Homemade Candy Corn and Halloween Goodies

 It's that time of year again! The witch/ghost/bat decorations are out of the attic and adorning the house and I've pulled out some favorite seasonal recipes like homemade candy corn and pumpkin apple muffins. 
 
 I recently had the opportunity to participate in a webinar with Jo Frost in which she shared her experience with her own food allergies, as well as some Halloween tips for food allergy families. Here are some of her seasonal ideas:

• focus on the non-food festivities like mask making, pumpkin decorating, face paint, spooky scavenger hunts.
• remember that different sized treats may contain different ingredients. If you can't read the label, assume it's unsafe (that piece of advice is mine).
• give your child something to eat before going out trick or treating or to a party. That removes some of the temptation to eat without thinking or because of hunger.

For more information about Jo's work on behalf of food allergy families, check out 25 Years of EpiPen, and while you're there, upload a photo showing how you carry your EpiPen and Mylan will donate $25 to leading allergy non-profit groups. 

Peanut Food Challenge

We recently went to the allergist for a peanut challenge. While my 11-year-old has tested positive (RAST test) for peanut protein, he has never actually had peanut. To prepare for the test, I made a peanut butter candy by melting safe chocolate chips, spreading it in a candy mold and putting a layer of peanut butter on top. I then added another layer of peanut butter and refrigerated it until it hardened.

We arrived at the challenge and all his vitals (heart, skin, breathing) were checked. The first level of the challenge was to break open one of the candies so the allergist could put a tiny amount of the peanut butter on a tongue depressor and place some on his tongue. Within minutes, he began complaining that his lip "felt funny". Sure enough, his upper lip was swelling and had developed a hive. We called for the doctor who gave him a healthy dose of Benadryl and watched him to see if further intervention (steroids, epinephrine) was needed. His lip began to return to normal size in a few minutes. We were asked to wait in the office for an additional 30 minutes.

No further medication was required.

While the challenge was labelled "unsuccessful", we learned several things:

• he is allergic to peanut
• he did not have any breathing issues related to the ingestion of a small amount of peanut
• the small amount of peanut he ingested did not require the use of epinephrine

So, avoidance of all things peanut continues. The allergist did share that their office will begin offering peanut immunotherapy in the coming months.I am excited about this area of new treatment and plan to explore it further.

I'll keep you posted.

Baked Milk and Egg Food Challenges

We met with the allergist last week. At the top of my list was to talk about food challenges for baked egg and milk. What I found out was quite encouraging.

She told me they've done many challenges for these foods over the past few months and nearly all have been successful. There are now dozens of children and adults in their practice who are successfully eating foods that contain milk and egg that has been heated to a high temperature. The most recent research, she said, is showing that those who eat baked milk and egg on a regular basis may get rid of all milk and egg allergy.

Woot!

We're going to give it a go this summer. She wants to start with egg first, using the angel food cake recipe used at Mt. Sinai for these type of challenges. It contains 12 eggs and will be baked at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. I'm a little nervous after a nerve-wracking and unsuccessful egg challenge a year ago, but I am feeling hopeful.

I'll keep you posted!