Dairy Free Dark Chocolate

I do enjoy dark chocolate. I like that slight bitter to the sweet and there are so many health benefits (doesn't it help you lose weight, sleep better, give you more energy and make you resistant to all illness and disease?:)

I was thrilled when Enjoy Life recently asked if I wanted to try their new dairy-free dark chocolate chips. I thought dark chocolate would need to stay out of my family dairy-free recipes, but those days are now over. These dark chocolate chips are dairy-free and delicious...especially in my dark chocolate chip cookies. I love a product with two ingredients- in this case unsweetened chocolate and cane sugar. That's it! So simple. There's a coupon on the Enjoy Life homepage for their products. Print it before heading to the grocery store.

Fake a Food Allergy? Say It Isn't So!

Butter on Vegetables

The Doctor's, a popular daytime show featuring specialty doctors dispensing medical advice, recently did a grave disservice to the food allergy community.  In a piece called, "Get Thin By Summer: 13 Secrets You Haven't Heard", tip #9 was "Fake a Butter Allergy".

Yup, you read right. In order to make sure your restaurant meal doesn't come with added butter, the doctors on the show suggest you tell a "little white lie" and say that you're allergic to butter.

Really?!?!

Not okay!

The food allergy community has come too far in educating restaurants to sit back and allow a TV show tell people it's okay to lie about a food allergy. Let's let them know that food allergies are real and we need for restaurant staff to take our allergies seriously. It looks like the only place to comment on the show is to fill out an "Ask the Doctor" form. Please take a few minutes and send a message that it's never okay to fake a food allergy.

Maybe the doctors could advise their listeners to just be truthful instead.

Food Allergy Research Boost With Multi-Million Dollar Grant

Milk Allergy

Perhaps you've read the news that David H. Koch, Executive Vice President of Koch Industries, has donated 10 million dollars to the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. This donation, one of the largest in the Institute's history, will create the David H. and Julia Koch Research Program in Food Allergy Therapeutics.

This is great news for the food allergy community. Mt. Sinai has already brought to light the possibility of introducing baked milk and egg to people with milk and egg allergies. They have also lead the way in researching the link between bullying and food allergies, and the lack of a link between waiting to introduce foods to infants and the development of food allergy.

Part of this donation may go toward some of the clinical trials currently underway at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, such as using Xolair to help develop milk tolerance and the effect of Chinese Herbal medicine on food allergies. All great research paving the way toward figuring out what causes food allergy and how to prevent it.

Food Allergy Presentations at Annual Conference in San Francisco

The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) just wrapped up their annual conference in San Francisco. As always, many presentations addressed food allergy. I always look forward to information from this conference as we get the latest research and data.  Here are a few highlights:

In New Research Continues to Give Hope for Outgrowing Milk Allergy, researchers report that the median age for outgrowing milk allergy is two years of age.  Factors that may best predict the potential resolution of milk allergy include  lower milk IgE, a smaller wheal from the prick skin test and mild-none versus moderate-severe atopic dermatitis.

The presentation, When It Comes to Certain Allergies, Birth Order Matters, revealed that the incidence of food allergy decreased significantly as birth order increased. This would seem to indicate that your firstborn, or older children are more likely to have food allergies. While not the case in our family, this may give some relief to parents of food allergic children who want to have more children.

Children with More Severe Eczema Less Likely to Outgrow Milk, Egg Allergy gave information suggesting that child with no, or mild, atopic dermatitis were more likely to outgrow their egg or milk allergies.  


A presentation, Could Rural Environment Protect Against Food Allergy? showed that rural areas do seem to have less food allergy than urban areas. The next step, researchers say, is to find out what factors seem to provide this protection.


  

Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

I do love chocolate! When I realized that my Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips were no longer an option in our new world of food allergy, I was a bit panicked. Well, maybe panicked is a bit strong...

no, taking away my favorite chocolate chips did cause panic!

So, we embarked on a tasting of dairy free chocolate chips.  I was not interested in mini-chocolate chips. I prefer the regular size for most of my baking. Fortunately I discovered Barry Callebaut chips. I swear to you, you'll never miss the dairy in these chips. I order them from The Allergy Grocer, as they're not carried in stores. This works great, except:

•  the chips can't be shipped during the summer months due to high temps and melting
• they're awfully expensive, especially with the shipping...

but who can put a price on a good chocolate chip?

Imagine my excitement recently while shopping at Wegmans's, when I noticed their store brand of chocolate chips is dairy free. I bought a bag, giddy at the thought of saving on those shipping costs. We had a blind taste-testing in our home that night.

No comparison. Barry Callebaut wins out.

So, I'll keep ordering multiple 5 lb. bags of Barry Callebaut chips from The Allergy Grocer, but I'm always willing to do more taste-testing!

Any suggestions?

By the way, Allergy Grocer offers free shipping on orders over $100. Go ahead, you can do it...

Milk Allergy Desensitization Study

So, this is it. The final installment of 11 year old Brett's video diary of his participation in Children's Hospital of Boston's milk allergy study. He's been participating in a desensitization study getting small amounts of milk over a period of time. Six months have passed since he started. This video tells the end. Has he been cured of his milk allergy, or must he continue to avoid milk?

So, go watch it. Then come back so we can chat.

Go on...

Tick Tock

I'll wait right here...

See, still here.

Okay, so you've seen it? Cause spoiler alert right here. The outcome is about to be revealed.

Amazing, right? This milk allergic boy is cured! He can drink milk and is eager to participate in more food allergy studies so he doesn't have to read labels any more.

This is incredible news for all of us who care about someone with a food allergy. We're getting there. Maybe our kids won't have to worry about their children being diagnosed with food allergies. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

What did you think of the video?

Reality Show on Food Allergies

The next two videos from Children's Hospital in Boston are in. My heart skips a beat every time I watch one of these because I think "Oh, we're getting close. We're getting closer to finding a cure!"

In this video installment, Ming Tsai, chef and owner of Massachusetts restaurant, Blue Ginger, and father of a son with food allergies talks about life with food allergies at home and at work.

He talks about "what a pain in the rear it is to travel with food allergies".

Yup, we can relate.

He also talks about how eating in restaurants is an important part of every child's life and that's why he has made a committment to create a safe restaurant. "I have moms crying tears of happiness when they watch their food allergic children eat a safe meal in my restaurant," Tsai says.

I know, priceless...

The second video is a trip to Brett's school during Food Allergy Awareness week. Brett is the boy who is participating in the milk allergy study at Children's. He educated his classmates and raised money for food allergy research. What a great idea to hold a gum and hat day!

The big reveal is in an upcoming video. Was the milk study successful for Brett. Will this dairy allergic child be able to eat dairy? This is one reality show I don't want to miss.

Stay tuned...

Anti-Viral Medications for the Flu

There are two anti-viral medications that are used to treat both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 strain. Relenza® is an inhaled medication that has caused issues in some people with asthma. Relenza® does contain lactose from dairy. Talk to your doctor if there is a dairy allergy diagnosis. Tamiflu is an oral medication used to treat the flu. It does contain corn starch and gelatin.

Check out the ingredients in both medications before you or your child may need them.

Children's Hospital in Boston

I recently posted videos from Children's Hospital in Boston where they are conducting a milk desensitization study. The latest installment is a grocery shopping trip with the mother of 11 year old Brett who is participating in the study. Brett has 15 different food allergies, his brother has 16- Yikes! People often say to me, "How do make food without dairy, nuts and eggs?". I've gotten to the point where it's pretty easy to avoid those foods, but when I hear about people needing to avoiding beef, chicken, turkey, nuts, eggs, soy, and so on...well, wow! Where do you begin to find good protein sources with all those restrictions?

The shopping trip shown in the video takes place at a Whole Foods Market. Take a look, you may learn a few things. I learned that Rice Dream®, a non-dairy alternative to cow's milk, contains barley which would be unsafe for celiacs and others. Who knew?

Milk Allergy Study in Boston

We've been hearing about peanut desensitization studies in the news recently. I'm thrilled to report that Children's Hospital in Boston is conducting the first ever milk desensitization study. Check out this video and follow along each week as 11 year-old Brett goes through the study.

This is great news!

Dairy-Free Treat May Cause Food Allergy Reaction

We always have a box of these Tofutti Cuties in our freezer. They taste great and my son's friends think they're eating a regular ice cream sandwich when we pull these out. I've come to learn through ELL (Eat, Learn, Live) that they've received three complaints recently about allergic reactions to these treats. In the latest incident, a child suffered an anaphylactic reaction immediately following ingestion of this product. ELL is getting the product tested now, but there is a suspicion of milk-contamination.

More disturbing is that Tofutti Brands, Inc, and their manufacturer Kemp Ice Cream, have not responded to ELL's letters following each incident. ELL states, "historically, the company has been very uncooperative and has not taken responsibility for any of the allergic reactions reported".

This is unacceptable. A food manufacturer must take responsibility for the ingredients in their product. To not even respond when a problem is reported is criminal. I will not purchase Tofutti Cuties again until the company answers these complaints and takes some accountability.

Their website is very reassuring about the practices they use to prevent cross-contamination. We need action, though, not words.

Join me in contacting Tofutti. As always, I'll keep you posted.

It's a shame, I really trusted their products...

For more food allergy information, see the Food Allergy Assistant's website.