Food Allergy Awareness Week in Canada

According to Journal 47 from Tuesday April 28th, 2009 a Motion was passed approving May4-May 8 to be Food Allergy Awareness Week!

No other info has come out of this but be sure we will be keepign an eye on this! Great news!

Source from here.

Take Action to Prevent Reactions

Spreading the word! This FAAN article is getting lots of press and lets take care to practice these actions and CAP it every day!

Take Action to Prevent Reactions during Food Allergy Awareness Week

FAIRFAX, Va. (April 28, 2009) – As part of its ongoing efforts to educate people about food allergies and reduce risk-taking behavior during Food Allergy Awareness Week and on a daily basis, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) reminds everyone to CAP It!

Carry your medicine. Avoid your allergen. Plan ahead to prevent a reaction. Simply put, CAP It can save a life.

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Man died an hour after being treated for peanut allergy

This tragic story has to be told. Why do health professionals feel that a study that is still in it’s infancy is safe to practice on patients? This should never have been done, let alone on someone who is known to have severe allergies to peanuts. I stronly urge anyone who is approached by thier allergenist to consider this story. 

A man who suffered from a peanut allergy collapsed and died from severe anaphylactic shock less than an hour after receiving treatment for his allergy from an alternative medicine practitioner.

 
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Nurse practitioner answers some frequently asked food-allergy questions

I like posting these types of articles because it brings to the forefront some common questions regarding food allergies. You can never have too much info about what to do or how to know what it is.

Nurse practitioner and manager of the Bunning Food Allergy Program at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Christine Szychlinski, is recruiting parents for an extensive, ongoing study to determine the causes of food allergies. She explains some food allergy basics:

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PECAN ALLERGY ALERT

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is recalling “Simply Enjoy Pina Colada White Chocolate Gourmet Cookies” due to undeclared pecan.

The product was distributed to Stop & Shop Supermarket stores.

The 7-oz. packages are marked with UPC 6 8826705538.

Consumers may return their receipt to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may call (877) 846-9949

via FoodAllergy.ORG.

UPDATE - **THE FOOD ALLERGY & ANAPHYLAXIS NETWORK SPECIAL FOOD ALLERGY ALERT

NOTICE**

PECAN ALLERGY ALERT-UPDATE
April 24, 2009

Brent and Sam’s is recalling “Simply Enjoy Brand Pina Colada White
Chocolate Gourmet Cookies” due to undeclared pecan.

The product was distributed to Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut, Maine,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

The 7-oz. metallic packages have the date code 1ASep 26 2009 carton UPC 6
8826705538 and case UPC 6 8826745538.

Consumers may return the product to place of purchase for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may call (704) 554-5548.

Food Allergy Buzz: Since When Does Heat “Kill” Allergens?!!

In order to help spread this news, please note what FAB has to say below. This is important!

Anyone who knows me well or even visits Food Allergy Buzz on a regular basis probably knows that I spend a good amount of time each day reading food allergy related news. I have many Google Alerts, sometimes more than I can reasonably read in a day. Early Tuesday morning, I came across this article–Food allergies: Tips for Ordering Meals Out–which contained very disturbing misinformation about cross-contamination from a restaurant manager. He was being cited as an expert of sorts on eating out with food allergies. The article also mentioned food allergy mom, author, and advocate, Linda Coss–she was not interviewed for the article, but information from one of her press releases was used in the article. Linda has followed up with the newspaper to correct and clarify the information in the article.

Here is what I found troubling (emphasis added):

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The Nut-Free Mom Blog: A “Green” Approach to Your Food-Allergic Child’s School Lunch

Nut Free Mom has a great focus in honour of Earth Day. Litter Free Lunch offers products and ideas on how to prepare a safe and clean lunch for your children. Have a look at what she has to say!

At the FAAN conference last Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting Felice Farran, a mom of 2 school-aged boys with nut allergies. She also happens to be the co-owner of a company called Litter Free Lunch.

As moms of kids with food allergies, we are all very familiar with packing school lunches! Felice is concerned about the environment as well as her child’s food allergies and she couldn’t find a decent, earth-friendly alternative to paper napkins for her kids’ lunches. So she came up with the idea of offering washable cloth napkins that are perfect for taking to school. The company also has an organic line. Check out their growing product selection at http://www.litterfreelunch.com/.

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Food For Thought — Understanding Food Allergies In Kids

This is a well written general-information article and a good overview for anyone new to allergies or just interested in knowing a bit about it. 

Every year, thousands of parents learn of their children’s food allergies following a reaction that can affect many body systems, including the skin, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and/or cardiovascular systems. About 2 million school age children have food allergy, and one child in 20 under age 3 has food allergy.

Food allergies develop when the immune system misinterprets a food as harmful and develops an immune response against the food. If a child develops allergy antibodies (called IgE) to a food protein, reexposure to that food may be accompanied by a release of chemicals that produce the allergic symptoms.

 
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ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED PEANUTS IN BERGEN BRAND APPLE CINNAMON

ALLERGY ALERT

UNDECLARED PEANUTS IN BERGEN BRAND APPLE CINNAMON COOKIES

OTTAWA, April 16, 2009 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Dollarama are warning people with allergies to peanut proteins not to consume the Bergen brand Apple Cinnamon Cookies described below. The affected product may contain peanuts which are not declared on the label.

All Best Before date codes of the Bergen brand Apple Cinnamon Cookies, product of Poland, sold in 150 g packages are affected by this alert.

This product has been distributed nationally.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with allergies to peanuts.

The importer, Dollarama, Montreal, QC is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on peanuts, one of the nine most common food allergens, visit the Food Allergens web page at:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/allerg/peaarae.shtml

For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

via ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED PEANUTS IN BERGEN BRAND APPLE CINNAMON COOKIES.

What to ask at a restaurant/resort.

When you visit a restaurant or on vacation at a resort do you go into detail with the staff regarding the menu and allergy practice in the kitchen? There are many ways to go about getting the ‘good feeling’ about a restaurant from just going on a recommendation and eating there (McDonalds used to be this way) or giving the manager/head-chef the third degree. 

We have come up with some standard questions we like to ask. Sometimes we feel the need to ask them all, sometimes we are satisfied if the management has a strong grasp without the need to ask all the questions.

It is especially wonderful when a staff member offers to give you a tour of a buffet or the menu outlining what is safe and what to stay away from. When someone suggests to stay away from something I also like to ask about the preparation of that dish, if it is prepared separately and safely from the safe dishes.

Do you have a standard list of questions different from what we have below?

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New iPhone application helps allergy sufferers abroad — chicagotribune.com

Being the owner of an Ipod Touch (like the Iphone without the phone) I appreciate the technology aspect of this and helping food allergic people. I am disapointed that someone is charging for this. Many helpful applications in the store are free, and this one should be as well or at least priced more reasonably. $3.99 seems a bit high. I have not reviewed this app but if you know of someone who has it please comment on this!

Those with serious food allergies know that ordering meals in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language can be a dicey and potentially deadly ordeal. Eat Safe, a new iPhone application ($3.99), helps bridge the communication gap between diner and waiter. The program, a model of simplicity, allows the iPhone to display a clear illustration of 18 products, such as fish, dairy or peanuts, that the patron can’t eat. You can download it to your iPhone from the App Store or through iTunes.

via New iPhone application helps allergy sufferers abroad — chicagotribune.com.

ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED PEANUTS IN BERGEN BRAND ALMOND COOKIES

OTTAWA, April 10, 2009 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Dollarama are warning people with allergies to peanut proteins not to consume the Bergen brand Almond Cookies described below. The affected product may contain peanuts which are not declared on the label.

All Best Before date codes of the Bergen brand Almond Cookies, product of Poland, sold in 145 g packages are affected by this alert.

This product has been distributed nationally.

There has been one reported illness associated with the consumption of this product.

Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with allergies to peanuts.

The importer, Dollarama, Montreal, QC is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call one of the following numbers:

For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

via ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED PEANUTS IN BERGEN BRAND ALMOND COOKIES.

Dog Protects Girl from Peanuts

You have probably heard of these peanut-snififng dogs, but I just love hearing about the feel-good stories. Especially when the person involved is a young one and is extremely allergic.

Do you know of anyone with an allergy dog?

How many kids can say they’ve never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

8-year-old Riley Mers can say that.

And no, she’s not from another planet.

She’s from Monument, Colorado.

The reason Riley can’t eat PB&J is because she’s allergic to peanuts – so severely allergic that when she stepped on a peanut shell one time, it nearly burned through her skin.

For virtually her entire life, Riley has been unable to leave her home or her yard.

Going to school?

Forget about it.

Riley studies online, mostly, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

And when she does go to school, she has to sit in a special room of her own.

After all, what if some other kid brought peanut butter and jelly for lunch?

Riley is so sensitive to peanuts that even peanut dust can cause her to have a life-threatening allergic reaction.

But recently, Riley’s life changed.

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Chinese Botanical Drug to Cure Peanut Allergies

Herbal medicine has been around, well, forever and many of today’s drugs are herbal based, so we should not be surprised that there may be a natural source for controlling allergic reactions. This sounds interesting. The drug seems to counter the effects of anaphylaxis that is brought on by eating peanuts.

A recent study conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggests that a Chinese botanical drug can help patients manage their food allergies. This new drug may help many allergic patients in the western society and could also assist in curing other conditions such as asthma.

  Read the rest of this entry »

LA Cooking Examiner: Passover recipe: Nut-free haroset

Here is another posting for our Jewish readers, and anyone interested in trying this Passover menu item!

My kids’ school is a no-nuts zone, so when my 7-year-old’s class celebrated Passover last week I created this nut-free version of the traditional haroset. Haroset is one of the symbolic Passover foods, meant to resemble the mortar the Jewish slaves used to build the pyramids of their Egyptian masters.

An Ashkenazic haroset is normally made with chopped apples, walnuts, cinnamon, sugar and sweet Passover wine. I substituted pumpkin seeds for the nuts to accommodate the school rules. I make my haroset in the food processor and prefer a finer texture, but if you like yours chunkier, by all means chop the ingredients by hand.

Nut-free haroset

4 apples, cored, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp sweet Passover wine

Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry nonstick pan over medium-high heat until seeds start to brown and pop, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool 10 minutes.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is chopped and combined but still has a little texture. Let sit at least 1 hour, and up to 4 hours, to let flavors meld.

via LA Cooking Examiner: Passover recipe: Nut-free haroset.