343-7805.

Why don't medication manufacturers have to follow the same labeling rules that food manufacturers must follow?

As a Guest, I'm a Pest

As a follow-up to last week's post, "Hostess With the Mostest...Stress That Is", I must note that being a guest isn't easy either. This is something many of you pointed out in your recent comments.

Both Jes and Sabrina K. commented that they think it's harder to be a guest in someone else's house. They prefer to host because they have more control over what foods come in.

Nowheymama keeps everyone out of her kitchen to ease her stress. ChupieandJ'smama is already stressed about hosting an upcoming company Christmas party where traditionally shrimp and crab legs are served. Infant Bibliophile just starves her houseguests rather than dealing with the stress. Col has a list of rules for her guests. Liz uses red stickers to identify unsafe foods in her house and Karen keeps very few unsafe items in her kitchen.

This week-end we brought most of our own food when we visited family. I baked up a storm before we left- chocolate chip cookies, granola bars, doughnuts and chocolate cake. I marinated chicken, prepared burgers, precooked pancakes and made bread. We were well prepared and yet still hit a few stumbling blocks in our host's kitchen.

Just a few of my rants:
"Don't use that olive oil! It's in an old pickle jar and who knows what else that jar has been used for."
"Don't touch those pretzels. I know they look friendly, but they're stored in a chocolate covered raisin jar."
"I know you're trying to help, but please don't cut my son's roll with the knife that just cut those bakery rolls."
"No, don't put those birthday candles in my safe cake! Do you have any idea where those candles have been before?!"

We all survived the week-end, but I think this glimpse into each other's lives made us all grateful to go back to our own kitchens. I know I hugged my toaster as soon as I got home!

Friday Feature: The Food Allergy Coach

Meet Kim Hopkins, founder of Food Sensitivity Resources, a website dedicated to helping people live full lives despite having food allergies, intolerance, and sensitivities. Learn about Kim and how she coaches people with food issues through our interview below.

What is your food allergy background?

I thank my nephew. He has autism, and was really the "whistle-blower" in our family regarding food challenges and their effects. It was through my sister's research on his behalf that we all learned about our own food challenges.

I have always suffered from environmental allergies, asthma, and being overweight. At one point, I was prescribed two inhalers, two nasal sprays, two allergy pills, and three weekly allergy shots! As a kid, I can remember leaving school via ambulance several times because I could not breathe. I had chronic sinus infections that would return as soon as my course of antibiotics was finished.

In 2001, I had both a primary care doctor and an allergist. When I told them that I was experiencing scary symptoms after eating, they both said a version of "well, next time you need blood work done, we'll check for food allergies." Not good enough. Needless to say, that's the last time I saw both of them.

I educated myself and did an elimination diet on my own. I found that foods containing gluten were the culprit. This was later confirmed by conclusive testing: Celiac Disease. Once my body began to recover, I no longer needed the inhalers, nasal sprays, allergy shots - I was just using one allergy medication.

Flash forward a few years - I was managing the gluten issue beautifully but began experiencing unpleasant symptoms. My holistic doctor made many suggestions. When nothing improved, she said, "do some research." ...and off I went, determined to get myself well. I discovered information about Candida and the work of Dr. Crook. I literally cried when I read his book because I knew I had found answers - finally! I embarked on another elimination diet and found that I needed to add sugar, cherries, peanuts, and tree nuts to the list of things to avoid. Soon after these discoveries, I kicked my one allergy medication to the curb - 15 years of taking something to help with allergy symptoms and now I needed nothing! It was quite liberating! This began a new chapter of getting educated and adjusting - I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be my last...

What are you passionate about in the food allergy field?

I am passionate about education and proper diagnoses. I meet many people who are experiencing poor health effects that can likely be traced back to food sensitivities. I want to help spread the word about the symptoms and what to do. I am a big proponent of the elimination diet to help discover hidden food sensitivities because I have seen people recover from complex symptoms by figuring out which foods they need to avoid.

I also want to continue the quest to make this world an easier place for those with food challenges to live a full life. This includes targeting the food service industry, schools, work places, recreational activities, getting involved in advocacy activities to promote and fund research...you name it!


You are certified in the "Practical Application of Food Allergy Guidelines"? Can you tell us more about this certification?

To obtain certification, I completed a course that covered information about food allergies, symptoms, testing, and their relationship to common health conditions. Other topics included dietary restrictions by food allergy type and recommended substitutions, chemicals in food supply that can cause reactions, meal planning guidelines, as well as emergency planning guidelines. I believe that having this foundation of knowledge assists me with my personal coaching and consultation practice.

What else are you working on in the food allergy area?

I have formalized my efforts to assist others coping with food challenges by creating a website, Food Sensitivity Resources. Through FSR, I offer personal coaching for individuals and families, which can include phone calls, face to face meetings, food shopping trips, cooking together, practice with advocating for yourself at restaurants, emotional support...whatever is needed to assist with making necessary dietary adjustments as easy as possible. I also offer consultation to schools and businesses to help them to "get it" so they can better serve the growing population of people with food challenges.

Recently, I began a blog, The Food Allergy Coach, to help pass on up-to-date information in this rapidly changing field, and to share my continued personal journey of discovering food sensitivities and restoring good health.

Ultimately, I would like to replicate what only one other community in the world (in Germany) has done: create an entire community that is allergy-friendly and market this to attract both tourism and new residents.

What are your favorite food allergy friendly food staples?

I would say plain, organic yogurt - I eat it just about every day. I try to be good about always having cut up fresh veggies on hand. I make my own sausage patties, which I devour any time of day. Sweet potatoes in any form - roasted, french fries, chips - so yummy! My #1 favorite treat right now is Luna & Larry's coconut-based ice cream made with agave nectar....YUM! For baking with rice flour, I have found the best brand to be Authentic Foods Brown Rice Four Superfine. It is finely ground, which makes the texture perfectly undetectable as being gluten free.

What are some of your other interests/hobbies?

I love going to the gym, taking walks, riding bikes, and playing tennis. I am a voracious reader. I am fortunate to live near the beach, so I try to get there for some peace and quiet as often as I can. My husband and I are both major foodies - we enjoy cooking, baking, and entertaining friends and family.

Check out Kim's site at Food Sensitivity Resources. Kim also writes a blog as the Food Allergy Coach.

The Hostess With the Mostess...Stress, That Is.

I fear that I'm not a very good hostess. If we have people over for a meal, I'm usually fine. I can prepare the meal in advance and take my normal kitchen precautions. The problem arises when we have guests who stay for a few days over multiple meals. Suddenly my kitchen isn't my own. Unfamiliar food arrives and concern over cross-contamination boils over.

"STOP! You can't dip that knife back into our dairy free butter after using it on that unsafe (read: poisonous) bread."

"NO!" Don't cut into that dairy, egg and nut-free cake with that tainted knife you just used on that unsafe (read: poisonous)angel food cake.

"WAIT!You can't leave crumbs from that peanut butter and jelly sandwich (read: poisonous)all over the table. And please- go wash you hands- immediately. And I want to hear you sing "Happy Birthday" while you're doing it- twice!"

I can't help it. My frantic tone bubbles over. Of course if I keep this up, I won't have to worry about it because no one will want to come visit!

Now, all of you families with food allergies, you get it. You're welcome anytime.

How do you deal with guests in your kitchen?

Monday Review: Beyond a Peanut Flashcards

When my kids were really young, they loved flashcards. We used alphabet cards to learn letters and number cards to learn simple math. One enterprising mom has created special flashcards to teach people how to stay safe with food allergies.

Dina Clifford created the cards after her children were diagnosed with a peanut allergy. This small packet carries a ton of information about reading labels, cross contamination and carrying emergency medications.

The cards have four color-coded borders. Green cards show foods or situations that are relatively safe for someone who is peanut or nut allergic. They stress caution and introduce the idea of cross-contamination. Red cards show foods or situations that have a greater risk for someone with a peanut or nut allergy. Yellow cards show potential danger and are designed to create awareness. Cards outlined in blue contain safety information to help people with any type of food allergy.

"What a great idea for young kids!" was my initial thought when I looked through the flashcards. As I went through them again, I started thinking about how helpful these cards would be for grandparents, caretakers, daycares, teachers and others who have contact with peanut and nut allergies. They are easy to read and understand and offer a quick way to educate others about food allergies.

Thank you, Dina!

Check out the cards at Beyond a Peanut.com. I'm thrilled to report that Dina is working on Dairy cards next. Stay tuned for that announcement.

Closing out Food Allergy Awareness Week

Don't forget the Food Allergy Twitter Party at noon and 10:30 pm (Eastern Time) today! Go to tweetgrid.com and type in #foodallergy.

As we wrap-up Food Allergy Awareness Week, check out this list put together by Linda Coss. She's right on target. In light of our experience this week, I must add a #11:

Better Methods to Diagnosis Food Allergies- skin tests are unreliable in most allergenic children. Blood tests give too many false positives. Food challenges are filled with subjective evaluation and are traumatic for the allergic person and their family. We need some kind or x-ray or MRI-type machine to scan for food allergies in a non-invasive way.

Is that too much to ask?

Here's Linda's list...

Top 10 Things Parents of Children with Life-Threatening Food Allergies Want

By Food Allergy Author Linda Coss

#10: Delicious and Easy Recipes – For those who must eliminate multiple and/or common ingredients, cooking can be an enormous challenge.

#9: To Be Able to Easily Dine Out – We understand that it is not easy to prepare allergen-free food in the typical busy restaurant kitchen. But it would be nice if we could easily get correct answers regarding what’s in the food.

#8: Nut-Free Flights – Airlines cannot control the food brought on board a flight by their passengers, but why must they serve little bags of peanuts? How about crackers, pretzels, raisins, licorice, tortilla chips, or just about any other popular snack food?

#7: Empowered EMTs – In many parts of the country emergency medical technicians do not carry – and are forbidden from administering – potentially life-saving shots of epinephrine. This is ridiculous.

#6: Appropriate ER Protocols – Because up to 40-50% of severe reactions are biphasic, those who go to the hospital for treatment should always be kept under observation for at least 5 hours. Unfortunately many emergency rooms discharge these patients as soon as they first stabilize.

#5: Understanding – We want the people in our lives to understand that we are not a bunch of paranoid hysterical oddballs who are making all of this up for the purpose of calling attention to ourselves and our children. Life-threatening food allergies are a very real condition. And yes, we really do have to take a lot of precautions to keep our kids safe.

#4: Knowledge – Currently the only treatment for life-threatening food allergies is complete avoidance of the offending allergens. Since food, and food residue, is everywhere, parents want to know exactly how to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. What steps do they need to take? What hidden dangers do they need to avoid?

#3: Clear Labels on Packaged Food Products – If there is a chance that a product may contain an allergen that is not included in the ingredient label, the package should say so. But if not, companies should not put “may contain” verbiage on the package.

#2: Safe School Environments – Our kids are not learning disabled and do not need “special education.” But they do need a school environment that is not covered with allergenic food residue, and teachers who are prepared to recognize and treat an allergic reaction.

And the number one thing parents of children with life-threatening food allergies want?

Drum Roll.....

#1: A Cure – Most of all, we want a cure. A real cure – the type of cure that would result in our children being able to eat whatever they wanted to eat, without any risk of an adverse reaction.




Ms. Coss is the author of “How to Manage Your Child’s Life-Threatening Food Allergies,” as well as two popular food allergy cookbooks, “What’s to Eat?” and “What Else is to Eat?” – both of which provide recipes for cooking without dairy, egg, peanut or tree nut ingredients. All three books are available at www.FoodAllergyBooks.com, at Amazon.com, and at various retailers nationwide.

Food Challenge: A Distress Signal

I'm still feeling damaged as I write this post. The trauma of Monday’s food challenge still lingers. It began innocently enough with the allergist saying, “Let’s do a food challenge for egg.”

Great idea, thought the parents. Our nine-year old called the scheduled challenge “the day I’m going to die”.

It’s hard to explain to a child that they should eat a food they’ve been told could make them very sick. We really worked hard to manage his anxiety. We’d been through food challenges with him before, but he’s too young to remember. We explained, and the doctor re-explained, the process. A tiny amount of egg would be given, with increasing amounts over five ingestions. We would wait 20 minutes between each ingestion to see if there would be a reaction.

The hard part was separating the anxiety symptoms from physical symptoms. The first level- no problem. After the second ingestion, he asked if his tongue was swelling. We said no, doctor said no, we proceeded. On to level 3. He asked if there was something on the side of his lip. He thought it felt funny. Nothing there. Proceed to level 4. He said it was hard to breathe. We called the nurse. Breathing fine. His heart rate was up, but everyone thought that was due to anxiety. For the final ingestion, he had to eat the rest of the egg. There were tears and “I hate this. I don’t want to do this.” Doctor came in and said that all was going really well and she expected he’d be able to eat eggs on a regular basis. He forced it down and we waited. A minute later, he vomited a little. Everyone studied the projectile and determined it was mucous. No problem...for a few minutes.

Things began to go downhill and then gathered a fierce pace for a fast descent. He started scratching his back. A little red, no problem. A few minutes later, there was a hive. We wait. Soon, another hive on his stomach. The nurse brought in Benadryl. We wait. Soon he began scratching furiously- all over- and said he felt like he was going to be sick. His skin turned bright red and become rough. Eczema everywhere. He looked really bad. Is there anything more painful than watching your child suffer?

The doctor gave him Zyrtec and a steroid. Minutes later, violent vomiting. The egg came up, but so did the medicine. Apparently the Benadryl had enough time to start to work because over the next hour the skin symptoms started to recede a bit. After four hours with strict instructions to avoid egg, we went home. We had more steroids and antihistamines to give throughout the next 12 hours.

Amazingly, he looked like himself again the following morning.

“That was the worst day of my life,” he said the next day. I remember a few rougher days in his early years, but for him, I agree, this was the worst.

We did learn some things, though:

He now really understands what an allergic reaction is and how he feels when it happens.

I would do a single or double blind challenge IF we ever do a challenge for him again. With an older child who is anxious already, it would be best if the child did not know if they were getting the food or a placebo.

We know without a doubt, that eggs need to be avoided.

He was already dealing with spring allergy symptoms, so we also learned not to schedule a challenge during a season of allergy symptoms.

So, I lost some faith in medical science this week. When it comes to food allergies, we know that skin tests results are often unreliable and that blood test results have a lot of false positives. The true test is a food challenge, but isn’t there a better way to do this? No one should have to go through this- especially our children. I’m still upset, but I know over time this sadness will turn into action. We need better diagnostic tools for food allergy. We must keep pushing education and awareness which will result in more funding and more research. We can do better. I know we can.

Monday Review: A Look Back

After four months of Monday Reviews, I wanted to take a look back. Have you tried any of these products as a result of a review? Please share your experience. We can all help each other.

Thank you!

Home Free
Manitoba Harvest: Hemp Products
Mary's Gone Crackers
Go Picnic
ZenSoy Puddings and Evolve Kefir
Thai Kitchen
Nature's Path
Simply Boulder Sauces
"Matters of Faith", by Kristy Kiernan
Happikins
Olinda Ridge Olive Oils
Kettle Cuisine
Softress
Stuck on You
Grill Charms
Allergy Alert Clothing
"Flourishing with Food Allergies" by A.Anderson

Don't forget the Food ALlergy Twitter Party to wrap up Food Allergy Awareness Week! Join us at noon and 10:30 pm this Friday, May 15.

Happy Mother's Day

Fo the constant label reading, special ingredient cake baking, party planning (especially those you're not even hosting), teacher training, medicine carrying food allergy moms...

Happy Mother's Day!

Friday Feature: The Nut-Free Mom

This Friday Feature is an interview with Jenny Kale, The Nut-Free Mom. Learn more about Jenny through our Q&A's.

What is your food allergy background?

My food allergy journey began 5 years ago when my then 4-year-old daughter had a bite of a peanut butter sandwich at preschool. She never wanted peanut butter when we offered it to her, but we didn't think much of it.
On this day, I went to pick my daughter up at school after lunch and found her eyes swollen to 3 times their normal size. Her face was covered in hives. I got her home and called the doctor. She appeared to be asleep, but now I know she probably fainted from low blood pressure. She "woke" up when she began violently vomiting. Luckily her airway didn't close, though she began wheezing. I know now that she was having a full-blown anaphylactic reaction. Before this, I had a vague idea of what food allergies were but didn't think it could happen to us.

The pediatrician diagnosed peanut allergy. At a follow up with an allergist, my daughter was also found to have tree nut allergies. The doctor said that based on her reaction, we were lucky my daughter had survived.

I remember staggering home that day in shock with my baby and 4-year-old in tow wondering how I'd ever cope with the situation. I thought my daughter was perfectly healthy--it was a blow to learn that she had a life-threatening medical condition. I was terrified she'd have an even worse reaction and die. It was a sobering time for me and my husband.

What are you passionate about in the food allergy field?

I'm passionate about educating others--especially non-allergic families--about what food allergies are. I unknowingly put my daughter in a life-threatening situation. Had I understood peanut allergies, I would have called 911 immediately. I want other parents to know about this.

Also, I want everyone with a seriously food-allergic child to know that life can be mostly normal with food allergies. I advise caution, but not fear. Teach them from a young age to "own" their allergies and they will be much more confident. My daughter does everything that other kids do--except eat certain foods. That's very important to me, and to her.

And I'm also passionate about advocating for food allergic people, especially in light of recent OpEds and blogs that claim nut allergies are manufactured by neurotic parents and are not real. I've seen with my own eyes how real they are and this type of media backlash is dangerous. Laws, public perception and public policy have come a long way toward accommodating food-allergic people and I want that to continue.

What else are you working on in the food allergy area?

I'm a writer, so in addition to my blog, I'm in the process pitching some mainstream print media such as articles, essays and more. I work hard in my daily life to educate the school and those around me about food allergies. There are a lot of fears and misconceptions that I hope to dispel.

What are your favorite food allergy friendly food staples?

Fresh fruits and veggies--can't push those enough with my two daughters! Also, my kids eat a lot of yogurt and things like Teddy Grahams. My daughter likes to make fruit smoothies and snack on raisins and "safe" popcorn. And Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate--we can't live without that. Of course, Mom's from-scratch cookies and cakes are favorite staples. We "only" deal with nut allergies so we may have more options than some other food-allergic families.

What did you do before life with food allergies?

I was a stay-at-home mom working as a freelance writer--I still am doing that. One thing we no longer have is the sense of spontaneity . My husband and I are "foodies" and love ethnic restaurants, exotic travel, etc. A lot of this has had to be curtailed. Asian food is out--bakeries in Paris are out. However, we can still do so much. We just need to plan ahead and be prepared with medications, etc. But I miss the whole concept of thinking that we can do things on the spur of the moment --that's pretty much gone!

What are some of your other interests/hobbies?

I'm an avid reader, I love museums, French films and British TV shows--especially the cooking ones like Kitchen Nightmares. I like to travel and would love to go back and travel in Europe with my family. I love to cook, bake and entertain (this has come in handy with nut allergies) and I enjoy writing fiction and poetry in addition to my non-fiction freelance gigs. And the whole blogging thing has been really fun for me. If I had time, I'd do a writing blog as well!

Thank you, Jenny for sharing your world with us. We appreciate all you do to educate others about food allergies.

Visit Jenny's blog here.

We're Having a Twitter Party!

Okay, I'll admit, I'm not sure exactly what that means yet, but I'm learning. This party is being hosted by Jennifer of Food Allergy Buzz and Ruth of Best Allergy Sites.

To join in the fun, on Friday May 15 at noon and again at 10:30 pm (Eastern Time), visit tweetgrid.com and type in #foodallergy. You can use another Twitter real-time dashboard of your choosing, but "tweetgrid" works and that's good enough for me.

This will take you to the party where you will see streaming conversation. During the two party times, you can ask questions or make comments on anything food allergy related. I'm participating in the noon party and I plan to be sleeping during the 10:30 pm one- yeah, I know, quite the party animal.

Anyway, I hope you'll join us.

The participating panelists are:

@chupieandjsmama
@foodallergyassistant
@foodallergymama
@allergicgirl
@nut_freemom
@foodallergybuzz
@bestallergysite

Send a note to Jennifer B. if you have food allergy products available for prizes- yes there are even prizes at this party!

Monday Review: "Flourishing With Food Allergies", by A. Anderson

This Monday Review is brought to you by Papoose Publishing, publisher of A. Anderson's book, "Flourishing With Food Allergies".

When my son was diagnosed with food allergies in 2001, I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of Marianne Barber's book, "The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies". My copy has yellow sticky notes protruding from three sides and white papers covered in notes written by me and my husband. It was our guidebook as we struggled to understand and deal with this stunning diagnosis. The book was copyrighted in 2001, making it timely for us. I haven't come across a book like it, so this has been the one I've continued to recommend to parents shocked by a food allergy diagnosis...until now...

The new guidebook has arrived.

A. Anderson managed to capture the sensitivity and need for practical information that parents must have. By incorporating her own story, and giving a glimpse into the lives of 14 other families from around the world who deal with food allergy, readers quickly realize, "I am not alone". Ms. Anderson devotes the second half of the book to "Solutions". She includes perspectives from top allergy docs, school teachers and a psychologist. The book progresses to practical solutions for dealing with social situations, school and travel. The conclusion of the book is devoted to a plea that we come together and ask government officials to devote more funds for studies to test, treat and eventually cure food allergies. This is a topic near and dear to my heart.

I did find the resource section of "Flourishing With Food Allergies" to be rather light. In the aforementioned "The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies", I found it helpful to have names and contact information for food manufacturers and restaurants. That said, it is a sign of the times that much of this information can now be found on the internet through blogs and websites and inclusion in a book such as this one, may make the book outdated more quickly.

"Flourishing With Food Allergies" has the most up to date information for parents and would also be a great gift for your child's teacher or school nurse.

To order, go to Flourishing With Food Allergies.com

For other food allergy information, visit the Food Allergy Assistant.

Friday Feature: Harriet Picker- Asthma and Food Allergy Activist and Educator

Harriet is a mom of two food allergic children in New York City. Learn about how she educates and advocates for those with allergies and/or asthma through our Q&A below:

FAA: What is your food allergy background?
I grew up with food allergies and asthma. Before having children, I was a teacher and then a health educator, focusing on teaching kids and parents about asthma. My older son was diagnosed with an egg and a dairy allergy at 15 months. My younger son who is now 2, is allergic to dairy, wheat, beef, nuts, soy, eggs, and legumes.

FAA: What are you passionate about in the food allergy field?
I am passionate about educating people about food allergies; I am also passionate about schools creating plans to deal with food allergies.

Many people only think nut allergies are the dangerous ones, I have to convince people that dairy, egg, soy and other allergies can be just as dangerous.

FAA: What else are you working on in the food allergy area?
My main goal is to get the NYC public school system to acknowledge the need for food allergy protocols.

I am not a fan of banning foods. However, precautions need to be put in place and a protocol established. I believe allergy tables, frequent hand-washing, and table wiping are a start. Concerning snacks, which is an issue in my school, I would end the “Shared Snack“ policy. For many reasons parents should send in their own snack for their own child. I would also suggest a birthday party notification policy. That way the parent of an allergic child can bring in something if needed.

Most importantly, staff development is necessary to teach all school staff about what food allergies are, what to look for, and the use of epi-pens. Each year teachers should ask incoming parents about food allergies and a class should establish its own policy.

Currently, I am discussing these ideas with a few allergists in NYC and with my school’s nurse. If anyone wants to contact me about this issue, find me on Twitter @Harriet75 or e-mail me at "Alisaha2@aol.com".

FAA: What are your favorite food allergy friendly food staples?
I have so many! I love rice flour, Vans wheat-free waffles, Southern homestyle corn flake crumbs, Enjoy Life boom-choco-boom dairy free rice milk crispy rice bars, all of the gluten-free Cherrybrook Kitchen cake and cookie mixes, potatoes, and rice pasta, My new favorite item, but it's hard to find, is Ricera rice yogurt.


FAA: What are some of your other interests/hobbies?
I love theatre, performing and directing! I studied theatre in college and I have a Masters in Educational Theatre. I developed an asthma program that went into NYC schools in which I combined my love for theatre and knowledge of asthma to teach kids about asthma. I love being able to combine my passions.

Thank you, Harriet, for working with schools, children and parents to create awareness around food allergies and asthma!