Food Allergy Friendly Massachusetts

Beginning tomorrow, February 1, Massachusetts restaurants will be required to have a certified food protection manager on staff. This staff member must must have completed allergen-awareness training through a state program and certification must be renewed every five years.

In addition, restaurant managers in MA must make sure their staff is trained and educated in the area of food allergy and the manager must deliver the meal to the table of the food allergic diner.

Yeah Massachusetts!

I've been saying for years, if Disney can make food allergic diners feel comfortable, so can other restaurants. MA is the first state to enact this type of policy. Here's hoping others soon follow.

I see a family vacation to MA in our near future. My kids would love the Freedom Trail and I've always wanted to visit Martha's Vineyard. How much easier our trip planning will be knowing we can speak to restaurant staff about food allergies and they will get it.

Really get it.

I'll be anxious to hear from Massachusetts readers and travelers as this law takes effect. Food allergy awareness will save lives and will allow those with food allergy to participate in activities others take for granted.

Like stopping at a restaurant for a quick lunch; or eating out with friends; or attending a family party at a restaurant...

Everyone has the right to eat safely.

New Study for People With Peanut Allergy

If you live in the West Hartford, Connecticut area, you may be interested in a new study being conducted by the New England Food Allergy Center. It is a desensitization program whereby small amounts of peanut protein are given to a peanut allergic individual over a period of time. The study starts with visits to the Center and are continued at home.

Unfortunately most insurance companies won't cover the costs, which will be in the $3000 range. It may be worth checking with your insurance though. Don't be afraid to escalate this to the medical director of your insurance carrier, who can often over-ride what customer service representatives are told to tell callers.

Time to Re-Check Food Allergies?

This NY Times article, Have a Food Allergy? It's Time to Re-Check, caught my attention recently. Having lived through this with my child for the past 10 years, my concerns about the accuracy of skin and blood tests continues to rise. A year and a half ago, based on blood test results, we were told to add more "foods to avoid to the list.  This was going in the wrong direction!

I've shared our experiences with adding baked milk and baked egg into the diet. This continues to be successful. We are now wondering about other foods we've been told to avoid and so, after consultation with our allergist, we are trying some of the "allergenic" foods in a safe environment.

Safe, as in at home, with epinephrine on-hand.

We tried sesame seeds- no reaction. 
We tried almonds- no reaction.
We tried  McDonalds® french fries (contain milk in the U.S.)- no reaction.

So, not allergic to sesame seeds, almonds or french fries from McDonald's. Now we know.
While I continue to feel greatful for the advances being made in food allergy, I still feel like the medical community is relying on "avoid the allergen" based on blood tests, and not giving us the information we need to make good decisions for ourselves and our children. It is not okay to live for a decade without dairy, eggs, nuts and many other foods. These food groups provide important nutrients and proteins and I want more from our doctors than "stay away from it".

So we continue. We've made a list of things to try. It's scary and exciting, but we need to figure this out. As always, your allergist is still the best source of information when it comes to food allergies.

I am not advocating this method for anyone else. We just needed to find something that works for us now. Already this method has reduced worry, fear, anxiety, and improved quality of life for our family.

I'll keep you posted.

Valentine's Day With Food Allergies

Chocolates without nuts, peanuts and dairy can be hard to find. That's why I started investing in candy molds a few years ago. I now have a collection of molds that work for all occasions.

These bite size hearts are perfect for Valentine's Day. Simply melt some Barry Callebaut chocolate chips, pour into the molds and refrigerate for about an hour. They'll pop right out of the mold to be festively wrapped or eaten immediately.  Now that I've discovered VeganSweets dairy-free white chocolate chips, I may do some experimenting with these chips and food coloring to create more Valentine's goodies.

If you want to order your allergy-friendly candy instead, there are many choices. Just order soon so you get what you need before February 14.

Check out Amanda's Own, Chocolate Emporium, Divvies, Premium Chocolatiers, and Vermont Free Chocolates, for a great selection of Valentine's Day gifts and treats.

Bake Gluten Free Desserts With the Cake Mix Doctor

I've become a bake-from-scratch kind of girl since our son was diagnosed with food allergies ten years ago. In those early years, I had to bake without wheat due to his wheat allergy (since outgrown). Back then, there were no commercially made gluten-free flours or ready-made baked goods without wheat. Baking was always a science experiment of mixing varying amounts of non-wheat flours together to come up with an acceptable end-product. I baked some awful cakes back then...and some terrible brownies...and inedible cookies. I couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

What a difference a decade makes. Now many gluten-free products are available from flours to cake mixes to pancake and baking mixes.

I had the opportunity to try out some recipes from The Cake Mix Doctor's latest book, "The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free". From Cookies and Cream cake to lemon bars, brownies and even a cake fit for a bride, Anne Byrn did all the experimenting for us and developed great recipes using gluten-free cake mixes as a base. All the recipes include dairy-free options as well.

I also need to avoid eggs in my baking due to allergies. All the cake recipes in the book call for three eggs, and I knew from experience I would not have a good outcome substituting three eggs. So, I selected the recipe for Chocolate Cloud cookies, which called for one egg. I picked up a gluten-free cake mix, mixed in the four other ingredients (using ground flax seed for the egg) and minutes later, cookies fresh from the oven. Really good cookies. Chocolaty, moist, delicious cookies that tasted even better the next day. I was really impressed with this recipe.

I also tried the caramel frosting recipe. I only needed to substitute Silk for the milk and in two easy steps I made a yummy frosting that will now become a standard along with my chocolate and vanilla frostings.

Anne offers many tips throughout the book for those who must bake gluten-free. Many of the recipes also come with variations offering hundreds of options for gluten-free desserts.

I wasted many hours and many ingredients trying to bake for my wheat-allergic child. No more gummy cakes, rock hard brownies and awful cookies. Anne Byrn gives us easy wheat and gluten-free desserts everyone will enjoy. Let The Cake Mix Doctor be your baking guide. This book also would make a great gift for grandparents and others who want to make desserts for someone they love who has celiac or wheat allergy.

Bon appetit'!

Chocolate Cloud Cookies from The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten Free

Food Allergies and the NHL

Tom Poti plays for the National Hockey League on the Washington Capitals' team. He also has multiple food allergies. Through travel, sports banquets and dining in restaurants, he hasn't let his food allergies slow him down. Share this inspirational article with your kids because food allergies don't need to hold you back from anything. Really.

Silk Soy Milk's May Contain Almonds Label

The Very Vanilla flavor of Silk Soy Milk has been a popular milk substitute in our house for many years. A new allergen alert added to the carton- "may contain almond, coconut"- prompted me to contact the company. While I knew that Silk had an almond flavor, I wanted to make sure none of those almonds were making their way into the beverage consumed by my dairy and nut allergic child.

I spoke to Veronica at Silk last week. She told me they've been making the almond flavor for nearly a year, but just started putting the warning on the labels because they wanted to be clear to consumers. The almond flavor Silk is kept in a separate storage container and is mixed in separate blenders. Shared equipment is used only when the products are pasteurized. Veronica told me that extreme measures are in place to prevent cross contamination. The pasteurization machinery is thoroughly cleaned between products and tests are conducted before, during and after the pasteurization process. They run water through the machine and test that as well to ensure there is no cross contamination of almond. I was also told that most of their system is computerized to minimize human error.

I feel confident that Silk is ensuring that there is no cross contamination between their flavors. We will continue to use Silk products in our house. Silk will begin manufacturing a coconut flavor in the near future. That warning is currently listed on their labels, however, the coconut warning is of little interest to me as coconuts are a fruit, not a tree nut.

So, drink Silk with confidence, and if you have any questions, contact them directly. I believe they are fielding many calls about this new warning label.

Food Allergy Bill is now Food Allergy Law

On Wednesday President Obama signed 35 bills into law. One of them was the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Act. This is welcome news for our school children with food allergies.

Forward this to your school board and administrators and offer your assistance in creating a plan that works for your school. Yes, it's a voluntary program, but the federal government will provide the standards and schools can craft a food allergy policy to fit their needs. We need consistency among our schools in the way food allergies are managed. This is a great step toward this so get inolved now!

Restaurants Benefit by Being Food Allergy Friendly

I love this article where Allergy Eats founder, Paul Antico explores how much it's worth for restaurants to cater to those with food allergies. He's got it right on the money. Our family would frequent an allergy friendly restaurant and would avoid those restaurants with an allergy unfriendly attitude. Eating establishments can take small steps that would put those with food allergies at ease.

I think it's funny that when travelling, our most comfortable eating spot is McDonald's. Our dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut allergic child can have a regular hamburger, apple slices and a drink. We explain the situation to the cashier (or manager if we can't identify an allergy-friendly cashier). Most of the time, the manager or cashier will decide they will just make his meal. Other times they go back and explain to the "cook" that we need to have hands freshly washed (or new gloves put on) and for nothing else to be touched while the burger is being made. We can also see and hear what's going on, which is another comforting feature of McDonald's.

So truly, if McDonald's can take the extra steps to ensure a safe experience, surely other restaurants can too!

Allergy Labels For Milk Can Be Confusing

I have a well-worn paper I carry in my wallet. It lists food ingredients that DO NOT contain milk, but sound like they are milk based. I refer to it often as I still find myself questioning things like "potassium lactate" (sure sounds like a milk product, doesn't it?). In case you're feeling confused by this as well, here's the list I typed up years ago. I believe I originally got it from FAAN:

• Calcium lactate
• Calcuium stearoyl lactylate
• Cocoa butter
• Cream of tartar
• Lactic acid (although, lactic acid starter culture may contain lactose)
• Oleoresin 
• Potassium lactate
• Sodium lactate
• Sodium stearoyl lactylate

None of the ingredients above contain milk protein and those with milk/dairy allergy do not need to avoid any of these ingredients. If you need a more comprehensive list, pop on over to Go Dairy Free where Alisa Fleming offers more details on this subject.
 
While I'm on the subject, there are several other misconceptions about some common foods:

• Coconut- is not a nut, but a fruit
• Nutmeg- does not contain nuts
• Water Chestnuts- are not in the nut family.

As always, check with your allergist if you have any questions about any of these ingredients and their safety for you.