Food Allergy Blog Carnival

Ladies and Gentleman....Step right up to the latest edition of the Food Allergy Blog Carnival! Feast your eyes on the wonders of living with food allergies. Tantalize your senses with allergy news from around the world. Join us on the wild, gut-wrenching ride of "Life with Food Allergy".

Enter our attractions- new and old- and prepare to be astounded and amazed:

Diane says, "More and more people are seeking a healthier lifestyle. Indeed, recent events in the economy have served as a wake up call for more than finances; for some, it is clear that fundamental changes need to be made in the way they live. Check out her "Top 50 Blogs to Help You Live Healthy".

Fred writes for Parenting Squad and wants to share his article about research on children and milk allergies.

The Allergy Kid Mom wonders if Nut Allergies Equals Poor Health.

We also have Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket who muses about adding protein to baked goods in a recent post.

Lisa offers her family's review of Sunbutter. She says, "My daughter was just diagnosed with a nut allergy. We are trying to figure it all out. We gave Sunbutter a try and here is what we thought.

Rational Jenn offers up "an admittedly ranty food allergy post, in which "I question the advice to 'just teach' our kids about their food allergies. I realize the advice is often well-intended, but when the kids in question are still quite young, protecting them from their deadly allergens is more than simply a matter of education."

Vicky's Ickies brings us "More Than Just Inconsiderate Comments".

Ruth at BestAllergySites.com started a food allergy list after numerous questions from non-food allergic friends and family. She hopes these Food Allergy FAQ's helps you share information with your friends and family.

Janeen comes to us from WEGO Health with a special February Blog Carnival Post.

Jenny, author of The Nut-Free Mom Blog has a duet of offerings for our carnival. First, she says, "So many classroom parties, so much food! Here's my take on it". In a separate post, Jenny says, "the stakes are getting higher as my daughter does more things independently, but I still want to let her do things. This post, Concession Stands, Basketball and Letting Go, describes a recent outing and its positive outcome despite potential nut allergy pitfalls.

Thank you to all and enjoy the rest of your day!

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Food Allergy Research and Resource Program

...or otherwise known as FAARP...has been around since 1995. Based out of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, FAARP has two missions:

To develop and provide the food industry with credible information, expert opinions, tools, and services relating to allergenic foods.

To develop and provide the agricultural biotechnology industry with credible information, expert opinions, tools, and services relating to novel foods and food ingredients including genetically modified products.

FAARP collaborates with others to share their experience and knowledge to improve the safety of food products for consumers with food allergies and sensitivities.

They also have a website full of great info ranging from general food allergy info to training programs for food manufacturing companies.

Check out FAARP

I love knowing that FAARP was created to ensure safety when it comes to allergenic food. They've got our back in a quiet unassuming way.

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Food Allergy Movie

Are there people in your life who just don't get food allergies?

Check out this 83 minute documentary all about food allergies. Produced, directed, and edited by Kevin J. Lindenmuth, "I'm Not Nuts: Living With Food Allergies", clarifies the misinformation people commonly have about food allergies. Interviews with medical professionals and families bring a realistic viewpoint to dealing with food that can be dangerous to those allergic to it.

It would make a perfect gift for grandparents, teachers, doctors, child care workers and others who need to hear about food allergy issues from someone other than you.

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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.

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Monday Review- Grill Charms

This Monday Review is brought to you by Grill Charms- think wine charm for your grilled meats.

Founder and mom, Leslie Haywood, had an "A-ha moment" when her husband mistakenly gave her the extra-hot Jamaican grilled chicken, instead of the mild chicken she requested. Leslie created Grill Charms to help barbecuers everywhere identify different preferences and dietary needs.

Back in February, Leslie sent me a Grill Charm from her Pink Collection (these charms benefit breast cancer research- love that!). Finally a balmy week-end arrived and we pulled out the grill. I must admit to feeling skeptical at first that these little charms would stay in ground beef. They did. Even through my clumsy burger flipping. It worked great for my grilled chicken the next night too. It was very easy to identify the meat with the charm.

So, how does this relate to food allergies? Of course, depending upon the specific allergy, special precautions must be made when barbecuing. Marinades may contain unsafe ingredients for a person with food allergies. Certain seasonings may be unsafe and foods may look the same on the grill. By inserting a Grill Charm, mix-ups are avoided.

A few tips when grilling where food allergies are a concern:
Consider several layers of foil between the food and the grate. This prevents contamination from the grilling surface.
Use separate grilling tools to avoid cross-contamination.
Do not mix up the meats. A tool such as Grill Charms will help keep meats differentiated.

Check out Grill Charms' website. They offer several collections for steak doneness, seasoning types, Charmed Life (may be great for food allergies) and the Pink Collection (10% of the proceeds from sales goes to breast cancer research). Individual charms can be ordered with free shipping.

Leslie is offering $5.00 off your order for Food Allergy Assistant readers. Type "grilling" as the coupon code when you place your order.

Great gift for Father's Day!

As always, visit the Food Allergy Assistant for more help dealing with food allergies.

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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.

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Food Allergy and Flu Treatment

The flu has arrived in our house. According to our doctor, the treatment of choice this season is Relenza®, an inhaled medication that must be started within 48 hours of flu symptoms. It can also be used as a prophylaxis- protecting against the flu. I wondered if this would be helpful for those with an egg allergy who are unable to ge the flu shot. According to the medication's website, it is recommended for those individuals. However, be warned, that this medication contains milk protein, so it should not be used by those with a dairy allergy.

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

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New Initiatives

"Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy" is FAAN's (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network's) latest initiative brought to Capitol Hill this week. Basically, it is a call for national school guidelines, better public education, development of food allergy diagnosis and management, more funding for research and improved food allergy labeling on food items.

• The House of Representatives has already passed legislation for school guidelines and it is expected that the Senate will soon follow.
• More public awareness is up to those of us who deal with food allergies on a daily basis. We need to keep talking about food allergies and help educate others.
• As public awareness increases, awareness by healthcare professionals should also be on the rise. Hopefully the days of doctors telling us that our babies are "too young to have food allergies" will soon be a thing of the past. Hopefully the days of a healthcare professional saying "you don't need to carry an Epi Pen because your allergy isn't that severe" will soon be a thing of the past as well.
• The National Institute of Health's panel on food allergies has recommended a funding increase for research. As the number of Americans dealing with food allergies rises, we need to find answers as to why and how to stop this trend. Just type "federal government spending waste" in your favorite search engine and it is easy to find some money that could be redirected. The US government gives 19 million dollars a year to The National Fund of Ireland?!!? I have nothing against Ireland, but, huh?
  
• The The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 has certainly been a big help to anyone who wants to decipher ingredient labels. That said, the prevalence of precautions on labels stating "May Contain" to "Processed in a Facility" to "Made on Shared Equipment." is very difficult to interpret. Companies claim that they need to protect themselves. It just makes labels more confusing and not very helpful to consumers. These statements need to be regulated to further improve food labels.

See http://www.foodallergy.org for more information on the five initiatives.

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Order your allergy-free Easter candy

Aaahhh...we've made it through Valentine's day chocolates and heart-shaped confections, but with an early Easter this year, it's time to order egg and bunny shaped treats for those in your life with food allergies. One of my favorite places to order these sweets is Amanda's Own. Their chocolates are dairy-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, egg-free and gluten free. The adorable packaging is a big hit and I am happy to report that their candies are delicious as well. They also offer Passover treats. Check out Amanda's Own at http://www.amandasown.com/. Hurry up! We only have until March 13, 2008 to guarentee Easter and Passover delivery.

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FOOD ALLERGIES ON THE RISE

Food allergies affect all of us. The number of people diagnosed with food allergies continues to grow, and yet researchers have no idea what causes them. There is no cure. The only way to avoid an allergic reaction is to completely avoid the food. In the event of an accidental exposure to the food, the allergic individual needs an injection of life-saving
epinephrine and an ambulance ride to the hospital. Deaths due to food allergy reactions occur every year. Over thirty thousand emergency room visits every year are linked to food allergy. Deaths and emergencies as a result of a food allergy are preventable. We need a dialogue about food allergies. We need to support research and legislation for food allergies. We need a cure.

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