Tips to plan a safe birthday party when inviting children with food alleriges.

We all go through this at one point or another in our life. This is from the other side form what we usually do, which is sending our kids out to parties.

Worried about inviting a friend with food allergies to your child’s birthday party? Which foods are safe? Which are not? What if the child has a reaction? Food allergies are on the rise among children. This can present a challenge when planning your child’s birthday party. A few helpful tips in the party preparation can ensure a safe fun memorable birthday celebration for all.

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Living with Food Allergies: A First-Hand Account

Recently, Marc told me that there was a new co-op student at his workplace who has life-threatening food allergies. I began to wonder alot about this young man and started asking Marc a lot of questions about him: Does he carry epinephrine? Does he eat at restaurants? How has he managed to stay safe all these years? Marc suggested that I ask him these questions myself. So I did.

His name is Gabe Hoogers. He’s nearly 19 years of age and is studying Contemporary Philosophy and Politics at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At about 2 years of age, it was discovered that he has an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts as well as minor allergies to other foods such as soy, shellfish, and other nuts. I was very pleased when he agreed to be interviewed, and I was most impressed by his insightful and articulate answers to my questions:

Me: Is there anyone else in your family with food allergies?
Gabe: No one else in my family has food allergies, although my Dad is severely allergic to penicillin.

Me: Did you have an allergic reaction to food that prompted the testing?
Gabe: Yes — I ate a muffin with peanuts in it and had an anaphylactic reaction to it. My mom tells me that I became very quiet, so she suspected something was up. She came into my room and found me covered in hives — off to the hospital we went.

Me: Do you remember the reaction?
Gabe: Fortunately, no.

Me: Do you think your food allergies were well accommodated at school?
Gabe: When I started school, severe food allergies were still quite uncommon, so my Mom did a lot of work ensuring that both my teachers and classmates were well aware of my situation. As I moved through elementary school, though, the school board became more conscious about food allergies, and so my Mom’s publicity job became easier. Eventually, my elementary school was actually declared a peanut-free zone.

Me: Did your food allergies prevent you from doing anything that you would have wanted to do?
Gabe: Besides being unable to satisfy the occasional temptation to eat a snack that may or may not have contained peanuts, my allergy hasn’t impeded upon my life to a great extent.

Me: Have you always carried an auto-injector with you?
Gabe: I have. In grade school, I used to carry it around in a fanny pack; but as I grew older, and more socially conscious (i.e. thought the fanny pack hampered my coolness), I started putting in in my pocket or my backpack (assuming I was carrying my backpack with me at all times).

Me: Have you ever needed to use it?
Gabe: Thankfully, I have never needed to use it.

Me: What is your approach to eating in restaurants?
Gabe: Firstly, I avoid restaurants that I know cook with peanuts, such as many South-East Asian restaurants. When at a restaurant I’ve never been to before, I’ll kindly ask a server if the kitchen uses peanuts in their food and to verify with a chef. I find it’s also good habit to verify every time I order a dish that I haven’t had before, unless the restaurant is completely trustworthy and always peanut-free.

Me: Do you find restaurant staff to be relatively well informed about food allergies, or do you feel that eating out is a risky endeavour?
Gabe: The tone of the server’s voice is always important to me when eating out. There have been times that a server has told me that they don’t use peanuts in their restaurant, but appears unconfident or hesitant, in which case I won’t eat there. If a server is well informed and I can hear that in their voice, I always feel more self-assured. More and more, though, I find that restaurant staff are generally well informed about allergies.

Me: Are you excited about the potential for a treatment for food allergies, which experts anticipate should be available within five to 10 years, or are you skeptical?
Gabe: I think it’s great that work to find a treatment for severe allergies is progressing. Although we don’t know if the possibility for a cure of allergies can become an actuality, I think that this provides hope that lives of future and present allergy sufferers can be protected and made easier.

Me: Would you want your food allergies to be treated, or do you feel that you’re fine with them and would rather not be treated?
Gabe: I would be treated. Even though I will probably always stay away from peanut products, it would be nice to not have to worry every time I eat. Plus, I’d like to travel rigorously as I get older, including to places that are less safe for peanut allergy sufferers, such as South-East Asia.

Me: Do you have any advice to pass along to young people with food allergies that might help them as they grow to be adults (advice related to their allergies)?
Gabe: Don’t be embarrassed about your allergy, embrace it. Some of the toughest times to deal with your allergy are when you’re with friends, out at restaurants and at their houses. Don’t be afraid to make sure that the food you’re eating with them is safe, even though it requires you to put yourself out there and can be a little embarrassing — it would be much more embarrassing to be carried off to the hospital in front of them, covered in hives. Also, obviously try to make sure you have your Epipen with you always; it’s not that hard to do. Finally, and this advice is only for the pros: restaurants can sometimes be a little bit too conscious of allergies and will not “guarantee” their food is safe; but a lot of the time they’re just trying to cover themselves to save any lawsuit (it’s really quite selfish). If you quiz them, often you may find that they don’t, in fact, cook with the food that you’re allergic to whatsoever, in which case the restaurant is probably safe to eat at. However, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, so if you ever have doubts about eating a particular food, don’t.

Thank you Gabe!

Allergy doesn’t mean you can’t go for gold

I love the stories of people who don’t let thier allergies interfere with life. They make adjustments to the way they live and move on to obtain the goals they strive for. It’s always nice to hear of people achieving what they set out for dispite the issues in front of them.

Steve Omischl of Canada performs during his second jump in the men’s aerial final of the 2009 FIS Freestyle World Championships in Inawashiro on March 4, 2009.

World Cup freestyle ski ace Steve Omischl wants people to know that having a severe allergy doesn’t mean you can’t dream big dreams

Omischl dreams big. He also lives big and jumps big, even though he has had a potentially life-threatening allergy to peanuts since he was a child and carries an epinephrine auto-injector with him wherever he goes.

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ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED ALLERGENS IN LOTTE AND CROWN BRANDS OF BISCUITS FROM KOREA

UNDECLARED ALLERGENS IN LOTTE AND CROWN BRANDS OF BISCUITS FROM KOREA

OTTAWA, June 12, 2009 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to milk, eggs or hazelnuts not to consume various Lotte and Crown brands of Biscuits described below. These products contain allergens which are not declared on the labels.

All codes of the following Lotte and Crown brands of Biscuits, products of Korea, are affected by this alert. Product information below can be found on the package and the sticker applied for the Canadian market.

via ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED ALLERGENS IN LOTTE AND CROWN BRANDS OF BISCUITS FROM KOREA.

The Gluten Free Insider: We’ve Finally Gotten Rid Of All The Nuts!

Kinnikinnick foods, the gluten free company, is now going nut free too!

We’ve Finally Gotten Rid Of All The Nuts!

For a while our staff was quite worried when we said all the nuts would have to go…

We are pleased to announce that as of June 15, 2009, we are going entirely nut free in both of our facilities. This is one of the biggest product policy changes since we made most of our products dairy free. We’ve been peanut free for several years now but this move will eliminate all tree nuts from our product line as well. On the down side, this will force the discontinuation of our lemon cranberry almond and double chocolate almond cookies but will open up our complete product line to thousands (millions?) of people with nut allergies. We will also be announcing a couple of new cookie varieties to replace the 2 we are discontinuing. More on that in a future post.

For those of you with severe nut allergies please keep in mind that there will still be products in the market that were produced prior to us going nut free. Look for products with the following Best Before dates or later:

* Soft Baked Goods (breads, buns, bagels, donuts, etc) – 12/15/2009

* Cookies, Mixes and Ingredients – 06/15/2010

via The Gluten Free Insider: We’ve Finally Gotten Rid Of All The Nuts!.

An Afternoon with the Paramedics

On Sunday, June 14, we were able to visit the Ottawa Paramedic Service Headquarters. The visit was arranged by the Ottawa Anaphylaxis Support Group, and it was an excellent opportunity for the group, which was made up mainly of anaphylactic children and their parents, to learn about what paramedics do, how the paramedic centre is run, and how paramedics respond to an anaphylactic reaction. The educational presentations and question-and-answer session were fascinating and informative, and the children were thrilled to be able to explore several different ambulances and areas of this state-of-the-art facility.

The Ottawa Paramedic Service Headquarters is one of the best paramedic systems in North America; and, in Canada, it is second only to the paramedic headquarters in Toronto. It has 360 paramedics on staff and takes 103,000 9-1-1 calls per year. Presenter Darryl Wilton, President of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa, shared some 9-1-1 tips to keep in mind in case you need to call for an ambulance for treatment of an anaphylactic reaction (note that most of these points are universal, but some may not apply in other cities):

1. Always administer epinephrine first – before calling 9-1-1. Darryl said that he has seen first-hand how administering epinephrine at the earliest possible opportunity results in the most favorable outcomes. He also pointed out that epinephrine is a relatively safe medication and, therefore, there should be no hesitation in giving it if you have any reason to think that an allergic reaction may be occurring.
2. Identify the emergency as anaphylaxis. After you’ve called 9-1-1 and have been transferred to a paramedic, state that the emergency is an anaphylactic reaction. This will give your call the highest priority – Code 4, which is for a life-threatening emergency.
3. The next-most important information you can give is your address, although GPS coordinates will work as well.
4. Don’t second-guess the paramedics. Once the ambulance has arrived, don’t challenge the treatment the paramedics are administering. They work from complex and effective algorithms that have been proven to save lives.
5. Give the patient’s family doctor and allergist’s names to the emergency department physician. This will ensure that copies of your emergency department records are included in your medical files.

Finally, Darryl cautioned that it is better to call paramedics than to try to get yourself to the hospital. Paramedics are able to deliver faster emergency care than the emergency department. He also noted that emergency department physicians are much less likely to administer epinephrine for an allergic reaction than are paramedics.

I must admit that I was worried this visit would be frightening and dreary, and we had second thoughts about cutting our weekend time at the cottage short in order to attend. It was our son, whose heart was set on seeing all of the ambulances, who encouraged us to go. And we’re glad he did!

The Nut-Free Mom Blog: The Nut-Free Lowdown on Hersheys Chocolates

We all love Hersheys Chocolates but throwing nut allergies into the mix makes it hard to love. Jenny at Nut Free Mom found someone that has provided a good list of safe candies for us to enjoy!

I get a lot of questions about the safety of various candies so I thought I would share this updated Hershey candy info with you. One of the members from my local food allergy support group spent a long time on the phone with a Hersheys rep and e-mailed everyone a list of safe candies.

via The Nut-Free Mom Blog: The Nut-Free Lowdown on Hersheys Chocolates.

Peanuts, Anyone? Researchers Expose Kids to Risky Foods in Order to Cure Them – washingtonpost.com

Oral immunotherapy is still in the research stage, but any news is good news. Knowing that this possible treatment is on the way with funding to keep it alive makes us all very happy.

Ever since she was an infant, Reagan Roberts could not tolerate being anywhere near cow’s milk. A mere sip would leave her vomiting and gasping for breath. If she were even touched by someone with milk on their hands, she would break out in hives and a bright red rash.

via Peanuts, Anyone? Researchers Expose Kids to Risky Foods in Order to Cure Them – washingtonpost.com.

Kellogg and Kashi bars to contain almond and peanut

Notice form Anaphylaxis Canada:

Kellogg Canada Inc. and Kashi Canada Inc. have recently made changes to the
production of three of their products: Kashi Chewy Granola Bars Cherry Dark
Chocolate and Kellogg All-Bran Chewy Bar Dark Chocolate Chip and Kellogg
All-Bran Chewy Bar Strawberry Flavour.
These products have been re-formulated and have new ingredient labels, which
now include new allergens that were not previously found in their products.

Please read the notice below for the specific changes to each product.

If you have any questions/concerns, please contact Kashi Canada or Kellogg
Canada directly through their customer relations departments at the numbers
listed below.

For your information,

Anaphylaxis Canada

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HealthGuru.com: Ancient Chinese Secret for Peanut Allergy

The herbal remedy from China isn’t new news but it is new that the FDA has been given drug approval! Read on for more promising news.

An investigational drug, FAHF-2, has been given new drug approval by the FDA. The herbal remedy shows great promise in reversing anaphylaxis, a severe and life-threatening reaction to peanuts that can result in death. In clinical trials in mice, the herbal remedy has been shown to prevent anaphylaxis for more than 9 months after the treatment was stopped.

Food allergies have been on the rise for several years. Peanut allergy doubled in children between the years 1997 and 2002. It is estimated that 150 people die every year in the US as a result of food allergies. Even trace amounts of these foods can cause a life-threatening reaction. There is no cure for food allergies. People who suffer food allergies must practice strict avoidance of known triggers and seek help immediately if food is accidentally ingested.

Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can occur extremely rapidly and can result in death if not treated immediately. People who have asthma in addition to food allergies may be at higher risk of suffering a severe reaction. The following symptoms may occur in an anaphylactic reaction:

Itching, tingling or metal-like taste in the mouth

Hives

Wheezing or difficulty breathing

Swelling of the mouth and throat

Low blood pressure

Loss of consciousness

The herbal remedy for peanut allergy, as well as a remedy for asthma, is currently being tested on humans.

via News.HealthGuru.com: Ancient Chinese Secret for Peanut Allergy.

Related:
FAHF-2 provides peanut-allergic mice long-term protection from anaphylactic reactions

Health Canada Delays Allergy Labelling

As we reported on in July 2008, Health Canada has proposed new labelling laws. We expected them to be in place by now; but it seems that because they want to make the regulations perfect, it has been delayed until 2010. As reported by Allergic Living, Health Canada received over 140 comments on the new regulation.
The hard part is over; now they just need to put the rules in place. Come Spring 2010, companies will have 12 months to update packaging to adhere to the new regulations.

We’re almost there. It’s been a long time coming.

Health Canada review