No Laughing about Food Allergies

I like that Dr. Robert Wood. A favorite speaker at FAAN's (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) annual conferences, Dr. Wood is professor of pediatrics and director of pediatric allergy and immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network's medical advisory board. Plus he's a nice man who can calmly and effectively talk about food allergies. In a recent opinion piece published in the LA Times, Dr. Wood invites Joel Stein to spend a day in his clinic. Stein, a NY Times columnist, recently angered many when he published an article calling nut allergies a "yuppie invention". Read both articles and the many comments here.

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Medical Wristbands

My son lost his medical wristband months ago. I've been feeling guilty that he hasn't been wearing one, and finally with a family trip on the horizon, I explored inexpensive, sensible options. Medical bracelets for girls are so cute and look like beautiful bracelets. For boys, options aren't so great.

We finally found what we were looking for at Sticky Jewelry. We choose the "make your own" option. He didn't want to have anything written on the front, so there is just a medical alert symbol visible. On the back, we wrote "Severe Food Allergies, Call"- followed by my cell phone number. We only ordered the bracelet plaque and I attached a black piece of elastic so that he could wear it on his wrist.

Find what works best for your child. It is important for our children with food allergies to wear something to alert adults about this invisible medical condition.

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Monday Review- Hemp Products from Manitoba Harvest

Today's review is courtesy of Manitoba Harvest, a global leader in hemp foods and oils. I recently sampled their hemp oil, hemp seeds and hemp seed butter. For a little back-ground information, Manitoba Harvest is the largest farmer-owned vertically-integrated hemp food manufacturer in the world. They are kosher certified and a USDA organic certified facility. From a food allergy perspective, the facility is hemp only so there is no risk of cross contamination from other products such as soy or peanuts.

I was first impressed with the nutritional quality of hemp. For those with allergies to dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts or fish, finding quality protein sources can be very difficult. Hemp provides a source of complete protein offering 17 different amino acids. Hemp is also a great source of omega-3 essential fats and essential fatty acids which people with allergies to nuts and fish often have trouble including in their diets.

So, how does it taste? I tried Manitoba Harvest's hemp oil in a homemade vinaigrette. I liked the taste and appreciated the nutritional punch I was getting from my dressing. I also mixed some hemp seeds in with my yogurt and found the texture and taste very pleasing. The green color of the hemp seed butter is a bit hard to get past (and my kids wouldn't even try it!). I spread some on a piece of toast. I don't know if it was mostly psychological, but I'll probably stick to the oil and seed form.

One of the first questions I had about hemp was its relationship to marijuana. Would I feed these products to my children? Obviously many people had the same question as it is the first one addressed in their website's FAQ. Check out their response here.

Manitobaharvest.com also offers tons of recipes. They list everything from hemp pizza crust to hemp banana bread. You may also want to read Meghan Atkinson's article about Manitoba Harvest and food allergies.

Check with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns. Hemp has been traced back to the Stone Age. Perhaps this old protein source can be helpful to those who are allergic to many of our modern sources of protein.

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The Buzz on Bees and Food Allergy

"The bees are just missing" the radio announcer reported. Huh? Yes, it turns out that billions (yes, that's a "B") of honey bees have vanished- virtually into thin air. Now I've had my eye on bees ever since I visited some beekeepers at our local farmers market. They commented that many of their bees like to pollinate from walnut trees in the area. That got me wondering about cross contamination. Here I am making sure I use separate utensils in my kitchen and we've got a bunch of bees out there flitting from fruit tree to nut tree and back again. Is this dangerous for those with nut allergies? Can nut protein find its way into the honey I feed my nut allergic child? So, while scientists continue to look for the missing bees, I suggest some research into whether pollination is contributing to the rise in food allergies.

Read more about missing bees here.

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Travolta Heartbreak

We've all heard the news stories surrounding the death of Jett Travolta at age 16. When I hear a story like this, I can't help thinking, "but they did everything right... how could this happen?"

The reports I heard talked about the precautions the family took to keep their son safe due to his seizures. Things like baby monitors, two nannies, chimes that rang if he walked through a doorway, were part of their lives. Just like Epi-pens, medical alert bracelets, school healthcare plans and special foods are part of our lives.

We do everything we can to protect our children so how can that still not be enough? A tragedy like this weighs heavy on my heart. I've been hugging my kids more this last week as though I can form a protective bubble around them. Since there is no magic bubble, I'll just keep talking and writing about what is needed to protect all children.

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Monday Review- Home Free Products

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a successful 2009.

Today's Monday Review highlights Home Free, a company specializing in treats for food allergic kids. My family and I recently sampled some of Home Free's oatmeal, chocolate chip and mini chocolate chip cookies.

Beore I took my first bite, I noted Home Free's easy to read labels. I really felt a sense of confidence due to the specific labeling about what is, and what isn't, in the cookies. I knew from my research that the company was founded by a mom of a food allergic child who set up her company kitchen with the same standards she uses in her own kitchen. Love that! I also noticed that a portion of Home Free profits are donated to organizations that provide food allergy research and education. Really love that!


The cookies are free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and dairy. They are also free of soy (except for small amounts of soy lecithin) and free of wheat (although not gluten-free due to other flours used). See what I mean about their helpful and specific ingredient label?

So, on to taste...honestly, these are the best tasting "bought" food allergy friendly cookies we've tried. They look like "regular" cookies and have just the right texture- chewy for the oatmeal and the larger chocolate chip cookies, while crisp for the mini chocolate chip cookies.

Now, on to price...their prepared baked goods are very reasonably priced. You can also get baking ingredients such as dairy-free chocolate chips, flours and starches through their site at really good prices. I'll be trying out their bags of chocolate chips next time in my continuing effort to avoid paying $10/pound for chips in the future.

By the way, those of you who are familiar with Gak's Snacks, this is the same company transitioning to their new name, Home Free.

Check out Home Free and let me know what you think.

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Food Allergy Blues?

Here's a guy who can make food allergies fun. Meet Kyle Kine of Ontario who made a CD of fun songs all related to food allergy. He also does school programs using songs and puppets to talk to others about food allergies. Listen to a few of his songs here.

Kyle is also the founder of Food Allergy Translation Cards which are chef cards that can be printed in any language. Visiting China, Turkey or Croatia? No problem. Just type in your food allergies and for $8 you can print off a chef card in the language you choose. Here's a link. Even if you're not visiting a far off land, it could be fun for kids to know the names of their not-safe foods in other languages.

Happy 2009!

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