Here is a list of a few people you should contact:

-    Your family doctor – the diagnosis may come from an Allergist, not your family doctor. It’s a good idea to update your doctor so that they can keep your files accurate. This is especially important if medications are necessary or other treatments. It’s also always a good idea to keep your Doctor abreast of any changes to your health.
-    Your child’s teachers and school administration/daycare center – Many schools have policies and procedures around allergies and other health conditions. Its important to explain the allergy to anyone who will be in contact with your child. Most schools require that you leave an epinephrine injector at school too. Some teachers allow parents of kids with food allergies to send out a note to other families – if that’s something you want to do, speak to the Administrator.
-    Your child’s friends and their families – this group of people can be a very helpful bunch. An allergic child’s friends can be their greatest advocates too. At a young age, kids take allergies very seriously and are really good about reading labels and asking lots of questions. This is especially helpful during school events, parties and other activities when an allergic child may be in attendance. Your friends are great advocates too – they want you to be safe all the time.
-    Your own family – extended family such as aunts, uncles, grandparents need to know about the allergy. They need to understand which foods are safe and which are potentially dangerous. One of the challenges you may encounter with people who don’t have food allergies, is that they assume that because the allergic individual has had a food before, it is still a safe food for them. Through education and time, this perception may change but it’s a tough one.

Over time you will continue to tell so many more people about your child’s food allergy. Essentially, any time you leave your child in someone else’s care, they need to know about the allergy, what to do in case of an emergency, how to administer epinephrine, who to contact, etc. It will become second nature – as you tie up your shoes, you think about food allergies. But, for now, one step at a time.

TSA – Transport Security Administration

They set the rules. We just follow them. Hidden Disabilities contains all the information you need to travel. Pay particular attention to the Medication part towards the bottom of the page. The long and short of it:

• Jet injectors or pens (think epinephrine injector – Epipen or Twinjet) are allowed.
• You can ask that they be visually inspected if you do not want them x-rayed.
• They do not have to be labeled.

Canadian Air Transport Security Authority

They set the rules in Canada, eh? Permitted and non-permitted items contains all the information you need to travel via air. Pay particular attention to the Bioinjectors and Hypodermic needles sections. The long and the short of it:

• Bioinjectors are allowed.
• Medication in a container that shows the name of the medication and the name of the pharmacy it was bought from or manufacturer that produces the medication.

We called the CATSA and spoke with an agent who told us that epinephrine injectors are allowed on airplanes and through security without a Doctor’s note. The agent did mention its best if the packaging (case) shows the prescription label. However, things do change so please contact them directly or check their website prior to your travel in order to avoid any unexpected surprises. Please let me know if you think any links should be added to this list by sending me a comment.

On the Rita’s website, there is a question about peanuts, tree nuts and peanut oils. Here is the corporate response “Rita’s products are derived from nut-free sources. However, please note that some products or ingredients may be manufactured in facilities also processing these nuts or nut-containing ingredients, and we are unable to prevent their cross-contact with such allergens. Refer to our Allergen Chart in the Nutrition Section of this website for more details.”

We spoke with the Store Manager when we were there and he was really pleased to be a franchise owner of Rita’s. He said they get many people with food allergies, gluten intolerance, nut allergies, egg allergies, lactose intolerance and more coming into the store and he feels great that they can usually find a delicious treat that will be safe for them.

Check with the individual store location to determine if these products are suitable for you family. Thanks to Rita’s for putting smiles on our faces and treats in our tummy’s. We’ll be back!

Until now he has only had the skin prick test and I probably would not have bothered with the blood test except that this summer he started to mildly react to foods that had never posed a problem before. He started coughing from sesame seeds, vomiting from poppy seeds, saying egg made his throat itchy!! As you can imagine I was alarmed. He has been having sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and egg for most of his life, why are they bothering him now?

Also, he is 7. Is he faking it for some reason? (OK, not the vomiting but the coughing? saying he has an itchy throat?) This is a child that has been known to pour yucky medicine down the air vent and say he drank it. Yes, he cries wolf and no, he is not a people pleaser. He once told a playdate mommy he was allergic to broccoli.

My son also has some trouble figuring out just what is going on with his little body. For example, there was a period when I felt that he was mistaking hunger for stomach pains. Hunger does hurt but not in the stomach cramping I’m really sick way. Together we worked on using the right words to describe what he was feeling – sharp pain (pinch, pin prick or cut) vs dull pain (punch in the stomach), smarts (like a slap) or ringing pain (stubbing your toe). Once he said his throat was itchy but then changed his mind after a large burp. We are still working on this.

In the case of allergies I think one needs to rule out the physical first. I always assume my son is telling the truth about how a food makes him feel even if it gets him out of eating that really nasty new vegetable. Outside of obvious physical signs, what else can you do other than test?

Before taking him to get tested one of the articles I read was from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s article was about how testing for allergies can be confusing and lead to false positives (article here). However, I have also read Dr Kenneth Bock’s book “Healing the New Childhood Epidemics Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies” which favors getting the test done and analyzing the results in proper context.

Between the 2 texts it can be hard to decide whether ELISA test is worth it. Clearly I don’t want to have my son’s back scratched 100 times with 100 different foods and watch his little back swell up (so that’s in favor of getting ELISA done) but we’re already on a rotation diet with restrictions and the last thing I need is false positives!!! (not in favor of ELISA)

So, should I really bother with this test? The last and only time my son had blood drawn he fainted!

Honestly, my decision to move forward with getting his blood tested came when he tried some Sun Butter (made from sunflower seeds) and said it made his mouth itch. Now, from what I can find on the web, sunflower seed allergies exist but are really rare. Really REALLY rare. That’s when I decided to draw blood. Literally.

I picked him up at school as a surprise because whenever I tried to discuss the blood test with him he got nervous. This “surprise” technique works well on my son but is obviously not for all children. Surprise pickup, an EMLA patch and the promise of treats from the nearby health food store set us off to a good start. We played a few rounds of I Spy with my Little Eye and the next thing you know, I’m in the chair, he’s on my lap, the butterfly needle is in and away goes his blood. He’s a little nervous but then his curiosity gets the better of him and he starts looking at his arm, the needle, the blood. His lips were a little pale but he didn’t faint and wants to rest a little. I’m glad a brought his little brother’s stroller because he really didn’t feel like walking. He did feel like eating so we had a few more treats than I would normally allow.

My son was terrific and I’m really proud of him. I on the other hand, may not survive this kind of experience again.

We’re still waiting for our results. I hope this was all worth it.

Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Brownies

When we saw this great recipe for Brownies (yes, a picture speaks a thousand words), we immediately wanted to share it. The recipe is sugar free, egg free, dairy free and gluten free. So, why do the brownies look so moist and delicious? There are a few secret ingredients that Beth has shared. Click here to see the recipe and let us know what you think!

Thanks to Beth for sharing her recipe. Make sure you check out her blog often for more delicious recipes.

When I received a copy of Gina Clowes’ book, One Of The Gang and read through it, it absolutely reminded me of the Olympics where anything is possible and dreams really can come true. She created this book to shed light on the emotional side of food allergies and to help children cope with the everyday challenges they face. It also serves as a reminder that even though food allergies take alot of management on a daily basis, they should not stop us from enjoying a wonderful life and that kids with food allergies should aspire to be anything they want to be.

Case in point: take Steve Omischl, an Olympic Athlete in these 2010 games. I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve last summer and we discussed his food allergies. He travels the world with his ski team, stays in many hotels and eats in many restaurants and ski chalets. He’s a great inspiration to kids with food allergies as he manages his daily challenges of living with food allergies well and has never let it stop him from following his dreams.

Ms. Clowes book takes kids through the emotional highs and lows of having food allergies and helps kids understand they are not alone in having these feelings and that whatever feelings they have are probably similar feelings to what other kids with food allergies experience. She also reminds kids “It’s okay to feel sad or mad about having food allergies sometimes.” With my own kids, we’ve gone through many emotional situations when I’ve heard “I hate my allergy – why do I have an allergy?” This book is really great at showing kids what they can accomplish and that they can do so many things in life. Whether your child has a gluten allergy, nut allergy, egg allergy or any other kind, kids with food allergies can play games and enjoy their friends and many times they won’t even be thinking about their food allergy.

The book is available through Amazon and its a really great reminder about the emotions of living with food allergies. Thanks so much to Ms. Clowes for helping kids really feel like they are “One Of The Gang”! Check out her blog at AllergyMoms.com too.

With 128 retail stores, the chain turns 100 in 2013 and is a brand well known to Canadians. The products are sold not only at Laura Secord retail outlets but also at over 2500 other retailers including drug, grocery and department stores. The Laura Secord Company has changed ownership over the past 100 years and today was purchased by Nutriart Inc., a Quebec-based chocolate manufacturer. For people with food allergies, this is great news! Nutriart Inc. Nutriart Inc has a certified nut free facility so hopefully there will be some new Laura Secord products coming out of that facility.

While Matza itself contains wheat there are so many products that are naturally gluten free. Here are some companies to watch for. Please make sure you read labels well as manufacturing changes from year to year. Not all passover products are gluten free so be sure to check.

Gefen

Kinneret

Schick’s Bakery

Dr. Prager

Manischewitz

Shabtai

There are several online retailers selling products such as Gefen, Kineret and others. Check out

AviGlatt

Lakewood Matzoh sells gluten free matza

The FDA posts a bunch of information on their site (listed below) but if you, like me are not a lawyer, I highly recommend starting with the Mayo Clinic article below.

Normally, I would say read the label but in this case when in doubt call the product manufacturer or visit their website to see if they have a policy or statement regarding allergies or cross contamination. Food labeling can be very tricky with respect to ingredient labels like “spice”, “natural flavoring” and “dextrin”. What exactly is in that “spice”? That’s when you have to do a little more research and contact the product manufacturer.

• Mayo Clinic: Food Labels Watch food labels for these top 8 allergens
• FDA: Food Allergies What You Need To Know
• FDA: Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens, including the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (Edition 4); Final Guidance
• FDA: Allergy Warning Letter

In our house if the ingredient list is complicated and I do not have time to research the item I do not feed it to my kids. I have been known to buy an item, store it in some secret unreachable place while I find time to visit the manufacturers website or make a call. I do this because I know if I scribble the name of the item and stick it in my purse, chances are I will never actually call or visit the website (and my husband can eat whatever he likes so no food item goes to waste).

If you still have questions or simply get a headache from reading so much legalese send me a comment with your questions and I will try to find the answer.

Also, if you know of other articles you think should be be listed above please send me a comment.

Gluten Free Omega Cookies

So, if you have Celiac disease, gluten allergies or are living a gluten free diet, check out these cookies to learn more.