ARCHIVES-Articles & Comments

From ivillage:
"Food Allergies in Children: What you Need to Know to Keep Your Child Safe"

A good overview of FA- a primer for newbies and a brush up for everyone else.  This article would be a great one for family members, friends or co-workers who need to know more about food allergy.  Although choc full of ads, it is an easy read for those not familiar with the food allergy world.  Click Here to read.

Looking for a Safe Toothpaste for Your Child?

Recently, I had a memeber ask if I could help find an allergen free toothpaste.  Quite frankly, it was something that never occured to me and I took at as a challenge to help out.  I tried many of the companies that one might usually associate with natural products- Tom's, Jason, Burt's Bees.  No Dice!  Then I decided to look a little closer to home and I went to my son's bathroom and got curious about what we use.  It was Little Bear (we alternate with Thomas the Tank Engine) made by Orajel.  The package was long gone, so I emailed the company.  Here is a copy of thier reply:

Dear Mrs. Albert:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Church & Dwight Co., Inc. regarding Orajel®.
In response to your inquiry, our Orajel products do not contain Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Egg, Dairy, Wheat, Fish, Shellfish, or Soy. For more information on our products, please visit www.churchdwight.com and follow the MSDS/Ingredient link at the bottom.
If you have any questions or concerns in the future, please feel free to contact our Consumer Relations Department at 1-800-952-5080 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm ET or visit our corporate web site at: www.churchdwight.com.
We value your patronage and trust you will continue to use Church & Dwight Co., Inc. products with confidence.
Thank you for choosing Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Diane Murray
Consumer Relations Specialist

Allergic Living Magazine Comes to the US- article from FAAN

Did you know that Allergic Living magazine is launching a U.S. edition this spring? The first issue will be launched in early April. Also, each of the four annual issues will feature a column from FAAN CEO Julia Bradsher. Allergic Living is a magazine for those living with food allergies, celiac disease, asthma, and pollen allergies. It has been in the Canadian marketplace for nearly six years now, and we are excited that the magazine’s publisher is venturing into the U.S. market. Many subscribers are already in the U.S., and now the content they love will feature more information about resources where they live.

All FAAN members will receive the U.S. launch issue of Allergic Living for free! If you love it – and we think you will – sign up for a subscription. FAAN members can get a one-year subscription for $14.99 – a $5 savings, or a two-year subscription for $19.99 – a $10 savings. Use promotion code “org2365FAAN” to get this special offer.

FAAN is working in cooperation with Allergic Living to provide you with this opportunity, and to keep the food allergy community well informed on issues and initiatives of importance. In addition to Julia’s column, you will also see the familiar face of Dr. Scott Sicherer of FAAN’s Medical Advisory Board in the “Ask the Allergist” section, where the experts answer questions submitted by readers.

Until the first issue launches, check out www.allergicliving.com.

Latest Research-
A Step Closer to Immunotherapy?

"Allergy shots or immunotherapy for those allergic to peanuts may become a reality in the next decade. Australian researchers discovered fragments of peanut protein that appear to desensitize individuals with the allergy."
Read the Article from Allergic Living Here.

From Alfred Health:
Key components for a safe and effective vaccine to treat peanut allergy have been identified by researchers at The Alfred and Monash University.

The research, led by director of the Department of Allergy at The Alfred, Professor Robyn O'Hehir, has identified fragments of peanut protein that are big enough to interact with the immune cells of the body, and build tolerance, but not big enough to cause anaphylaxis. Find out more here.

Holiday Gift Guides

  I have complied several "Gift Guides" to help you buy for those on the Food Allergy Nice List!


***From MALLERGIES.COM
The last edition of our popular Top 10 Resources for the year 2009 is a special issue for the Holiday Season. This month, we have been inspired by the spirit of joy, peace and love during this time of the year and will like to share our discoveries, tips, articles, allergen-free recipes and more for a safe and Happy Holidays.

At only few days of Christmas, we wish you a wonderful Holiday with your family and friends!

Please note that we have contacted personally each author, website owner, association, organization and foundation for their authorization and permission to link to this special Top 10 Christmas Resources.

1. The author Audrey Lynn posted on her blogroll Eczema Free Naturally, Are you Allergic to Christmas? She pointed out the potential allergy triggers such as Christmas tree and decorative items, food allergies, scented candles, potpourri, low humidity, wood burning stoves and fireplaces, and latex balloons. Finally, the author suggests some allergy recipe books for cooking safely and enjoying Christmas like everybody else!

2. Foods Matter published an article by Dr Kevin Kelly titled Latex and poinsettias – a dangerous connection? The author, Professor of Pediatrics/Medicine and Chief of Allergy & Immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin writes about the potential for patients who have natural rubber latex allergy to develop allergic reactions to poinsettia plants . Read the article and full report published on December 12, 2009 on their website.

3. Holiday parties with food allergies can often be stressful. Thankfully, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has published Holiday Tips, a list of ideas and suggestions to follow during the Festive Season. The complete article has adapted from Food Allergy News , Vol. 16, No. 2. and is available on their redesigned website.

4. Allergy Today Magazine published an article on their blogroll by Inga Stünzner on Surviving Christmas. The author provides few tips on eating out safely during Christmas family parties. This article was featured in their latest summer issue.

5. The Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) guideline for the Holidays contains ideas, tips and suggestions to celebrate Christmas at school and at home safely! Christmas Celebrate with Food Allergies and Have Fun Too! PDF is a free electronic booklet which includes craft ideas, activities, and allergen-free recipes for a safe eat for Christmas.

6. Allergy UK and Food Intolerance Awareness (FIA) have conducted and published a survey in January 2008 to provide information, advice and support during the Christmas Holiday period. Stolen Lives 5 PDF is described as The Food Allergy and Food Intolerance Report & the Impact of Food Allergies and Intolerances on People's Lives during the Festive Season.

7. For the Holiday Season, here is a fun activity to do with the kids and the family. Corey Colwell-Lipson wrote the article Make an heirloom Christmas tree-Easy! Quick! Not! on her Celebrate Green Blog. It is a great idea for people with allergy to Christmas tree and lots of tips and advice are also provided online.

8. Once again, Elizabeth Goldenberg, president of Onespot Allergy, has published in her latest December's Newsletter, Onespot™ Allergy Top Ten Tips - For A Safe Festive Season PDF. Read more about how to handle school activities with food allergies, travelling and visiting friends and family for each celebration during the Holiday Season.

9. Melissa Taylor from Food Allergy Survivors Together (FAST) presents a complete section of their online community with useful tips and advice for the Christmas season such as free craft sheets, food-free displays, Christmas cards, food fun recipes and a gift idea their Food Allergy Survivors Together Handbook.

10. The Very Non-Dairy Christmas by the author Stephanie Haag Foraker and the illustrator Patrick Carlson is a great book to read to children with food allergies. Here is a short extract from the Amazon Store:
Jonathan feels left out of the usual Christmas Eve traditions due to his milk allergy. He is extremely concerned that his strict, dairy-free diet will disappoint Santa Claus. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Santa Claus is suffering from his own food allergy dilemma. Imagine Santa Claus, recently diagnosed as allergic to cow's milk, facing Christmas Eve and its traditions. Will Jonathan's dairy-free lifestyle disappoint Santa Claus? Will Santa Claus's dairy allergy impede on the spirit of Christmas traditions and disappoint children all over the world? Or will Jonathan and Santa Claus both discover on Christmas Eve that living a dairy-free lifestyle due to a food allergy isn't so bad?


***Some samples from the Allergic Living’s 2010 Gift Guide

For Her:
Newest from MedicAlert is their Chelsea Toggle Bracelet. With the Tiffany-style chain, we don’t think you’ll have a hard time convincing her to always wear her bracelet. Sterling silver and nickel-free. $189 from www.medicalert.ca [33]

For Him:
[34]Military style is back! Dog tag necklaces are the go-to style for teen boys so why not give him this one from MedicAlert? Made from stainless steel and coated in black oxide. $39 from www.medicalert.ca [35]





***Allergies and Me is offering free shipping on orders of $75 or more with your free subscription to their website


***Kids with Food Allergies shares their  Winter Guide to new products- this is a great and informative guide!
New Allergy-friendly Foods for Kids (December 2010)

Kids With Food Allergies traveled to historic Boston to attend Natural Products Expo East, the largest natural, organic and healthy products trade show on the East Coast. This year, the event attracted close to 20,000 industry members and more than 1,300 exhibits representing 96 countries.

We checked in with a significant number of manufacturers who exhibited at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and unearthed the latest allergy-friendly products to share with you. Read on to discover what new foods are available and where you can find them!


***From our friends at Kansas City Northland Peanut Allergy Support Group
For the kiddos with nut allergies…..

I found a chocolate Santa & white chocolate snowman stocking stuffer at Kmart.  The brand is Merlin.  Says right on the pkg. made in a totally nut free facility!!! J

~Dana

Don't Forget Food Allergies' Emotional Side

As most of us know, dealing with food allergies isn't just about the physical effects.  Food allergies pose especially difficult emotional and psychological hurdles in day to day life.  Weather you are dealing with a family member who refuses to accept the facts, a school or teacher who can't seem to comply with food allergy plans, classmates or parents of classmates who just don't seem to get it and make life not only more difficult or dangerous, you can find solutions in the FA community.  Speak up, get help.  Talk to other families in your school or neighborhood.  Come to a support group meeting.  Send us an email.  Food allergies can take their toll on your child, you and your family.  Here are some recent articles dealing with the emotional side of food allergies.

From Food Allergy Initiative
New Jaffe Institute Program Focuses on Coping with Food Allergies     Studies have shown that coping successfully with food allergies requires emotional support and understanding, as well as effective medical care.  Yet, few food allergy programs across the country offer psychosocial support.  Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York, NY) has announced that it has received a generous grant from the Jaffe family to launch a new program:  E nhancing, Managing, and PrOmoting WEll-being and Resiliency (EMPOWER).  The goal of this major initiative is to enable food-allergic patients and their families to manage the stressful situations that they face every day.  Over the next three years, the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute will develop the program, which will combine clinical care and research that explores key psychosocial issues.  The staff will include psychologists and trainees in the field, who will work with the current Jaffe Institute faculty.  It is hoped that this pioneering program, like other Jaffe Institute initiatives, will become a model for similar programs across the country.
     The EMPOWER program will provide individual consultations, support groups of parents and adolescents, research  on preventing and coping with emotional stress, and training programs for medical professionals.  In addition, Institute personnel will offer educational presentations to local schools and health care professionals, and will participate in national forums conducted by professional associations, such as the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.  FAI will provide additional information about this exciting new program as it develops.  We are deeply grateful to the Jaffes, one of FAI's founding families, for their commitment to the well-being of all families affected by food allergy.

From FAAN
Children with Food Allergies Targeted by Bullies

From CNN Health
Food allergies make kids a target of bullies

From Living Without Magazine-
Food-Allergic Children and Their Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional Wellness for Allergic Kids

September 2010
A Taste of Food Allergy Mama

Here is an article from Kelly Rudnicki, the Food Allergy Mama.  I encourage you to check out her great site.


Note to self: Don’t get lazy when reading food labels….
June 25, 2010 1:04 pm

Filed under Stories

Like most of you, I’ve  been checking food packaging for hidden allergens for so long that I think I got it down pat. Lately I have relied more on the FDA allergen labeling on food, the ones that say Contains: Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts. I am usually further comforted by the additional label of “Produced in a dedicated gluten free, wheat free, peanut free and tree nut free facility.” After an allergic reaction this morning, however, I won’t ever take those words to heart again. In fact, I know better. Read EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT.

99 percent of the time, I still take the time to read every single ingredient. But for some reason I let my guard down when I bought a new donut in the frozen section at Whole Foods by Kinnikinnick Foods. The package says these chocolate dipped donuts are “Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free and Soy Free” in addition to the above disclaimer that it was made in a dedicated facility. I remember thinking at the store before I bought them that I hit the gold mine…finally I can make donuts for all the kids quickly without having to make my own.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I heated the donuts in the microwave, served them to my kids (including John), patted myself on the back for finding an allergen free donut, and called it a day. After eating it, John said his throat itched. I panicked. I checked the package and saw nothing that would alarm me. I gave him a Benydryl just to be safe, and he felt better.

Then this morning, the kids asked for another one of those yummy donuts and in a weak moment, I obliged. Once again, John complained of an itchy throat. This time I read the entire package line item by line item, and finally saw that it contained pea protein and pea starch. Bingo – John WAS having an allergic reaction to the donut because he is allergic to peas and legumes too (5 percent of those with peanut allergies also are allergic to peas and legumes because they are all part of the legume family). I started to panic, but John said it wasn’t that bad, just scratchy. I game him Benydryl and watched him like a hawk for the next several minutes, epi pen in one hand and phone in the other. The reaction subsided, thankfully, without further intervention. We dodged a bullet. And I felt like a failure.

How could I be so naive? I know better, and usually am very diligent about ingredient checking. I don’t know, perhaps it is the craziness of my full household that causes me to be more distracted than usual lately. Never again, I learned my lesson, and feel so darn lucky that nothing more serious happened.

Here’s something else I learned; if your child has a peanut allergy, and is among those 5 percent of people who also have a legume/pea allergy, be wary of labels that say “gluten free or wheat free”. Oftentimes pea or fava bean flour is substituted for wheat flour in recipes (like those new cookies at Starbucks…John can’t have because they are made with fava bean flour).

I apologized to John, and we talked about how “moms make mistakes too”. And that we should never, ever let our guard down when it comes to food allergies. I must admit though, it’s days like today that I wish more than anything, that a cure can be found for our children’s life threatening food allergies. Because that feeling of panic and terror I felt this morning is something I would never wish on any parent.

Time in a Ketchup Bottle by s.albert

Of course everyone remembers that sappy tune about keeping “time in a bottle”, referring to longing to have ability to control time and keep precious memories at hand.  I admit, there are plenty of times when I look at pictures of my kids taken not so long ago and think, “Wow, he’s grown so much” or when I pack up outgrown onesies and think, “It was just yesterday when he wore this.”

For me, sometimes time moves much too slowly.  Alright, again with the 70’s songs.  I’m dating myself here.  It makes me think of the old Heinz Ketchup commercial with Carly Simon singing “Anticipa-a-tion”.  OK, for you youngsters:  In the olden days, ketchup came in glass bottles causing people to have near epileptic fits trying to get ketchup out of those non-squeezable containers.  Proper ladies would breakdown and use a steak knife to scrape 1/16 teaspoon out, kids would bang the bottles on the dinner table and whine, grown men would shake, swear, and pound the bottom of the bottle.  Often the result was nil or quite the opposite, the entire bottle’s worth drowning everything on your plate. The premise of the Heinz commercial was that this brand of ketchup was worth the wait.  Time stands still. As I said earlier, often this is how I feel.  When it comes to dealing with food allergies, time seems to stand still. 

I remember when my son received his first diagnosis of.  The doctor came into the room and said, “Your son is extremely allergic to egg. His next exposure could be fatal.  Don’t feed him eggs or anything containing egg.  Don’t feed him anything new.  Here’s a pamphlet.  Go pick up your Epi and come back in a year.” With that, he left the room.  He was in and out in less than 30 seconds.  I didn’t really get it. 

Over the next few days, it slowly began to sink in.  Fatal…..nothing with egg…..nothing new…… a year.  What is this food allergy thing?  I began to read labels.  Egg is in EVERYTHING, or at least it seemed like it.   I began to read articles on the web. Then I find out egg is in things like finger paint and isn’t even listed because the FDA doesn’t regulate non food items.  I began to read blogs about people who had food allergies.  What am I going to feed this kid?  What will happen to my kid?  What if he gets into something he’s not supposed to?  Will he outgrow this? How long will that take? Is there a cure on the way?  How long will that take?  My head began to swim!  All I could think of was the doctor saying,“come back in a year.”  Maybe when we come back in a year, he will have outgrown this.  Come on year,... get over.  Little did I know……

Before said year was over, we moved to a new town and went to our new pediatrician for a little rash.  That ended in a visit to a new allergist and a new food allergy diagnosis- he was found to be allergic to egg, wheat, milk, pork, dog, cat and the dreaded peanut.  Again, when I was told the results, I didn’t quite get it.  But this time it sank in much quicker.  Then, it hit me like a brick.  Now he can’t eat ANYTHING! What am I going to feed this kid?  What if…?

I knew there was a good chance he could outgrow most of his allergies.  According to the statistics, we were(are) still years away from that.  Again, time seems to stand still.  I set up the next check up. It seemed so far away.  The months click by at an amazingly slow pace.  As of right now, he won’t be retested for another year. Tick, tick, tick….

We lived our lives carefully, but before we made it to the next appointment, something happened.  A couple of months ago, my son ate something from someone else’s plate.  I suspected that it contained food to which he was allergic.  He wasn’t having a reaction but I called the doctor's office for advice anyway.  They told me to give him Benedryl and watch him for two hours.  Talk about time moving slowly!  I fretted and stared at him, trying not to freak him out by showing my fear.  After ten minutes had passed, I checked the clock.  “That’s all?!?"  I said aloud.  It felt as if much more time had gone by!  That was probably the longest 120 minutes of my life.

Despite little set backs, we have been very lucky.  We have had no serious incidents.  But of course, we have been very careful.  When we go to gatherings, people don’t understand how dangerous it is for my son to be exposed to certain foods.  After repeated requests, even family members still serve unsafe food at their homes. I ask that there be at least one safe room that is food free where he can hang out and I can relax.  Inevitably, a bowl of Chex mix or peanut brittle makes the rounds. A deviled egg or a peanut butter filled pretzel on a counter is tempting to a toddler or preschooler.  If for no other reason, it is something he’s never seen and it looks like fun to smoosh. It is difficult to say, “Stop! Don’t kiss my kid. You just had a peanut covered brownie!” to your husband’s grandmother.  I recall a time visiting family when I was about to set my son on the carpet to play with his little cars.  At the last moment, I saw peanut shells where he was about to play.  As much as I may love spending time with dear Aunt Mary or Grandpa Joe, my child’s safety must come first.  Time in their homes seems like an eternity.

Promising new research about new treatments for food allergies was recently released.  It predicts that there may be a treatment ready for the public in five to eight years.  Oh come on years, hurry up and pass!

One day, we will have a normal life.  We will be able to go through a drive through when we are running late.  We will be able to go to parties and picnics without packing our own special food.  My child will be able to sit at any table in the cafeteria.  We will be able to flag down the ice cream truck and pick anything on the menu.  We will be able to fly in an airplane without the fear of having a reaction in the air.  We will be able to stop counting the days until food allergies no longer run our lives.  Until then, I'll be smacking the bottom of that old ketchup bottle, trying to get the time to pass a little quicker.

Click here to submit articles.

Article Archives

coming soon