Allergic reactions can develop at any age, any time

Just a little somthing to keep in mind. We are not al born with it.

Allergic reactions can develop at any age, any time

While the number of children with allergies increased over the past few decades, adults awareness of their own sensitivities is growing

Adults are discovering in ever greater numbers that they have serious food allergies, possibly due to exposure to new foods and an increased awareness of food allergy symptoms.

So says Dr. Vincent Oswunda, an Edmonton allergist and immunologist, who adds although most people develop allergies in childhood, adults can still develop an allergy and suffer as much as any child.

“You can start having allergic reactions at any age and at any time,”Oswunda says.

An allergy to sulphites — the chemical additives used to stop food from browning or spoiling — is most often diagnosed in adults, especially in those who already have asthma. Sulphites were recently added to Health Canadas list of the most common food allergens, along with more familiar foods like peanuts and dairy.

via Allergic reactions can develop at any age, any time.

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!.

Parents offered new choices in allergen-free food

Enjoy Life is by now a well-known brand, and one that many of us have grown used to seeing in our grocery stores if not in our cupboards. This is a great story of a couple of guys who wanted to help out the growing population of allergy sufferers.

An idea that started as a class project between two friends is big business in the booming food allergy and intolerance market that one research firm estimates will reach $3.9 billion this year.

Scott Mandell and Bert Cohen, classmates at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2000, founded their allergen-free food company, Enjoy Life Natural Brands LLC, in 2001. The pair drafted their initial business plan for a school assignment in their last class before graduation. Their idea for an allergen-free food company was inspired by Cohen’s mother, who had multiple sclerosis and serious dietary restrictions.

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Introducing Mr. Christie’s Snak Paks

Mr Christie's Snak Paks

Kraft Foods has just introduced a selection of single-portion packs of mini cookies called Mr. Christie’s Snak Paks, and today our five-year-old son and I had the pleasure of trying out the four types that carry a “Peanut-Free” symbol.* Our son is allergic to tree nuts as well, and we were assured by a public relations executive representing Kraft, that these four products were completely peanut-free: Barnum’s Animal Crackers, Teddy Grahams, Mini Chips Ahoy!, and Barnum’s ABC’s Cocoa cookies. They come in brightly coloured, whimsical, 30 g packages — a good treat size.

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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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Candy Melts Make Easter Fun

I have been a fan of Vermont Nut Free ever since my son was diagnosed with allergies to peanuts and tree nuts four years ago. Their high-quality chocolates are now a staple in our household for pretty much all the holidays. And, with Easter around the corner, I’m putting together an order for their delicious chocolate bunnies. We’ll also be making some of our own Easter chocolates, which will be equally delicious, thanks to Vermont Nut Free.
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Hilton Soy Foods Announces SoyButter – Peanut Butter Alternative

It’s always great to hear of another peanut butter alternative. As a member of a family that has someone with an allergy to peanuts and nuts, and not being allergic myself, I sometimes have a yearning for the old stuff. I never partake mind you, but after finding Sunbutter and now knowing there is this, the options are growing!.

Manufacturers now have a ‘same taste’ one to one substitute they can use to replace both peanuts and peanut butter in virtually any kind of product. Never before has there been a product that tastes, smells, and looks just like peanut butter—until now, from Hilton Soy Foods.

There is a twofold crisis now occurring in millions of homes, schools and factories across the country. Due to the growing prevalence of kids with severe allergic reactions to peanuts, schools are now banning our kids from bringing any peanut or peanut butter products to school. In addition, everyone now has tremendous food safety quality concerns and negative perceptions resulting from the recent peanut salmonella problems. Hilton’s innovative peanut butter-like, Omega3 SoyButter can now solve both crises.

After four years of development, Hilton Soy Foods has created a safe and healthy solution for manufacturers who want to help keep kids and schools safe and free of peanut allergies.  In addition, with Hilton’s Omega3 SoyButter and the various granulations of Toasted Soy Ingredients available, manufacturers can now make a variety of innovative products with a p-nutty taste that everyone can feel safe in enjoying.

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List of allergy-aware companies

The folks at http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com  have a fantastic list of companies who are allergy aware.

http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/otherallergies.htm

I encourage everyone to have a look as these companies will ship to either Canada or the USA or both.  Have a look at the website as well as they don’t only deal with milk allergies, but with all others.  LOTS of great information.

Sample:

4everfree	Gluten, Dairy and Nut free baked goods New Zealand
Abby Fundraising	Always nut free fundraising cookie dough
Allerenergy bars	No Peanuts, Gluten ,Eggs and Milk, Dairy, Soy, Tree Nuts, Shellfish, and no Corn
Alpro Soya	Dairy Free alternatives to milk, yougurt and deserts (UK) dairy free gluten free mostly wheat free nut free enviroment
Amanda’s Own	Dairy-free, tree nut-free, peanut-free, egg-free and gluten free Candies and Chocolates
American Chocolate	Turn cholate in to art, print designs onto gourmet chocolates