We Want to Hear from You! #foodallergy

We're busy getting ready for the upcoming July 23 Back to School Food Allergy Twitter Party (#foodallergy) and plans are underway for autumn parties too. We've gotten such good feedback, Ruth (www.bestallergysites.com) and I plan to make it a regular event.

Now, we want to hear from you! If you are interested in being a panelist for future Twitter Parties, or would like to get on the waitlist for prize contributions (good PR for all you food allergy related entrepreneurs), or even have a request/suggestion for a theme or topic for a future party, please email me at jenniferATfoodallergybuzz.com.

It's a great way to connect from afar with the online food allergic, celiac, and gluten-free casein-free communities as well as others who are concerned about the food they're putting in their bodies.

Is the Moon Made Out of Peanuts?

The boys are out of school for the summer and I have signed them up for a number of free workshops and activities at our town library. The library has fantastic things scheduled--rocket building workshops, a visit from the Boston Museum of Science, and all kinds of science-related activities. Today's workshop was an intro to astronomy for ages 5 to 10. The presenter/speaker handed out containers filled with a white unidentified powder and small marbles and balls to illustrate how craters are formed on the moon. The kids sensed an opportunity to get their hands dirty, and me? I immediately thought to myself "What is that powder? It looks like flour. But what kind of flour? Is it something besides flour?" So, I had to ask about the white powder. When my question was met with a somewhat confused look, I had to then explain my son has a peanut allergy. It was, as I expected, all purpose white flour, but better safe than sorry since peanuts have a tendency to show up in all kinds of unexpected places. The speaker told me that he couldn't imagine peanuts in a powdered form. After all, he said, "how would they remove the peanut oil?" (Umm....ever heard of peanut flour?!)

It was a good opportunity for me to help teach my son that peanuts and nuts can show up anywhere, and that anytime food is involved--even for a science experiment--we have to ask and keep away if nuts or peanuts are present. Just for the record, peanut flour does exist. I knew this, of course, but didn't think the kids workshop was the right time to share that knowledge! For a little more info on peanut flour, check this link. The workshop, with its flour activity, was a good reminder that when it comes to food allergies, you can't ever let your guard down, even in places and activities where food isn't normally present.

Zeer Select Launch Marks Debut of Great Gluten-Free Tool

I have been a fan of Zeer for some time--I love being able to see reviews of foods and share my own--but I am really impressed by their latest offering, Zeer Select. Last week, I had the pleasure of getting a preview and tour of Zeer Select, a fee-based subscription service which permits the user to search for gluten-free foods by product name, UPC number, and by category in Zeer's massive product database of over 30,000 food products. It is an amazing resource for those with celiac disease, gluten intolerance and others who need or wish to avoid gluten.

Very detailed nutritional and ingredient information is available, highlighting specific allergen information and even cross-contamination risks, and contact information for product manufacturers is right there too. Foods are rated for their Gluten-Free Safety Status (or gluten-free friendliness)--"gluten-free", "appears to be gluten free", "may contain gluten" and "contains gluten"--and bear easy to read symbols to indicate their Gluten-Free Safety Status. Zeer Select highlights the gluten ingredients or possibly gluten-containing ingredients so you can easily locate and assess all the information yourself.

The Zeer Select website is easy to read and move through--the design seems very user-friendly. It truly seems like they have thought of everything. What a great tool this could be for someone entertaining a gluten-free guest. We all are aware of the learning curve for nutritional and ingredient label reading when you are on a restricted diet, and Zeer Select makes it so much easier. Friends and family can check out the gluten-free friendliness of dishes they plan to serve and even discover gluten-free snacks that might be good to have on hand. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of making a gluten-free grocery list; and you can save your personal list of safe foods, and email it to relatives and friends. I was really blown away by how complete the information is. My absolute favorite feature was the feed--similar to the feed on Facebook--you can easily see the latest info that has been added to the Zeer Select database--a handy feature for those who already have a working gluten-safe shopping list but are in search of exciting, new safe foods to try.

Subscriptions are $14.95 per month and you can also take a tour to see how it works. If you or a family member are living gluten-free, spending some time on Zeer Select is a must. Stay tuned--even more exciting things are planned at Zeer, including some tools for food allergic consumers too! Below is a short video from Zeer about the new Zeer Select service--check it out. Way to go, Zeer!

@foodallergybuzz on Twitter

ACK! I went online last night to take a look at what's new on Twitter and discovered my account is suspended. Not only was it suspended but it was being investigated! How annoying!

Guess the Twitter repair guys aren't all that bad. I was back online within hours. Phew! It's be hard to do a Twitter party suspended, lol!

Food Allergy Friendly Restaurants in Pennsylvania

It's that time of year again. I am making preparations for our annual summer road trip out to see some relatives in the Pittsburgh burbs, and as usual I am looking for new "safe" restaurants for our young peanut allergic family to try. I feel like a Food Allergy Veteran at this point. We bring a box full of "safe" foods, picnic frequently, and always grab a couple Ian's frozen allergen-free meals once we get to our destination. That makes meals with the relatives so much easier!

I know there are the chain restaurants with their allergen-free menus and I know we can eat and have eaten at certain fast food joints. I hear Cici's is a peanut-safe pizza place and there are a few on the way to Pittsburgh. It would be a great to try a new place that is making an effort to be food allergy friendly, and preferably not one of those chains! Allergen-free menus are great, and while I appreciate the awareness from all those chain HQs, let's face it, sometimes the local restaurant staff still don't "get it", despite the allergen-free menus and best efforts of the HQ staff.

So if you've got a tip for a restaurant worth a try let me know. Email me at jenniferATfoodallergybuzz.com. I will write about our experience so it's a chance for some good publicity (or not-so-good publicity). We'll be in the Greensburg vicinity outside of Pittsburgh but may head into Pittsburgh as well.

FoodAllergyTalk Drawing Contest Starts Today

We're helping spread the word from Andrea of foodallergytalk.com:

The Drawing contest begins July 1st and ends July 18th. The theme this year is to "draw a picture that captures either a past memory or a future instance where food allergies have had a positive impact on your life."

There will be four winners in age groups (5-8), (9-12), (13-15), and (16+). Contestants can find more information here: http://www.foodallergytalk.com/fadrawingcontest.htm

Eczema-Asthma Link Theory

How many of you are dealing with food allergies, eczema and asthma? It seems there are quite a few of us. In the current Kids with Food Allergies e-newsletter, they have a great link to a BBC article about the link between eczema and asthma, Eczema's Link to Asthma Uncovered. The Economist ran a similar article: Eczema's Link to Asthma, Breathe Easy. Very interesting articles. The theory is that eczema causes a chemical to be made by the body. This chemical then enters the bloodstream, and when it reaches the lungs, causes them to be sensitive to allergens to which they otherwise would not react.

Washington Nationals Offer 2 Games with Peanut-Safe Seating

Head on over to our sister site, peanutfreebaseball.com, for information on the Washington Nationals games with peanut-safe seating: http://tiny.cc/blJyT.