Food Allergies and The Fourth of July! Safety Tips plus 3 Great Allergy-Friendly Food Resources!

While there is a lot of fun to be had at any holiday, holidays can increase food allergy risk. So the best defense is a good offense. Be prepared!

To help you enjoy a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, I'm sharing an information-packed post I wrote about the Fourth last year.

I also want to share a grill tip. If you are at a public park or somewhere where shared grills are in use, use some heavy duty aluminum foil on the grill to protect it from cross-contact with allergens left behind. The biggest "shared grill" culprit for nut allergies would be marinades (which may contain peanut oil, other tree nut oils, peanut butter, etc.), so when you place the foil on the grill before cooking, you protect your child's food from anything that may have been cooked on it before. Simple to do and an extra step to minimize risk--always a good thing!

Check the inside of the grill before cooking, too; I've seen peanut shells at the bottom of grills.

If you are going on a road trip, check out this post and also consider taking along some safe prepared treats. I'm happy to tell you about three of my favorites, who also happen to be sponsors of this site.

Sweet Alexis nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free bakery. Order fresh cookies, banana bread and so much more from this amazing bakery that is preservative-free and deliciously wholesome. You won't know anything is "missing" from these truly wonderful treats.

Take a minute and vote for Sweet Alexis by clicking this link. They can win a grant that will allow them to expand their business--and we all need businesses like these. Thank you!

Skeeter Snacks nut-free treats. These new nut-free treats come in convenient packs of two with three flavors: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal and Skeeterdoodle (you know, those old-fashioned Snickerdoodle cookies, with cinnamon).  These are peanut and tree nut-free ONLY, a nice option if you have only nut allergy concerns. The cookies are crisp, yummy andfresh-tasting and were a hit with all of us at home. This business is run by two food allergy dads who wanted to offer their allergic kids a safe snack. Visit the web site to find out more.

Tasterie. Are you traveling? Order a box from Tasterie to take along on the road. Tasterie boxes are custom-made to fit your specific allergies, plus orders are geared towards healthful eating. This service was created by a physician with the assistance of a nutrionist; click the link to learn more. Check out the coupon code on their ad--you can save 10% off of your order.

One more thing; I just contributed a "Road Trip" food article to the current summer issue of Allergic Living magazine with lots of great allergy-friendly treats you may not even know about. Order your copy by visiting their web site.

I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy holiday with your families and friends!

Peanut Allergy News: Nut-Free Super Bowl Treats from SunButter

Who's attending a Super Bowl party this weekend or just watching with family at home? Me, too! Either way, snacks are a big part of watching this game.

If you are attending a party and either you and/or your hosts are looking for peanut-free, tree-nut free snacks, I wanted to share this list of Super Bowl snacks that was sent to me recently by SunButter sunflower seed spread. The spread is peanut-free, tree nut-free and gluten-free.

SunButter Sea Salt Caramel Corn is addicting, plus gluten-free and vegan!

Sunny Muddy Buddies to crunch your nerves away!

SunButter Chicken Wings! Adapt this by cutting chicken breasts into bite-size bites. (Increase the sauce ingredients by 1.5x as much, since you’ll be covering more surface area. Add some BBQ sauce if you’d like.) Your kids will not even notice the fruits and veggies you sneak into these yummy creations.

SunButter Hummus – a perfect dip for veggies and chips!

See more nut-free Super Bowl menu ideas

On another snack note, what about those Chex Mix snack mixes that everybody makes with peanuts? Make yours without. It's still good--and you can start a new tradition. Here's a nut-free Chex Mix snack recipe I found at the blog Finding Joy in my Kitchen.

Remember, with any ingredients mentioned here or that you choose to use, please check the labels for allergen info.

What are some of your favorite nut-free Super Bowl snacks? Let us know and leave your recipes if you like!

And may the best team win! :)

Nut-Free Pretzel Bakery Kim & Scott's Introduce a New Gluten-Free Gourmet Pretzel!

When Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels contacted me about their new Gluten-Free Pretzels, I was very interested to try them. I've been a fan of Kim & Scott's for years and have enjoyed their pretzels, available in the frozen section at the supermarket (check their web site for stores) and also fresh from their nut-free bakery in Chicago called Cafe Twist, which I visit often with my family. You can read a review of that restaurant here.

My family avoids all baked goods that are nut-free, but because we don't cope with either celiac disease or wheat allergy, we have not sought out gluten-free baked goods. I was curious to see what these would taste like and what my kids would think. They are serious fans of the "regular" Kim & Scott's pretzels so how would they feel about gluten-free?

Turns out that they LOVED them. My youngest daughter ate her first gluten-free Bavarian pretzel as an after school snack and that one was soon followed by her second. I told her that it was gluten-free and asked if she could tell the difference. She said no. I grabbed a bite of my own pretzel. Amazingly, to me these taste like Kim & Scott's regular Bavarian pretzels (my personal favorite). If anything, they are slightly sweeter with a very slightly different texture than the wheat variety. But if you were to give me a gluten-free Kim & Scott's pretzel and not tell me, I don't think I would have known the difference. In a word: delicious.

My oldest daughter is the one with the nut-allergy, so she has always appreciated the nut-free aspects of Kim & Scott's pretzels and she informed me that "Kim & Scott's makes gluten-free taste good." I heartily agree.

It is very difficult to find products that are both gluten-free AND made in a nut-free facility. How wonderful that there is now a great new snack option for those of us who need nut-free bakery items as well as gluten-free.

If you would like more information about this product or other Kim & Scott's products, please visit their web site for details.

FTC note: I received food samples, but no $$ compensation for this review.

Ian's Natural Foods---Nut-Free Snacks!!

Recently I was contacted by Ian's Natural Foods, a food manufacturer that specializes in organic, gluten-free and allergy-free foods.

I received two sample packs of their Fruit-a-Bits crispy fruit snacks to try. In size and shape, they reminded me of the candy "Nerds" but they had a crispy, fruity flavor that wasn't overly sweet.

My kids were each handed a bag when they got home from school and the snacks disappeared shortly thereafter. I take it that they liked them! In fact, my youngest daughter told me that "they're nice and fruity." The company suggested that they would make a good ice cream or yogurt topping as well and I could also see them as a good, nut-free choice for mixing up your own nut-free snack mix.

If you're looking to avoid chemicals and such in your kids' snacks, Ian's snacks contain no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.

The best part? Ian's Fruit-a-Bits are made in a tree nut- and peanut-free facility.

I'm always happy to find a nut-free snack or treat choice for my family and I love the fact that Ian's is organic. I hate giving my kids regular fruit snacks because they're loaded with chemicals and they stick to their teeth. Not so with these. The texture was much less "tooth-adhering."

You can find these Ian's Natural Snacks at natural foods stores, Whole Foods and many supermarkets. Ian's has a store locator on their web site so chances are you can find their variety of foods near you.

See what you think and let me know!

Healthy Nut-Free Snacks for Kids--from OnLaGrange.com

Welcome, http://www.onlagrange.com/ readers! If you're looking for the continuation of my article that appeared in the most recent issue of www.onlagrange.com, follow this link for a complete list of healthy snack options.

And to all of my readers, look for a new post soon!

Healthy, Nut-Free Ideas for School Snack Time

My nut-allergic daughter attends an elementary school that permits a mid-morning snack from home--either eaten in the classroom or on the playground, weather permitting. As you can imagine, I've had to do some fancy footwork to make sure that the allergy risk to her is minimal with regards to this snack. The teachers have been helpful in this task and last Friday, our child's teacher sent a note home asking that the mid-morning snack be both healthy and nut-free.


In my experience, sheer numbers make it more likely that a classroom goes nut-free. For example, this year, 3 other students in my daughter's classroom alone (not counting the rest of her grade level) have a peanut/tree nut allergy. One child also has a dairy allergy. So the class is taking many extra precautions such as more frequent hand-washing and also limiting certain foods.


I realize that this can be difficult for other parents to comply with if they have no knowledge of food allergies. To help out, I am planning to share a short list of "nut-free" snacks with the teacher (and by this I mean they don't contain any nuts in their ingredients list) that can be eaten by everyone. As always, I welcome more suggestions from all of you, but here's my short list:

- Fruit. If you child likes it peeled and cut up and you're short on time, you can even buy prepared fruit slices or chunks at most supermarkets. Check out the produce section for varieties of pre-sliced fruit.


- Enjoy Life snacks. Enjoy Life provides allergy-free foods that taste great even if you don't have an allergy and this product is available at many more supermarkets than it used to be. Enjoy Life is sold at Whole Foods but also now at many of the larger supermarket chains. Plus, it's healthy!

- Whole grain cereals (nut-free). Many of these are good even eaten dry--Cheerios and the newer Multi-Grain Cheerios are favorites in our family.


- Rice crackers or mini rice cakes. Check the labels but many of these don't contain nuts.

- Small boxes of unsweetened raisins. They satisfy a sweet tooth but are loaded with iron and give an energy boost without sugar.