If you have food allergies, you’ve likely been told that your primary strategy to manage your condition is scrupulous avoidance of your allergen. Many of us have been hoping for better drug or other management techniques that might allow us to have the offending food from time to time without significant consequences. While there are some natural therapies that are reported to help with the effects of a food-related reaction, avoidance remains the primary way of protecting your health.
Today’s supermarket has a huge selection of foods. More and more of these foods cater to the allergic. However, you have to become an expert label reader in order to buy any kind of prepared food with confidence. Depending on your allergy, you might have to recognize a host of ingredients that are made from that allergen.
For instance, if you are allergic to dairy, you’ll have to watch for a number of ingredients in any prepared food, including caseinates, casein products, whey in any form, any kind of cream flavouring, caramel colour or caramel flavouring, lactalbumin, lactic acid, lactoferrin, lactoglobulin, lactose, high-protein flour, hydrolysates, natural butter flavour, natural egg flavour, Opta or Simplesse.
Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list either: new food fractions and flavourings are developed by the food industry all the time!
There are many foods that contain milk and are not obvious to those without allergies. If a food is marked with “D” or “DE” kosher label, the food contains milk. For that matter, who would think of processed meats as a likely source of milk proteins? In fact, many foods that list the generic terms “seasonings” contain milk or milk fractions in the seasoning formulation.
Your safest bet if you have food allergies is always to prepare your food yourself from whole food ingredients that you buy or make yourself. If you need to buy a prepared food and are unsure of an ingredient or whether the food could have been cross-contaminated by your allergen, call the company! Most food companies are more than happy to answer allergy-related questions. If they aren’t, you shouldn’t be buying their product.
A great strategy for avoiding your allergen yet still enjoying the types of food that you love is to know your substitutions. A great example is the egg allergy. Many baked goods become instantly off limit with an egg allergy. Since egg keeps many baked goods moist, many find that egg-free baking is either dry or lacks that satisfying chewy texture.
In this case, you have a number of options for your baking. One substitution is 1.5 tablespoons of oil plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder for each egg in the recipe. You can also use ground flax: 2 tablespoons ground flax plus 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder with 3 tablespoons of water will equal one egg. In fact, you can even use ½ of a mashed ripe banana plus ¼ teaspoon baking powder for an egg. If you aren’t feeling adventurous, you can buy powdered egg replacer and follow the directions on the package.
One last tip: get to know the brands that really target the needs of those with allergies. One excellent brand is Enjoy Life. These products are certified to be free of the eight most common food allergens including wheat (and gluten), dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish. For those times when you want to just grab a box of cereal or a cookie and don’t want to have to think about it, such companies are just what you need!
