Missing Allergy Grocer and Miss Robens

You would not believe the number of hits I receive each day for Allergy Grocer and Miss Robens! More than 10% of all visitors are coming as a result of a search for Allergy Grocer or Miss Robens. That is amazing. And yet, that store has closed. Incredible.

Keep supporting the stores that are still open, gang! The economy is brutal and these stores--both the brick and mortar ones and online stores--need your support.

A Great Commentary from a Connecticut Food Allergy Parent

If you have kids with food allergies, you may appreciate this anonymous article: Food Allergies A Matter of Life and Death. It is written by a food allergy parent who is "in the middle", not a hysterical "food nazi" but not a "laissez faire" parent either. It's well written and to the point. Kudos to whoever the writer is! By the way, whoever you are, I know exactly what you mean!

Here's one of my favorite parts of this Hartford Courant article:

"When we were looking for preschools, the most important feature was the school's policy on peanut and tree-nut products. My child would be younger than 3 when he started school, and I didn't think he was quite ready to determine on his own if he should or should not eat that fantastic-looking cookie a classmate had offered. No, toddlers don't have a good history of making good choices. Nor are they known for their fastidious hand-washing habits."

Dr. Gwen's May 28 Show: Allergy and Asthma Update

On Thursday, May, 28, the featured topic on Dr. Gwen's Blogtalkradio show will be asthma and allergies. The show is live at 7:30 pm eastern time and you can participate too. The call-in number is (347) 237-5194. I am posting this a bit late, but don't worry if you've missed the show because you can listen to the recording online! I am looking forward to the show.

More on mygrocerydeals.com Allergen Flags

In response to yesterday's post about mygrocerydeals.com, I've received some additional information from mygrocerydeals.com about how they designate items as "contains" or may contains". It's so helpful to have these definitions. A big thanks goes to Mr. Hladkowicz, Vice President Business Development at mygrocerydeals.com, for clarifying.

"In respect to your query, MyGroceryDeals uses the package information and ingredients list as the basis of identifying whether an item contains one of the eight most common food allergens (Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Egg, Gluten/Wheat, Soy, Milk). The current database contains over 70,000 items and will continue to grow as the database expands. With respect to how MyGroceryDeals displays allergens, two different flags are used. A red flag denotes those items that contain a specific allergen that the user has identified in their profile, whereas the yellow flag denotes those items that contain any allergen. Given that many manufacturers use the phrases “may contain” or “ may have come into contact with”, where indicated, MyGroceryDeals uses this information as well in determining which items to flag."

Grocery Flyers plus Allergen Info

In an effort to tighten the belt, I registered on mygrocerydeals.com a few years ago. It's a website which aggregates grocery market or supermarket flyers. You enter a minimal amount of personal information, the most critical being your zip code, and you're then able to view all of the special deals and sales listed in local supermarket flyers, by food category or by store. At some point, I fell off the penny pinching wagon, life got too busy or something, and I stopped using that website. When I visited the website today, I remembered it offers a feature to flag common food allergens as well as a few restricted diets so that an additional symbol is included in your results; in the case of food allergens, you'll see an exclamation point indicating products containing or possibly containing a major food allergen. Red exclamation point for foods containing the allergens you flag, and yellow for potentially containing.

I am curious to know how the folks at mygrocerydeals.com determine what gets a yellow. Red is easy to figure out--for us, peanuts and/or tree nuts need to be in the ingredient list. Yellow is "may contains" and either means the food contains other major allergens or maybe indicates that there are other products by the same manufacturer which contain the allergens I've flagged. Maybe I will ask the mygrocerydeals.com folks exactly how they determine what a "may contains" is.

My conclusion for now? Mygrocerydeals.com is a useful site for finding deals at the grocery store with a potentially helpful allergen filter. Hats off to them for the attempt to provide allergen info, but you still need to read the label yourself just in case and do your double-checking.

Save the date! July 23 is the Next Food Allergy Twitter Party

Mark Thursday, July 23, on your calendar! Ruth of www.bestallergysites.com and I are beginning plans for the next Food Allergy Twitter Party. The theme for the party will be Back-to-School with Food Allergies, but feel free to bring questions, comments and tips on anything food allergy related! We'll keep you posted as more information is available. #foodallergy will be the hashtag.

The Power of Mom Bloggers

It took me a while to realize that I am a "mom blogger". I thought since I do not often write about my kids that I don't fall into that category! I thought mom bloggers wrote exclusively about their kids and chronicled every new development and bump in the road. Lately, however, people have been talking to me because I am a mom who blogs. (I think I like it!) Anyhow, I spoke with a writer a few months ago and just discovered that her article was published, and it's a really interesting article. I thought I would share it with you: Mom Power Meets the Web or All A Twitter by Kathy Sena. Thanks for including me, Kathy!

Detroit Tigers Peanut-Free Suites

Mentioned on www.peanutfreebaseball.com, the Detroit Tigers are offering peanut-free suites during the following games:

June 21st (Millwaukee Brewers vs. Detroit Tigers)

July 12th (Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers)

July 26th (Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers)

To reserve tickets fans should call 313-471-2361 and ask about the peanut-free suites for more information.

School Secretary Blogs About Incoming PA Student

This morning, a snippet of a blog post from a middle school secretary was among my Google Alerts. I clicked on it but was unable to open it--the blog was locked. Other people saw the post before the blog was locked and what they found was appalling. A middle school secretary in Northern California had read the medical and other records for an incoming peanut allergic student. She provides details from the student's records in her blog and also shares her less than sympathetic views about the student's allergy. As a parent of a food allergic child, it's incredibly disturbing to read her blog post. I think, however, it is important to be aware of the different attitudes that exist.

Gina Clowes (www.allergymoms.com) with some assistance from a friend was able to contact the school district where the secretary is employed. From what I understand, the school district has been notified of the secretary's blog and activities. Way to go, Gina! You can learn more about this story on Gina's Allergy Moms blog, over on Food Allergy Support (http://www.foodallergysupport.org), and also on Debra Legg's fantastic blog, 9 to 5 to 9. According to the folks over at Food Allergy Support, Debra is the one who actually broke this story! Great job, Debra! Life really is stranger than fiction...

Beware Food Allergy Profiteers

With food allergies on the rise, and new food allergy friendly products and companies constantly under development, I have noticed--and you probably have too--there are more websites targeting the food allergic public. If you are online, you know what I mean. These people find you! The press writes constantly about the power of mom bloggers, and so these businesses seek me (and you!) out daily, weekly, in search of free publicity.

Now, I will admit to a soft spot for a food allergy mom or dad or family starting a business out of a perceived food allergy related need. Good for them! Heck, I'm doing it too! As a FA mom, however, I can't help but feel skeptical when a site suddenly appears out of the blue, attempting to be a food allergy authority or a center for discounts and coupons on food allergy products. I immediately wonder "Who is this person?", "What is their connection to food allergies", and "How are they profiting from this?" Maybe I am being unfair, but when there is no discernible connection to food allergies, I wonder if they are preying on us. Furthermore, giving the false impression of ties to the food allergy community is truly distasteful! We all would love to be unfamiliar with food allergies, but this is our lot in life for the time being. Please don't pretend to be part of the food allergy community so you can take advantage of us! There is a word for what they are trying to do, it is...INGRATIATE.

From Merriam-Webster Online:

Ingratiate

Etymology:

²in- + Latin gratia grace

Date:

1621

: to gain favor or favorable acceptance for by deliberate effort —usually used with with<ingratiate themselves with the community leaders — William Attwood>

— in·gra·ti·a·tion \-ˌgrā-shē-ˈā-shən\ noun

— in·gra·tia·to·ry \-ˈgrā-sh(ē-)ə-ˌtȯr-ē\ adjective

Just as I feel driven to share news of cross-contamination risks or labeling changes, I feel some obligation to offer words of warning about food allergy profiteers. They are out there, and they are active! They are on Twitter, they are on Facebook, they blog, they are everywhere, and they're trying to pretend they're your friend! One easy way to spot them is their drive to collect "members" or "subscribers". Another sign is a commercial looking site with stock photos of happy smiling families from all different backgrounds. Resist the temptation to sign up for these friendly omniscient websites with all the answers. Ask yourself what their connection to food allergies is. Think of the junk mail you already receive!

Most of the helpful information about food allergies, food allergy friendly foods and other tips about living with food allergies can be very easily found on ordinary not-for-profit websites, such as www.foodallergy.org, www.faiusa.org, www.aafa.org, www.kidswithfoodallergies.org (sorry Lynda, I goofed and left KFA out originally!) and www.foodallergysupport.org and countless other support group sites. There are so many food allergy bloggers, making little or no money on their blogs, who share helpful tips, coupon codes and other helpful information out of the generosity of their hearts. Look to those non-profits and regular mom bloggers trying to share a helpful tip or too, just like they do in the pick-up/drop-off line at school or at the supermarket! You don't need to belong to a website or be a subscriber to get the scoop; most food allergy families want to help each other because we're all in it together.

Don't Miss It! The 1st Food Allergy Twitter Party, May 15, 2009

You probably already have heard about it here, over at www.bestallergysites.com, on another blog or maybe on Twitter. Friday, May 15, we'll be having the first ever Food Allergy Twitter Party complete with panelists, fun food allergy bloggers, and great prizes from food allergy conscious entrepreneurs and FAAN! The Food Allergy Twitter Party is basically an online "meetup" where we can share our thoughts, tips, and questions on food allergies in tweets (of 140 characters or less). We have planned two party times: 12 noon and 10:30 PM eastern time and each party will last about 1 hour.

So please join us. If you don't have a Twitter account, get one! They are free and easy to use. In order to see other FA Twitter partygoers' tweets, you will need to use the hashtag #foodallergy, and you will need to use #foodallergy for others to see your tweets at the party as well. We would LOVE food allergies to be the top trending topic on Twitter during the party times (12 noon and 10:30 PM eastern time), so be sure to tell everyone you know. Who knows, you might even win a prize!

Who are the panelists? Let's see...I am copying this from Ruth over at www.bestallergysites.com since she's done such an awesome job keeping track of everything! Thanks, Ruth!

@chupieandjsmama
@foodallergyassistant
@foodallergymama
@allergicgirl
@foodallergybuzz
@bestallergysite
@nowheymama
@rationaljenn
@mahardy
@avoidingmilk
@surefoodsliving

And then a big THANKS to our generous donors of prizes (please tell me if I have missed anyone!):

Linda Coss-(@LindaCoss) Book

Navan Foods-(@NavanFoods) $25 gift certificate and free shipping on order

Cherrybrook Kitchen

Flashcard Zoo-(@flashcardzoo) set of Flashcards

Beyond a Peanut-set of Food Allergy Awareness Cards

Lucy’s-Gluten Free Cookies

Allergy Kids (Robyn O’Brien)-Book titled “The Unhealthy Truth”

Alisa Fleming-(@godairyfree) Book titled “Go Dairy Free”

Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Brownie Baking Mix (@authenticfoods)

Gluten Free Essentials-Speedy Bake Mixes

Allergy Apparel (@AllergyApparel)

Gift Certificate from www.buddybandz.com

The Hidden Dangers of Soy e-book, www.hiddensoy.com

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)-1 year membership

WOW! It should be great! Don't miss it!

"If I had a reaction" video

Thanks to the wonderful group, Kids with Food Allergies, I saw this video earlier. It is really a great summary by the well known allergist, Dr. Robert Wood, about what to expect during a first allergic reaction.

For the life of me, I can't seem to embed the video here, but I am providing the link: If I had a reaction. There are a couple other videos you may want to view as well, such as In the clinic: Dr. Robert Wood, MD Discusses the IgE Blood Allergy Test and In the Spotlight: Dr. Robert Wood, MD, Food Allergy Researcher.

Tofutti Cuties...AGAIN??!

I just received the following information from ELL. You may have spotted it online as well. I thought somebody at Tofutti claimed these treats are made on dedicated lines. How can there be contamination if they're on dedicated lines? I don't buy these products because we are nut and peanut avoiding purists, but I don't think Tofutti could pay me to try their foods or feed them to my boys if we were in the market for milk-free products. It seems nothing but disturbing news comes out of Tofutti lately. They really need to get their act together!

"Tofutti Brands Inc. has completed a precautionary investigative recall of 12 pallets of its 8-Pack VANILLA CUTIES mini sandwich frozen dessert novelties (UPC 0-20188-01301-2) due to possible trace level milk contamination reported for a limited number of lots shipped which were produced in July of 2008. VANILLA CUTIES are labeled as Milk Free and persons who have an allergy or severe sensitivity or intolerance to Dairy products run the risk of serious or life-threatening injury if they consume products with milk ingredients."

Camden Riversharks Have Peanut Free Section

A timely announcement during Food Allergy Awareness week, yesterday the Camden, NJ Riversharks announced their peanut free section.

"The Riversharks announced today that they will be adding a peanut free section to Campbell’s Field. Suite 319 will now serve only foods that do not contain peanuts or any peanut products or oils. Tickets in this section will be sold at the regular prices instead of suite prices. "

For more information, please visit http://www.riversharks.com/news/?news_id=921 or call 1.866.SHARKS.9.

From Linda Coss: 10 Things Parents of Children with Life-Threatening Food Allergies Want

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.

#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.

Video on Children's Memorial Hospital Study

Here is a Food Allergy Buzz video by Jennifer Trammell on the food allergy study being conducted with Children's Memorial Hospital. The hospital website has some additional information on the study as well.

Lawsuit Against BK for "Allergic Reaction"

Just came across this interesting little article about a man who ordered sandwiches at Burger King without pickles, only to discover later that pickles were in the sandwich after biting into them. He sued Burger King, having apparently suffered an allergic reaction.

Portsmouth man sues Burger King for not holding Pickles

Podcast of Radio Interview re: Anaphylaxis in Schools

Just received a head-up from Australia's Aaron Dwyer that he has posted a radio interview he did in September 2008. The interview discusses anaphylaxis in Queensland schools as well as how good Samaritans can assist during an anaphylactic reaction.

Here is the link to Aaron's blog post and podcast: http://allergysmart.net/231/

Gluten-Free Cooking From Pamela's for Cinqo de Mayo

From National Geographic News:

"Today fiesta lovers across the United States will gather to celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo—literally "May 5" in Spanish.

But do U.S. partygoers really know what they are celebrating?

Cinco de Mayo is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, which is actually September 16. On that date in 1810, Mexico declared its independence from Spanish rule.

Today's holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

The anniversary of the victory is celebrated only sporadically in Mexico, mainly in the southern town of Puebla (see map of Puebla) and a few larger cities.

But Cinco de Mayo is fast gaining popularity in the U.S., where changing demographics are turning the holiday into a cultural event..." (Read the rest of this interesting National Geographic News article!)

Pamela's Products kindly sent this recipe in celebration of Cinqo de Mayo:

"Tamale-Style Stuffed Bread
1 cup Pamela's Gluten-free Bread Mix
1 cup masa harina for tamales (naturally gluten-free corn flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening
1-1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans red enchilada sauce
1 can low-sodium Chicken Broth
2, 4oz cans diced Green Chiles
Salt & Pepper to taste
Yield: 1 loaf, serves 4-6

Preheat oven to 375°.
In a bowl, combine the flours. Mix chicken with 3/4 of one can of enchilada sauce. With a mixer beat together the lard and baking powder on medium speed, about 1 minute. Slowly add the combined flours as you continue beating. Gradually add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of room temperature broth until the dough becomes like a soft cake-like batter. Salt & pepper to taste.

Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, with plenty of overlap and extended edges. Remove paper and flatten on work surface. Spread dough in a 9-inch x 15-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Spread a layer of chicken on the dough, followed by the black beans and green chilies. Pour on remaining enchilada sauce.

Roll up the dough jelly-roll fashion and lower gently, using the parchment paper, into the loaf pan. Trim and fold over the paper, then cover the loaf pan with foil and bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

When done, the loaf should feel firm in the center when pressed. If soft, return to oven for a few minutes longer. Let rest 10-15 minutes while you heat the remaining can of enchilada sauce. When done, turn loaf out onto a serving platter and gently remove the parchment paper. Slice into 1-inch thick rounds and pour a little sauce over them.

Chef's Notes: The second time I made this dish I used a French bread pan, that has a curved bottom, instead of the loaf pan, and the shape was more like a giant tamale! The corn crust is so good you won't believe you made it. It was a little easier rolling it up and putting it into a round pan.

For ease of rolling, I also used less sauce in the roll, and served more at table to compensate.
Use plenty of parchment paper and the pan hardly gets messy, and it works just as well as corn husks. Remember, you can use any filling; I used my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and it was a hit with the family. I have some Chile Colorado in my freezer that is just begging to be made into one of these crowd pleasing wonders."

Connection Between Ticks and Red Meat Allergy?

Just came across this article about an Australian doctor who is researching the connection between tick bites and red meat allergy. Hmm...

Dakota Prairie Flour

Below is a very interesting interview with Dakota Prairie Flour's founder Eric Hoberg by Jennifer Trammell at the recent THRIVE Expo.

FAAN Conference in Tarrytown

From FAAN:

FAAN’s Annual Food Allergy Conference Comes to Tarrytown, N.Y.

FAIRFAX, Va. (April 30, 2009) – For the millions of Americans with food allergies, the importance of being educated about food allergy and prepared to treat a reaction is not to be underestimated. On May 9, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) will host the third of its 16th annual Food Allergy Conferences in Tarrytown, N.Y. The conference will help both those who have food allergies and those who care for people with food allergies.

The theme for this year’s conferences is “Take Action, Prevent Reactions.” Attendance can help anyone reach this goal, and the knowledge gained can literally mean the difference between life and death.

As the prevalence of food allergy increases, particularly among children, the need for accurate and current information about food allergy is crucial. One study released last fall by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed an 18 percent increase in the number of children with food allergies between 1997 and 2007. An estimated 3 million children in the U.S. have food allergies.

“These conferences are designed to give people the tools they need to safely manage food allergies – to show them how to ‘Take Action, Prevent Reactions,’” said Julia Bradsher, CEO of FAAN. “But they also link people with others who share the same challenges, letting people know they are not alone.”

FAAN’s conferences offer insight on the most recent research findings about food allergy as well as discussion and networking opportunities with families, caregivers, teachers, child care providers, and school staff. Special sessions are also held for teens, nurses, and registered dietitians.

Topics at the all-day conference also include strategies for avoiding reactions, how to eat well with food allergies, emergency preparedness, tips for dining out with food allergies, and lessons learned from reactions in schools.

In Tarrytown, Dr. Hugh Sampson, a nationally respected leader in the field of allergy research, will be a featured speaker. Sampson is a professor of pediatrics and immunobiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Allergy & Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics, Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, and Dean of Translational Biomedical Science at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

“The FAAN Conference is one of the best resources for the latest information on food allergy,” Sampson said. “Everyone, from the newly diagnosed to the seasoned veteran, will walk away with a better understanding of dealing with food allergies.”

The Tarrytown conference will run from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and will be held at the Westchester Marriott, 670 White Plains Road.

For more information or to register, visit www.foodallergy.org or call (800) 929-4040.

Minnesota Food Allergy Awareness Walk

From the AFAA:

Announcing Minnesota's Inaugural
Food Allergy Awareness Walk!

Hey Diddle, Diddle - Help Solve the Food Riddle! Join us to create awareness & raise funds for AFAA's important programs! REGISTER or DONATE: DATE: Saturday, June 6, 2009 TIME: Walk begins at 8 a.m. (Registration begins at 7 a.m.) LOCATION: Mall of America® (Macy's Court), Bloomington, MN FEATURING: Entertainment by food allergy singer, Kyle Dine; Minnesota Twins' Mascot, T.C. Bear, as Grand Marshal; Jesse James Days' Royalty! KICK-OFF: Saturday, May 16th (2-4 p.m.) Burnhaven Library, 1101 County Road 42 West, Burnsville, Minnesota - Featuring prizes, giveaways, music, games, and fun! Contact Michelle for more information. I want to help on June 6th! AFAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is food allergy education, advocacy, and support. AFAA: Taking the Fear Out of Food Allergies!