Allergy Free Diets - Don't Panic!

Getting the news that you or a family member has a food allergy or maybe a whole raft of food allergies might well producing a sinking feeling if you do the cooking!

Preparing meals to be without some essential ingredients may seem to be impossible.

What do you do if they are allergic to some of the big 8 food allergens; wheat, milk, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, nuts and peanuts?

Well, the first piece of advice is, "Don't panic!" and the second is simply to prepare other recipes. How you do the latter is a matter of family politics. Will the rest of the family like to try the new recipes or insist on their usual fare. This needs careful handling and tact.

Finding foods without some of the top 8 allergens may be difficult at first. Often an ingredient may be not listed on the label but included in another that is listed. Sometimes a trace of nuts is present in many foods prepared in the same packaging plant simply by being present in trace quantities on food conveyor belts or chutes or even in the air. Not all allergic people are that sensitive to trace amounts but some are and only an Allergy specialist can tell you how sensitive the patient is.

The general strategy to follow is that of substitution. And sometimes some lateral thinking can come up with a workable answer.

Wheat will exclude most bread and pasta but bread and pasta can be made without wheat. Gluten free does not mean "wheat free" because gluten is only one part of the wheat, although it is probably the part most allergy patient are allergic to.

Being allergic to milk does not automatically mean that all dairy foods are banned. Cow's milk is different from goat's milk and organic milk may possibly be tolerated when standard non organic milk is not tolerated. Milk may be swapped with many options including drinks made from soy, rice, nuts and many others. Some of these may be made of other foods to which you or your family member may be allergic to. But there are many options and I'm sure you will find one that works.

In addition being milk allergic does not mean being allergic to yogurt or to cheese. These are totally different in structure and may be tolerated even when milk is not. Only proper allergy testing will make this clear.