Allergic?

Have you ever noticed that those people who have food allergies always seem to have the same ones? I mean in my short life of 18 years I have met probably five to ten people who are lactose intolerant and probably just as many people allergic to nuts. However I have met only a few people allergic to things like cherry flavoring or tomatoes. Though this may seem like a coincidence it actually is not. According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network there are eight foods that account for 90% of all food allergies. It may be important to know a little about each in case you need to cook for or order food for someone affected by these allergens. Of the most common are:

Milk:

It's fortunate if you're allergic to milk (well, not that fortunate) because its easy to substitute for. Often times when people don't have milk they will already naturally make the substitution, without any unwanted repercussions in the taste of the food. For example using water in hot chocolate instead of milk, or even in oatmeal.

However some things that one who is allergic to milk needs to be aware of is the fact that it may hide slyly in a product that you wouldn't ever consider would have milk in it. This includes being wary of canned tuna (some brands include casein, a milk protein used in many foods as a binding agent) and steak, which is sometimes buttered in restaurants to add flavor.

Eggs:


Eggs are an easy substitute because lately with vegan diets becoming more popular, its necessary to find alternatives for eggs, especially in baking. A few of the recipes for egg substitute are as follow:

• 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 T. liquid, 1 T. vinegar
• 1 tsp. yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 T. water, 1 1/2 T. oil, 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 packet gelatin, 2 T. warm water. Do not mix until ready to use.

Be careful of the foam toppings on coffees, some brands of egg substitutes (as they sometimes contain egg white) and of course pastas.

Peanuts

On products that contain peanuts a warning is listed on the packaging, which could mean that there might not be peanuts in it but that it's processed on machinery that also processes peanuts. One more thing that may slip past people trying to avoid peanuts is Arachis oil, which is just peanut oil under another name.

Tree nuts

This category includes most other nuts that you would be familiar with, including cashews, walnuts, pecans and almonds. Something to watch out for would be hackysacks or beanbags that use crushed nutshells.


Fish

Having a fish allergy doesn't always mean being allergic to all fish. Pollock, salmon, cod, tuna, snapper, eel, and tilapia are among the most common fish to be allergic to. Luckily fish is a pretty easy food to avoid and is more likely to come on in adulthood than in childhood. People with this allergy should be careful of Caesar salad dressing and Worcestershire sauce as well, as they are known to contain anchovies. Someone with a severe fish allergy should also avoid places where fish is cooking such as seafood restaurants as fish protein can become airborne.

Shellfish

Shellfish allergies are similar to fish allergies.

Soy

Avoiding these products may be difficult considering the popularity of soy in today's processed foods. Looking further into the issue its shown that soy is actually an ingredient in over 60% of today's processed foods. Some culprits include:

• cereals
• baby formulas
• crackers
• sauces
• soups
  

Wheat

This allergy is actually more difficult to manage than one may think. That's because wheat in contained in obscure foods where you would not expect it- such as imitation crab meat, hot dogs and ice cream. There are a few tricks to dealing with a wheat allergy, of these are a few substitutions, these are for one cup of wheat flour:

• 7/8 cup rice flour
• 5/8 cup potato starch flour
• 1 cup soy flour plus 1/4 cup potato starch flour
• 1 cup corn flour

I found that the information can be useful in that baking/cooking for people with allergies to staple items can be tricky, knowing some tips though can be helpful.