Monday Review- Happikins

This week's Monday Review is brought to you by Happikins, eco and kid-friendly napkins.

Molly McKinley originally set out to create an alternative to paper napkins and to teach children the importance of making wise environmental choices. She created sets of 100% cotton, machine-washable napkins (five per set), with a carrying pouch. The pouch opens to a dry erase panel for notes from mom or dad and has a zippered area in the back to carry money or other small items.

Here's what I love about Happikins:

For children with food allergies, the napkins, at 12 inches square, are a perfect placemat to mark boundaries around snacks or lunches. Our school's peanut allergy table was marked with masking tape to give each child a zone to keep their own food in. The kids kept scraping away the tape, and frankly it was ugly. Happikins creates an easy visual for children.

Using Happikins when visiting, traveling or eating in restaurants provides a barrier to any food allergens left on eating surfaces.

It's so easy for a child to use. The napkin simply gets scrunched up and put in the pouch to be taken home for laundering.

They're so darn cute! Currently, you can order a girly set in Sugar and Spice, a sporty set in League of Sports or an animal-lover set in Creatures and Critters.

Any opportunity to teach children and families about re-use and recycling is a winner in my book!


To order, or to get more information, go to the Happikins Website.

For more food allergy information, go to the Food Allergy Assistant's website.

Peanut Allergy Website

I'll be regularly posting at peanutallergy.com and wanted to share the benefits of this useful site. This online resource guide is a must for those families or individuals just learning about a peanut allergy diagnosis. It answers questions about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. If you don't see an answer to a question you have, simply click, "ask a question" and someone who knows the answer will respond.

This is also a great resource for peanut allergy veterans. The directory lists peanut allergy friendly restaurants, products, foods and bakeries. There is an opportunity for those with experience to share their knowledge by responding to questions from readers. The Forum Boards also allow people to talk about issues related to peanut allergy.

You'll need to register to use parts of the site, but registration is free. Try it out.

You can check out my latest posting here.

For additional food allergy information, check out the Food Allergy Assistant.

Dairy-Free Treat May Cause Food Allergy Reaction

We always have a box of these Tofutti Cuties in our freezer. They taste great and my son's friends think they're eating a regular ice cream sandwich when we pull these out. I've come to learn through ELL (Eat, Learn, Live) that they've received three complaints recently about allergic reactions to these treats. In the latest incident, a child suffered an anaphylactic reaction immediately following ingestion of this product. ELL is getting the product tested now, but there is a suspicion of milk-contamination.

More disturbing is that Tofutti Brands, Inc, and their manufacturer Kemp Ice Cream, have not responded to ELL's letters following each incident. ELL states, "historically, the company has been very uncooperative and has not taken responsibility for any of the allergic reactions reported".

This is unacceptable. A food manufacturer must take responsibility for the ingredients in their product. To not even respond when a problem is reported is criminal. I will not purchase Tofutti Cuties again until the company answers these complaints and takes some accountability.

Their website is very reassuring about the practices they use to prevent cross-contamination. We need action, though, not words.

Join me in contacting Tofutti. As always, I'll keep you posted.

It's a shame, I really trusted their products...

For more food allergy information, see the Food Allergy Assistant's website.

Monday Review- "Matters of Faith" by Kristy Kiernan

This Monday Review is brought to you by author Kristy Kiernan, and her award-winning novel, Matters of Faith. The story revolves around the Tobias family. When 12-year-old Meghan has a medical crisis related to her peanut allergy, the entire family is forced to dig deep and deal with issues that have been bubbling below the surface.

"Genuine" is the word that came to mind as I read this book. I too have had people say, “if it’s organic peanut butter, than it’s safe, right?” We too removed carpets, curtains and stuffed animals from our home in an effort to control allergic symptoms. Kristy Kiernan really understands what it’s like to live with a food allergy in the household. I was certain that she must have a food allergy or be close to someone who does.

“Not so,” said Kristy when I recently interviewed her by phone. “This story really began when I read about 15-year-old Christina Desforges." (You may remember this Canadian teenager reportedly suffered a fatal allergic reaction after kissing her boyfriend, who had recently eaten a peanut butter snack.)

” I started thinking about how scary it must be for parents to raise a food allergic child. Then I started wondering what would happen if the parents didn’t believe in medical intervention for religious reasons, . My interest in faith and religion just kind of collided with this interest in food allergies," Kristy told me.

Kristy’s empathy shines through her writing as she expertly weaves the story. It will be tempting to peek at the end, but try to refrain and trust that Kristy will give closure and allow us a glimpse into the future of the lives of the characters we’ve come to care about.

I hope every parent, grandparent, relative, teacher, neighbor, anyone who knows someone with a food allergy, has an opportunity to read Matters of Faith. Kristy admits that she didn’t set out to write a book to educate others about food allergies.

Fortunately for us, it does just that, in a beautiful and compelling way.

Learn more about Kristy Kiernan at her blog.

For more food allergy information, go to the Food Allergy Assistant's website.

Food Allergy Articles on Suite101

I've recently become a contributing writer for Suite 101.com. I can write on a variety of topics and recently posted two articles directly related to food allergies.

You can read:
"Traveling by Plane with Food Allergies"
"Food Allergy Hidden Dangers".

There are many other articles about food allergies on Suite 101. Take a look.

For more food allergy info, check out the Food Allergy Assistant's website.

Sneak peek: Monday's Review on March 9, 2009 is a book review. You won't want to miss this novel featuring a family and food allergies and a crisis of faith and police and a crazy grandma. Any guesses? Tune in Monday for the reveal.

Allergy Meds Dangerous for Those with Food Allergies

ELL (Eat Learn, Live) has put out a notice about milk ingredients in several popular allergy medications. For those with a dairy allergy, watch out for these medications containing dairy:

Zyrtec and Zyrtec-D Adult 10 mg tablets
Zyrtec Children’s Chewables (5mg & 10mg)

The Allergy/Asthma Information Association (AAIA) lists other allergy and asthma medications that contain milk:

· Singulair 4 mg granules & 10 mg tablets (not in the 4 mg or 5 mg tablets)
· Reactine, Aerius, Claritin tablets (not liquid form).
· Benadryl 50 mg pink/white capsule (not caplet, chewable tablets or liquid form)
· Prednisone tablets

These asthma medications also contain milk:
Advair
Flovent
Foradil aerolizer capsules
Oxeze turbuhaler
Spiriva capsules
Symbicort turbuhaler
Ventolin diskhaler, diskus, rotacaps

The bottom line is to read every label and question your doctor and/or pharmacist about ingredients in medicines.

I will be sending letters to the manufacturers of Zyrtec, Singulair, Claritin and Benadryl asking them to clearly state that the product contains milk and is dangerous to those with a milk allergy.

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

Monday Review- Simply Boulder Sauces

This Monday Review is brought to you by Simply Boulder Sauces. Seth Mendelsohn's idea was to produce the finest culinary sauces using nutritious ingredients. He created five flavors including Lemon Pesto, Truly Teriyaki and Zesty Pineapple that will enhance any recipe.

You'll love the ingredients in the sauces. Instead of corn syrup, they are sweetened with agave nectar. There are no long chemicals listed on the label- just ingredients we're all familiar with, like pure olive oil, molasses and fruit juices.

According to Seth, "We try our hardest to limit allergens in products. One of the ways we do this is by using olive oil. Unlike many sauces, we never use soybean oil. We also use a wheat-free organic tamari in the Teriyaki and Coconut Peanut sauces. Some of our sauces do contain allergens such as soy or peanuts. We use good manufacturing processes to make sure that there is no cross contamination."

I had the opportunity to sample Simply Boulder Sauces. They are so flavorful and versatile. I love the Lemon Pesto on chicken and the Truly Teriyaki makes a great marinade. Try any of them as a dressing for salads or sandwiches. Use them for grilling or baking on chicken, beef or sea-food.

Check out Seth's "Sauce Talk" blog which is chock-full of information and recipes.

Go to Simply Boulder's site for products, ingredients (and country of origin), and how to buy the sauces.

See the Food Allergy Assistant's site for more food allergy information.