Cupcakes for Peanut Allergy, Nut Allergy, Milk Allergy and Egg Allergy

My friend and support team leader extraordinaire, Carol shared her recent Egg-less Cupcake Experiment. She tried three different recipes for egg, milk, peanut and nut free cupcakes with varying results.
1ST PLACE: Divvies recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes had the right texture and a nice dome. Carol, did you say that the icing didn't hold up as you expected?



2ND PLACE: The Duncan Hines cake mix with a can of soda. For yellow mix add white soda, for chocolate mix add a can of dark soda. The cupcakes did not dome as good as the Divvies Recipe, but they were good for a quick recipe, or a recipe for family and friends. Basically, you don’t add any other ingredients but the cake mix and the can of soda, but apparently take a few sips out of the soda first as it doesn’t need too much liquid.



3RD PLACE: The Duncan Hines cake mix with Ener-G Egg Replacer which you can buy from www.allergygrocer.com and other specialty markets. The cupcakes tasted fine, and domed a little better than the soda can recipe, but they were VERY fragile. They were separating from the liners when I was trying to get them out.

Carol asks if anyone knows how to make the Divvies recipe for yellow cupcakes. Anyone? Anyone?

Gluten-free, Peanut-free, Dairy-free Overnight Summer Camp

At the moment, I've resigned myself to the idea that my kids will probably not be leaving home for extended periods of time until... college. Food allergies are not the only reason but certainly play a big factor in my thinking this way. But when I heard about a gluten, peanut and dairy-free overnight camp, I was excited.

Wildwood is a popular summer camp in the Kansas City area. This summer, they are trying out a week-long allergen-free session. For this week, the camp's kitchen will be dedicated to gluten-free, peanut-free and dairy-free diets and emphasizing fruits, vegetables, beans and gluten-free grains. Currently, the plans are for girls only. If it's successful, they plan to expand it next year to include boys as well.

Wow! I would love to see more programs like this that give food allergy families safe learning opportunities. So if this camp can fit into your summer plans, please consider it. Visit the camp's website and ask to speak to the camp director, Robin.

And pass along the information to anyone you know who could participate in the program. It's success will only inspire others....

Colin and His Robot

As food allergy parents, it is understandable that we get wrapped up in the anxiety of trying to keep our children safe. So I am grateful for those occasions when someone can contribute something positive to our situation. A useful tip or recipe or an inspiring anecdote can feel like sunshine on a cold, rainy day.

Thank you, Colin, for your marvelous imagination and authenticity. Maybe one day, you'll make your invention a reality.

My Robot RDA5

by Colin

I made a robot. His name is
Robot Dee Alex, or RDA5.
The five is because I’m 5.

He is made of three boxes
and some tape.

I feed him food and he can tell me
when my food has something I’m allergic to.

A few of the buttons are for
changing things into different colors.

He has a computer
and a keyboard.

He has three lights. One is for
emergencies. One is for when
good things happen. And one is
in case the robot is broken.

He has oil to help him move.

He is a cool robot.

Peanut Allergy and Airplanes

With dear grandparents, aunts and uncles on the other side of the earth, airplane travel is a regular occurrence in our family. Even though Tanner has a severe peanut allergy and tree nut allergies, we can't let that stop us from staying connected. Compared to 14-hour plane rides, domestic travel is a no brainer! Every few months, we find ourselves banking more frequent flyer miles. Of course, it is with measured safety precautions that we prepare for every trip. For the parents that are apprehensive of airplane travel with food allergies, here are a few tips:

• Pick the right airline. Obviously for us, Southwest is out of the question. We are relatively comfortable with American although they do serve/offer snacks with nuts on their flights.
• Call ahead and ask about their food allergy policy and don't hesitate to inform your ticket agent and your flight attendant about your special needs.
• Be prepared with medication. Along with our auto injectors, we carry a note from the doctor and chewable Benadryl tablets. In our years of traveling, I've only had security check the Epi-pen once and only because I volunteered it.
• We bring our own snacks for the plane and wipes to clean off airplane trays or tables at the airports.
• We cover our seat with a Plane Sheet (see photo above) and now that Tanner is four, we remind him not to be rooting around in the seat pocket or floor. Sometimes he actually listens!

A previous post from last year contains more detailed tips for traveling with food allergies.

Everyone's Gone Nuts About Food Allergies

Okay, first there was Meredith Broussard's "exaggerated threat of food allergies" article in Harper's magazine and now the segment on New York Public Radio. Listen to it here:



I've been totally avoiding this story because... well, it's disturbing. And I've seriously considered whether addressing it is just adding fuel to its fire. My readers certainly don't need to be convinced of the reality or seriousness of food allergies so this is hardly the forum for launching a dissertation citing the statistics to counter Broussard's article. I think that Gina at Allergy Moms is doing an excellent job voicing the reaction of the food allergy community.

What I find interesting is that the pervasiveness of food allergies is an issue at all. In my opinion, we have already decided as a country and as a culture that the special needs of a few warrant the consideration of all. I was actually thinking about this today as I used the bathroom at a coffee shop with my daughter. We had just read Aunt Katie's Visit, a kids book in which a woman with a disability shared with an elementary school classroom what it was like to be paralyzed from the chest down. So my 6-year old noted how the handicap restroom was extra big to fit a wheelchair. I pointed out that the toilet was higher and that there was a handlebar to make it safer and easier for someone to use the potty. The added thought and expense of this chain restaurant's bathroom was not shouldered by choice. It is mandated by law!

Why are all public buildings handicap accessible? Why do parking lots have handicap spaces? You know, the ones that come with a hefty fine lest some inconsiderate citizen decide to inconvenience a truly disabled person by taking their legally designated spot. These are all accommodations for the relatively small group of people who have special ambulatory needs. And how did this come to be? Without details, I'm going to guess that there was some issue regarding rights to access. At least, Aunt Katie says, "... it makes me sad when I can't go to a store or a restaurant because they don't have a ramp."

Well, the same is true for people with severe food allergies. Just like chef Ming Na has said, "If you own a restaurant, you can't turn away someone with a food allergy. It's unconstitutional." People with severe food allergies still have a right to go to school and to eat in restaurants and be in public places (like public playgrounds!) without risking their life. I guess if I were to expand on this parallel, not only would peanut products be banned from schools but there would be a hefty fine, especially considering that peanuts aren't just an inconvenience but are actually life-threatening to children who have a constitutional right to attend that school.

Since no one can deny that food allergy is an issue (take a gander at over 100 responses to the radio program on the WNYC page if you are in doubt!), the exact extent of its pervasiveness is really irrelevant. I think the issue is how we, as a society, respond to the needs of people who live with food allergies. If we are being consistent, then even this question has already been addressed.

Gifts for Families with Food Allergies

Food allergies and holidays are like Frosty and sunshine... not the ideal combination! The holiday season adds an element of stress because of the higher risk of exposure for our little guy. But I want to change that association to a more positive one. Julie had a great suggestion, an unusual holiday gift for a loved one with food allergies would be to enroll in the Food Allergy Study at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

This study will involve families WITH AND WITHOUT food allergies and has several goals: 1) to better understand the role of genetics and the environment in food allergies, 2) to educate doctors and patients, 3) to advocate at the local, state and national level for food allergy awareness and resources and, 4) To aid doctors in developing more effective prevention and treatment strategies.

Participation requirements are simple: a questionnaire, a clinical evaluation, a blood sample and a skin test. For more information please contact our Project Coordinator, Ms. Deanna Caruso at (312) 573-7755 or dcaruso@childrensmemorial.org.

And, in doing our part for the team this holiday season, Check My Tag will gift 10 Safewear Shirts/Daydresses for families of toddlers with food allergies who enroll in the study and let me know.

Cool Peanut Allergy Labels

If anyone picked up the November issue of Parents magazine, you may have seen this cool Peanut Allergy alert product by InchBug! Non-adhesive, reusable labels for bottles, sippy cups and sport bottles. Like a silicon bracelet for your kid's cups, stretching to snap over the cup and letting people know to steer clear of any allergens. Genuis!

Simple Process for Making Allergen-Free Peanuts?

Last year, I attended a lecture at the Danforth Plant Science Center where Dr. Eliot Herman explained that the proteins in peanuts that triggered reactions accounted for 80% of the peanut, making genetic modification as a treatment for peanut allergy very tricky. According to a Science Daily article yesterday, a researcher at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has invented a way to make allergen-free peanuts, without degrading their taste or quality. Obviously, the release did not share the scientific basis for his invention but Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna's tests showed 100% inactivation of peanut allergens, with negative test results on human serums from severely allergic people. Ahmedna's work is funded through a United States Agency for International Development grant and he is working on applying his process to remove allergens from other foods.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!