by Jason | May 26, 2010 | Blog
I was reading a blog post today on VickiesIckies (a great blog by the way) about how some parents bring cupcakes to school for birthday celebrations which the kids with food allergies cannot eat leaving them excluded from the celebration. Sometimes the treat is brought at the last minute or without being the teacher’s prior knowledge leaving the parent of the allergic child little or no time to bring a substitute treat. The school’s answer was, “the allergic child needs to learn to deal with it”. I starting thinking about how amazing it has been in our experience (and perhaps in yours too) that kids are often much more compassionate than adults about another child’s food allergy.
For example, my daughter has a friend who became upset with her father (a good friend by the way who shared this story with us) for eating peanuts in the car because she was worried that our daughter might accidentally be exposed to the peanuts during a carpool sometime in the future. The 8-year old girl became so insistent that her father eventually pulled over and threw away his peanuts. When our child was much younger her preschool teacher once told me that from time to time, parents would send in peanut butter into their nut free classroom and the children would immediately take the “offending item” directly from their lunchboxes to the teacher saying, “I can’t have this here”. These children were three! We have heard parents tell us that their kids did not want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch because they would be playing with our kids later in the day. Maybe we are just fortunate that we have sweet friends, but I think there is something more to it than that.
I think kids are generally concerned about their food allergic friends because they love them and don’t want them to be hurt. Avoiding a particular food around their food allergic friend is their way of showing them that they love them. Parents sometimes, myself included, often look for the most convenient course of action. I will say, we are very blessed to have many adult friends that frequently bend over backwards and go far beyond the call of duty to accommodate our kids’ food allergies at their parties, for soccer snacks, etc. But, we are wondering if you have had the same experience with kids showing great compassion as it relates to your child’s food allergy?
by Jason | May 17, 2010 | Blog
In our Birthday Parties and Allergies posting, a reader left a comment stating that they make a quick cake using Duncan Hines, Coke and a microwave. I thought it was a great alternative to a traditional cake. Still want to try it though. Nevertheless, I posted this on twitter and the feedback was quick and enlightening.
Several of our twitter followers stated that they do not consider Duncan Hines safe. Calls from these followers to Duncan Hines regarding cross contamination were met with resistance and a general unhelpful attitude. One even has a blog post about it.
I relayed this story to my wife and she said to me, “Why do you think we only buy Betty Crocker?” Obviously, she has had the same experience. That being said, I think the idea of cake mix (Betty Crocker please), coke and a microwave is worth a try.
by Jason | May 15, 2010 | Blog
Our newest list, Candy, is now posted on our Safe Food List Page. When we compiled this list for Camp Riverview for Girls. I was really surprised at the variety of options available and it is a great list to give to friends and family for Halloween candy ideas.
We posted a link on Twitter to the Tootsie Company’s allergy statement where they state all of their products are peanut, tree nut and gluten free. What a great thing to remember when buying candy and their products extend beyond Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops.
Remember this list is only a guide and that you must read the labels of everything you buy. Our hope is that the list gives you some additional options to consider. Did you find anything on the list that surprised you? Are there any we missed?
by Jason | May 12, 2010 | Blog
Late last night I posted our first of hopefully many safe food lists for people with peanut and tree nut allergies. The list can be found here http://www.peanutfreelife.com/safe-food-list.
The idea for this website really came about in the last week or so when my wife (Cindy) was in the middle of compiling a list of peanut and tree nut safe foods to give to a Summer Camp that we wanted to send our daughter to this summer. The camp director was open to the idea but understandably little overwhelmed at the thought. My wife and her friend, who also has a daughter with a peanut allergy, spent many hours creating a list of snacks, candy, ice cream, cereals that were peanut and tree nut free and that were not processed in a facility with peanuts and tree nuts. The list was derived from current online sources and hours spent in a grocery store reading labels.
Cindy and her friend then created two massive gift baskets filled with some of these items mainly candy and snacks along with a binder with the food lists and labels from some of these. My wife delivered the baskets to the camp director who just happened to be in town for a food distributor show and was planning the food for the camp this year. The director was astounded at the selection of foods available and the effort that my wife and friend put into it. The camp director was speechless. We are still in the process of helping create a peanut and tree nut free camp, but we are VERY encouraged by the attitude, willingness, and kindness of the camp director.
After my wife delivered the food, she said that she wanted to create a website that would share the information she had gathered. I agreed and here we are today less than a week after she stated her desire.
We will never charge for the lists on this website that we produce. We want to be a free resource for parents, friends, schools, camps or any other organization that is trying to find a peanut and tree nut safe food whether it is for a Birthday Party or a Summer Camp. We will try to offset some of our costs through affiliate links and Google ads.
Please let us know if you have any questions about any of the lists or if you question any item on the list. Please remember that labels change as do product recipes and ingredients. You must read the label on you own for everything you buy no matter how many times you have bought it. We want these lists to show you the number of options you may have to find peanut and tree nut safe foods and think it is a great starting point for your own due diligence. If you have any foods or categories of foods that you would like for us to create a list, please send an email, leave a comment, or tweet!
by Jason | May 11, 2010 | Blog
Welcome to peanutfreelife.com! As the parent of a child with a life threatening peanut and tree nut allergy, we know how difficult it can be for someone with this allergy to feel normal as it relates to grocery shopping, eating out at restaurants and any other activities where food might be involved. We decided to create a blog that would be a resource for people with food allergies and the family to help them find foods that are safe for them to have. You might be surprised by the number of options available to you. In the next few days we will be posting a list of foods that we know are safe for our allergic child. In the meantime please feel free to send us any foods that you know of or have questions about.
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