Peanut Allergy and Pasta Sauce Brands, Plus a Nut-Free Sauce Recipe

When you begin scrutinizing food labels for potential allergens, you never know what you're getting in for. Because current FDA laws only require actual ingredients to be listed, cross contact info sometimes makes it to the label, and sometimes it doesn't. Calling the company and doing some "food detecting" may be in order. The information you uncover (or don't uncover) will likely have an impact on what brand you toss in your shopping cart.

No matter what type of prepared food I buy, I like to see what else is offered by that brand, in a similar product. For example if I see jarred pesto sauce (may contain nuts) sitting next to red sauce, I may not buy that brand before placing a call to the company to check for cross-contact concerns.

As someone who likes to cook sauce from scratch (I find it relaxing to make sauce, don't know why but I do), it's rare that I buy pasta sauce these days. However, some nights that's all us busy families have time for and there are some really good-tasting prepared sauces out there.

Some readers have written to me about Ragu pasta sauce and apparently there was some concern it may contain tree nuts due to a few jars with this warning. I have contacted Ragu (as have many readers) and they assured all of us that their labels would reflect cross-contact concerns and that the plain sauce is safe unless otherwise marked. However, please contact them if you have further questions. We all know how quickly things can change.

I put the pasta sauce question to my Twitter followers who deal with peanut and tree nut allergies. Some of you liked Muir Glen and Gia Russa brands, while others went with Emeril's Organic brand.

At the supermarket the other day, I saw that Prego, Barilla, Amy's Organic, Classico, Bertolli and Mezzeta did not carry nut allergy warnings, along with the other brands we've listed already. If you use these brands, have you ever called the companies and what have they said? Let us know!

Besides being fresher-tasting, a homemade sauce is a great option because we know exactly what goes into it.

Here's my recipe for my favorite pasta sauce. It does contain organic beef; if you want to go meatless, this recipe is still good. :) Just be sure to add plenty of fresh parsley and basil. Also, as with any pasta sauce, the longer you simmer this, the better it gets. It's even better the next day. My family loves this recipe! Try it out this Valentine's Day. They'll think you're amazing.

Nut-Free Mom's Super-Quick Bolognese Sauce
1 lb. ground beef (I use Laura's Organic ground round)
A couple tablespoons olive oil
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp (or less if you like less heat) red pepper flakes
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 cup low-sodium beef broth (I use Swanson's organic beef broth or stock)
1/3 cup red wine; alternatively, use orange juice
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (I use Hunt's Natural)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I use Hunt's)
About 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or to taste
1/4 cup shredded basil or a couple tsp dried
1 tsp dried oregano

Heat olive oil in pan and add beef. Season meat with black pepper and brown in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, crushed red pepper and oregano. While this is cooking, grate onion into meat mixture using a hand grater. Cook a few minutes to soften the onion, then add broth and wine or OJ. Stir pan and deglaze, incorporating any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add tomatoes and half the parsley and basil. Stir again, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. (You can do this while you boil water and cook pasta). Right before serving, sprinkle with rest of parsley and basil. Serve with your favorite pasta.

Food Allergies and Valentine's Day: Make It Sweet

What is Valentine's Day without chocolate? If you haven't ordered yet, you'll want to quickly snap up some nut-free treats from Vermont Nut Free Chocolate, pronto! From truffles to heart-shaped candy, it's all good and 100% nut-free, facility, products, everything..

Peanut Free Planet is another online retailer with a wide variety of treats perfect for Valentine's Day. I recently ordered some Seth Ellis Chocolatier SunButter Cups from Peanut Free Planet and they just arrived! Can't wait to dig in...but I'll hold off until after school. Don't want my kids to miss out!

Enjoy Life Foods offers this yummy allergy-friendly Valentine's Day recipe you can try with your family. I found pink Jet Puffed Brand (by Kraft Foods) marshmallows at my local supermarket (marshmallows are used in the above recipe). They contain gelatin but no egg whites for those of you dealing with dairy and egg allergies as well as nut allergies. My kids loved them--the marshmallows are even heart shaped.

What about school parties? Food is offered at school on Valentine's Day for many of us. For example, our school is offering an ice cream blast on Monday to celebrate the holiday. I was given advance notice from the teacher, which was great. However, I will be putting my Cuisinart into action and sending my daughter with her own ice cream that day.

What are some good non-edible treats to suggest for an allergy-friendly classroom? Every school kid likes pencils, stickers and other non-edibles. If another parent wants suggestions for edible treats, Smarties brand candies and Dum Dum Suckers are two kid favorites that are free of the top 8 food allergens. These are easily found in the supermarket, so that's a bonus. Stay away from Brach's conversation hearts (nut allergy warnings) and all chocolate treats; chocolate is just too risky for nut allergies and kids with dairy allergies can't have it, either.

For more tips on a safe, sweet and successful Valentine's Day class party, check out this link to my previous post on the topic!

Food Allergies in The New Yorker: What Restaurants Don't Know Can Kill You

I received my latest New Yorker magazine dated February 7 (with a caricature of Mayor Bloomberg on the cover) and it contains an article that is causing a lot of buzz around the food allergy community. "The Peanut Puzzle" explores theories on what may be causing food allergies and some of the research that is being done to desensitize allergic kids. (You cannot read the entire article online unless you are registered; you can find it at your local library or magazine stand, though.)

After a careful review of this article, I'm very mixed about it, mainly because it ends with a supposedly successful desensitization to milk and it gives the impression (if you don't know all of the research and details) that food allergies are pretty simple to cure. The article never explains that desensitization is not an actual cure, that is, removing the allergy. All that desensitization will do is raise a person's threshold.

The article does not reveal any brand new research: the "hygiene hypothesis" is mentioned, as is the low rate of peanut allergy in Israeli babies, the theory being that this is due to an infant food containing peanuts. Both of these theories have been out there for awhile. Leading allergists Hugh Sampson, M.D. and Scott Sicherer, M.D. are both quoted in the article. One striking thing that they both mention is that they don't know, and that no allergist really knows what is causing food allergies.

One thing this New Yorker article accomplishes, however, is that it brings home some startling facts about public perception of food allergies, especially with regard to restaurants. In a study that Dr. Sicherer conducted using 100 restaurant workers (managers, chefs, waiters) in the NYC and Long Island regions, whopping percentages of those surveyed had potentially deadly misinformation about food allergies. More than a third surveyed thought that food allergens can be "killed" by frying a food at high temperatures and a fourth believed that small amounts of food allergens aren't harmful. A fourth also were misinformed about cross-contact; they believed that simply removing allergenic foods from a finished dish (taking walnuts out of a salad and then serving the salad, for example) would not be harmful to an allergic person.

Despite being wrong on these accounts, 75% of the workers surveyed believed that they knew how to serve an allergic diner a safe meal. Wowsa. That scares me to the core, especially because incidents in restaurants account for about half of all fatal food allergy reactions.

Is it any wonder that I get more than a little antsy in restaurants? I share this information because many of you reading this right now are brand-new to food allergies. Because food allergies get so much media attention lately, you may wrongly believe that restaurants understand how to keep your allergic family member safe. Many don't. You need to be really cautious. For example, my family avoids restaurants where a lot of dishes serving nuts are on the menu. We won't allow our daughter to eat a salad if other salads on the menu contain nuts or nut dressings (the stats I list above back us up on this one.)

That's not to say that you can never eat in a restaurant. But don't shoot the messenger here, if you care for an allergic child or have allergies yourself, your carefree restaurant days of breezing in and out of establishments are over. Do your homework, read menus, make phone calls. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Learn to cook--it's safer.

I may not agree with everything in this article, but one thing I do agree with. The author states that "People with food allergies live under a constant threat in a society that is still poorly informed about the condition."

For information on handling food allergies in restaurants, please check out some of my former blog posts:

Check online menus before you eat

A great restaurant experience

A bad restaurant experience

Please also visit Allerdine and Allergy Eats for more helpful dining out info!

Food Allergies and Travel: My Top Tips

Apparently, the snow and cold have gotten everyone thinking about sunny vacation getaways! I've gotten many questions lately about safe travel with nut allergies and a lot of you are prepared to be exotic, because I've also had a lot of questions about travel to foreign countries with food allergies.

The main thing to remember is that you really have to be proactive when traveling with food allergies and you also have to be realistic. It doesn't mean you should stay home, but know that whatever you would do here in the U.S. is what you need to do in a foreign country: Communicate about your allergies at any eating establishments and avoid ones that look or feel "sketchy," bring your medication, bring some of your own food and just be ultra-cautious in general. Don't assume they know about cross-contact and check with food servers, managers and chefs when you dine out. Also, be aware that language barriers may be a problem. If traveling out of the country, you need to do extra homework about restaurants and available food in advance.

Here are some more tips on deciding if a vacation destination is allergy-friendly:

Try to get lodgings that have a small kitchenette or at least a refrigerator. Relying on restaurant food 24/7 can take a toll on families trying to manage food allergies. Having the option of serving allergic family members at least some meals or snacks prepared by you is going to cut down on risk factors and give you less to worry about.

Don't go anywhere too remote. If an allergic reaction happens, how soon can your child get to a hospital? This should be a factor in planning where you will go and where you will stay during your trip.

Be prepared with chef cards for restaurants. FAAN and AllerNotes offer chef cards (also in languages other than English) which can be really helpful whether you are traveling abroad or staying in the U.S.

Will this destination be easy or difficult in terms of avoiding food allergens? If you want to relax and have fun, you definitely don't want to be facing a food allergy minefield each day. For this reason, my family needs to think about the local food. In the American South, peanuts, tree nuts and peanut oil are used--a lot. If we're going there, we need to be extra careful. Think about local foods and if you can find enough safe places to eat at that destination.

No matter where you go, you can never take a vacation from vigilance. It's tempting to throw caution to the winds on vacation. After all, you're there to relax. However, planning ahead with regard to what to feed a food-allergic child means never letting your guard down. The more prepared you are before you leave, the more fun you'll have.

FAAN has some very reassuring and helpful tips about dealing with airline travel. Please read it, including the sidebar links. You'll find tips on everything from what to do before you fly to how to deal with the flight crew if things go wrong. Also, as most medical experts agree, the risk of an in-flight reaction is low if you don't actually ingest peanuts or tree nuts. Everyone should read this before booking your next flight. Here are a few highlights:

Bring your own snacks. Don't let allergic individuals eat the airline food. Ever. That's the best way to stay safe.

Try to take the first flight of the day or as early as possible. Early in the day, the flights are cleaner. Planes are not thoroughly cleaned between flights, but they are overnight.

Make your reservation over the phone and speak to a live person; don't book online. You have a better chance of having your allergy needs put in your reservation order if you talk to a rep.

Ask to board early, so that you can clean your seating area. A note from your doctor would be helpful here and be polite, but firm. There's no reason they shouldn't accommodate this request; put on your best smile and go for it.

Bring something to cover the seat. A beach towel or something like it would be good. This will offer an extra layer of protection from peanut residue.

Readers, what have your experiences been? What has helped you while traveling? Let us know!

Food Allergies and Groundhog Day, the Movie: Is There a Connection

We'll we're officially snowed in today, here in Chicago, and ironically it is also Groundhog Day. For those of you who've seen the classic Bill Murray film "Groundhog Day" from the 1990s, you'll remember that being snowed in following a Pennsylvania storm is what prompted the plot of this film. Bill Murray's character had a bad attitude, was cynical and just generally not very nice. He was definitely a glass half-empty person and all around miserable. He didn't enjoy the little things in life much less the big things and his attitude affected not only his entire life, but the lives of those around him. Ultimately he was stuck living the same day, over and over again. However, when he changed his way of thinking, eventually, he was able to have a positive and bright future. His attitude was the key.

Why am I thinking about this movie with regard to food allergies? Well, it struck me this morning that for a lot of us, (including me, at times, I plead guilty) dealing with food allergies can feel like "Groundhog Day." After all, every day you're living with food, potentially unsafe situations and finding yourself having to constantly explain, over and over again, how to keep your child safe.

Can it get depressing at times? Of course. Sometimes we deal with this stress by getting angry at others or by having a negative attitude towards new people and experiences. Like the Bill Murray character, we think we've seen it all, done it all and may expect the worst from other people because we've been burned before.

Like anything else in life, attitude is key with food allergies. Sometimes, situations or events, like a food allergy death in the news or even an insensitive comment can get you down. But if you view living with food allergies as just part of life and even try to see the positives such as healthier eating for the whole family, you and your kids becoming more compassionate of others, even learning to be more assertive--you will get a better attitude and it will get easier. Also, each time you have a new experience and it turns out well, you'll get more confidence about you and your child's ability to handle life-threatening food allergies. If you are never open to new experiences, your child won't be prepared to life a more full life independently and you definitely don't want that.

Trying new experiences does require caution when you deal with a food allergy that can be life-threatening. You should never take unnecessary risks with food. However, if you are careful and make safe food provisions, you can open up your family's life and experiences. Food allergies just mean that you need to be careful, but you can still live your life.

Happy Groundhog Day, campers!