Snacksafely.com announced the publication of this year’s Valentine’s Edition of the Safe Snack Guide, an extensive catalog of allergy-friendly foods used by thousands of schools and tens of thousands of parents nationwide to help keep allergens out of the classroom and the home.
This edition has an entire section devoted to allergy-friendly sweets for your sweetie! Many are available at your local supermarket or can be ordered online.
Find peanut, tree nut and Top 8 allergen-free, gluten-free, kosher, organic, and non-GMO foods from this fully interactive Guide!
Source: Its Here! The 2017 Valentines Edition of the Safe Snack Guide! – SnackSafely.com
Category Archives: Food Allergy
Feedback from concerned parents: follow-up to the new peanut guidelines
Some parents are frustrated, but experts say the new guidelines are based on convincing results of clinical trials that studied children at risk for peanut allergies. How will this impact the introduction of other foods to infants?
Source: Parents View New Peanut Guidelines With Guilt and Skepticism – The New York Times
A shift in strategy for preventing peanut allergies in children
There’s been a major shift in strategy for preventing potentially deadly peanut allergies. After a decade and a half of being told to keep peanuts away from small children, parents now are being told the opposite. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division within the National Institutes of Health, now recommends exposing infants to peanut protein when they’re only a few months old – ideally between the age of 4 to 6 months.
Source: Mayo Clinic Minute: Peanut allergy prevention
5 Tips to Safely Celebrate the Holidays with Food Allergies
Top Tips for celebrating with family if you have some dietary restrictions.
Gathering with family is an important part of the holidays for most of us. If you suffer from food allergies or eat a restricted diet due to a health conditions, here are a few tips to consider.
- Talk to the host prior to the event – Ask ahead of time what is on the menu and if the host would like you to bring something. If possible you might ask them to prepare the main course in a way that fits your dietary needs. You should also figure out if there will be enough dishes that you can eat to fill you or if you will need to bring your own food. By all means, do offer to bring a dish or two that you know you can eat and then share the love with everyone! I’m always tickled if family raves over my grain-free paleo-style dishes.
- Know what it’s swimming in – I’ve found that most of the common food allergens come in the sauces, dressings or marinades. These culprits frequently contain gluten, dairy, egg, soy, or sugar. You may ask the host to hold aside a portion of undressed salad or fix your piece of chicken or fish with no marinade or sauce. I usually ask for olive oil, salt and garlic …It’s delicious every time and I know I’m not getting any hidden gluten or dairy in the sauce.
- Send a package ahead of you – if you’re traveling to an area where there is no Whole Foods or natural grocery nearby to accessorize your diet, you can often ship ahead a small box of essentials. You can either pack them yourself or you can use a service, like Amazon or Vitacost and have them ship the necessary items. I frequently do this with non-perishables, like coconut milk, sunflower nut butter, chia seed, and high quality coconut or olive oils. Plus you can leave any of the gourmet leftover items with your host to enjoy! Better yet, order enough to get free shipping and include a hostess gift of some special gourmet food item that he/she cannot purchase locally. Organic dark chocolate or specialty cooking oils are a wonderful gift idea!
- Don’t go hungry – When we are hungry our brains may bypass the filter of what we know to be a better choice. We’ll often we end up eating too much and pick foods that we’d normally avoid. This is why I vow never take my husband grocery shopping on an empty stomach… you just never know what will make it’s way into your shopping cart! 😉 Eat a small protein snack prior to heading out, like nuts/seeds, guacamole or jerky. If you know there will not be any safe options, it’s ok to eat your entire meal before you go and just enjoy the company and not the food.
- BYOBF (Bring your own back-up food) – whether traveling by plane or car or just driving across town for a holiday get-together, you can never go wrong by having a few nonperishable snacks or options with you. You never know when you’ll get stranded in the car or in the airport for longer than expected. I carry things like packets of sunflower nut butter, coconut butter and shredded coconut, a piece of fruit, dried organic beef or bison jerky, Alter Eco 85% dark chocolate bar, and/or packets or tins of wild salmon or sardines. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stranded somewhere longer than anticipated and hungry and so thankful for my little stash! As the true saying goes, “Fail to plan and plan to fail…”
Wishing you a most delightful and delicious holiday season making many memories with your loved ones!
Sources: 5 Tips to Safely Celebrate the Holidays with Food Allergies , All-American Allergy Alternatives, LLC
Holiday gift ideas for people with allergies
Searching for gifts for friends or family members with allergies or food sensitivities? Check out our patients’ and doctors’ ideas, from the practical to the creative, with some that are very tasty!
- Environmental controls-products that help reduce or limit allergens in the home.
- Pillow and mattress encasements
- Air purifiers, filters and dehumidifiers
- HEPA vacuum cleaners
- Various allergen reducing cleaning products
- Visit: allergycontrol.com or bedbathandbeyond.com
- Lifestyle-living with your allergies
- Hypoallergenic skin, hair and makeup gift sets vmvhypoallergenics.com
- Style-friendly EpiPen handbags and accessory cases epi-essentials.com
- Foods, cooking and recipes for the food sensitive or allergic
- The Nutrimill Harvest Grain Mill: make your favorite recipes with fresh home milled pure flour from various grains, lentils or beans. nutrimill.com
- Premium cookbooks can be found in many stores such as williams-sonoma.com , or a subscription to a specialty magazine like glutenfreelving.com
- Grass-fed beef and meat products from US Wellness Meats grasslandbeef.com
- Vital Choice wild seafood and organics vitalchoice.com
- Is the person on your list a Vegan? Check out ohsheglows.com or vegweb.com for a collection of vegan recipes and resources.
- Safe Sips for the wine lover: Sulfites can contribute to allergic reactions, so try sulfite free organic wines from freywine.com
- Chocoholic? Find milk free, peanut free, gluten free chocolate treats and gifts at nowheychocolate.com or www.vermontnutfree.com
Still not sure? Try gift cards or certificates for movie, theater or concert tickets, adventure lessons, art classes, or even professional cleaning services for their home or apartment.
Let us know if you have other ideas, suggestions or have found useful site that you would like to share with others by commenting below.
Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays from All-American Allergy Alternatives, LLC
Peanuts and Your Baby: How to Introduce the Two [video]
When and how to introduce peanut-containing foods to reduce allergy risk
New guidelines from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology on how to approach this topic without going ‘nuts.’
Source: American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
Cinnamon Allergy: Symptoms and Treatment
Despite it’s popularity, some individuals experience an allergic reaction to cinnamon. Learn more about the symptoms and treatments for this allergy.
Back to School Shopping Guide
During the Back-to-School season, and throughout the year, FARE is fortunate to have the support of many companies who generously sponsor our programs and donate a portion of their proceeds to our …
Source: Back to School Shopping Guide