Allergy-friendly snacks?

[Starwind]

I like the GoGo Apple pouches. Small enough for airplane carry-on. Shelf stable. Pure apple sauce, no sugar added in. They have apple mixed with other fruits, too. They were great at Disney and on other trips.

SW

 

[starshine514]

I am anaphylactic to milk, tree nuts, peanuts, and seafood.

IF a person can handle soy:

MY favourite non-peanut butter is "Wowbutter": http://wowbutter.com/ . "Safe-for-School WOWBUTTER is peanut free, tree nut free, gluten free and dairy free. This product is produced in a dedicated facility that manufactures only soy products." It is also certified non-GMO. Here is their allergy info page: http://wowbutter.com/allergy-info.php

My sister, who can have peanut butter, did a side by side taste test of Wowbutter and Kraft creamy PB; she said they were nearly identical in taste. Wowbutter looks and pretty much smells like PB. I cried the first time I ate it because of how close it tasted

-SW

Wow! That is a lot of things to be allergic to. I'm so sorry you have to deal with that many. Did you have them your whole life, or did they develop over time?

I will definitely try that if she is good with soy! Really crossing my fingers on this one...

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Jamba Juice uses washed containers for each order, but I think if you specify about the allergy concerns, they will make sure that your container is clean. I think the fee was for extra whole bananas (sometimes more than 1) instead of a spoonful of slices for each smoothie.

 

[SMD]

Jamba Juice has an all fruit section on their menu. FYI, their sherbet contains dairy, and their "make it light" option that says they remove the sherbet also contains a replacement dairy base.

 

[Starwind]

Wow! That is a lot of things to be allergic to. I'm so sorry you have to deal with that many. Did you have them your whole life, or did they develop over time?

I will definitely try that if she is good with soy! Really crossing my fingers on this one...

Nope, they developed over time, the first (to a specific type of fish) at age 10, then more seafood through late teens until age 22 when the canned tuna I could still have I suddenly could not (so much fun to find that out the hard way in a university dorm). Peanuts and tree nuts was about age 26; milk a few years ago. The joys of developing them during/post-puberty is apprently there is NO "outgrowing" like somehow little kids appear to manage to do. I hope the list has stopped getting longer.

On top of that I have had non-anaphylactic food allergies on and off since the very first time my mother tried to feed me some real food at age 4 months (on paediatricians advice; that little experiment apparently ended quickly and i was back to exclusively breastfed for the rest of my first year; my mother had to be really really careful about what she ate). The list changed over time and I am quite confident many went undiagnosed for periods of time, even years, in part because my child/teenhood allergist was, as I now know, horribly incompetant. When I was in my late teens my mom and I identified a list of about a dozen foods that would trigger asthma attacks each time I had them, so we cut those from my diet and I didn't try any of those foods again until I was in my twenties -- and found I could tolerate different amounts depending on the food. Milk was one of those, but then a few years ago it suddenly came back as anaphylaxis and I now have zero tolerance for even trace amounts (and yep, even trace amounts in baked goods :-( ).

Basically, my immune system is thoroughly messed up and not at all representative of normal, or even normal allergic people or normal food allergic people.

-SW

 

[Starwind]

Jamba Juice has an all fruit section on their menu. FYI, their sherbet contains dairy, and their "make it light" option that says they remove the sherbet also contains a replacement dairy base.

"sherbert" contains some amount of dairy ingredient(s), just a lot less than ice cream. e.g in the US, by regulation sherbert MUST contain cows milk ingredients and there is a specified range that the milkfat content of the sherbert has to fall into.

"sorbet" OTOH does not contain dairy. however, there may be cross contamination issues or other allergens.

FYI if you want to know the legal US definition of "sherbert", here is the FDA regulation: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=135.140


As always, check ingredients every time.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Jamba Juice has an all fruit section on their menu. FYI, their sherbet contains dairy, and their "make it light" option that says they remove the sherbet also contains a replacement dairy base.

This is exactly why I request that any sherbet or frozen yogurt be replaced by bananas. So far I haven't experienced any dairy allergies at Jamba. Of course, if someone is allergic to bananas, then this won't help!

 

[jennilouwho]

Hey! I have one kid with milk and eggs and one with eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. The regular Mickey pretzels are safe! I just had to ask at every place to see the ingredients list and we found plenty they could eat.

 

[starshine514]

Hey! I have one kid with milk and eggs and one with eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. The regular Mickey pretzels are safe! I just had to ask at every place to see the ingredients list and we found plenty they could eat.

That is good to know! My older girls love the Mickey pretzels, and I bet they'll enjoy being able to share some with their little sister as well!

 

[starshine514]

Nope, they developed over time, the first (to a specific type of fish) at age 10, then more seafood through late teens until age 22 when the canned tuna I could still have I suddenly could not (so much fun to find that out the hard way in a university dorm). Peanuts and tree nuts was about age 26; milk a few years ago. The joys of developing them during/post-puberty is apprently there is NO "outgrowing" like somehow little kids appear to manage to do. I hope the list has stopped getting longer.

On top of that I have had non-anaphylactic food allergies on and off since the very first time my mother tried to feed me some real food at age 4 months (on paediatricians advice; that little experiment apparently ended quickly and i was back to exclusively breastfed for the rest of my first year; my mother had to be really really careful about what she ate). The list changed over time and I am quite confident many went undiagnosed for periods of time, even years, in part because my child/teenhood allergist was, as I now know, horribly incompetant. When I was in my late teens my mom and I identified a list of about a dozen foods that would trigger asthma attacks each time I had them, so we cut those from my diet and I didn't try any of those foods again until I was in my twenties -- and found I could tolerate different amounts depending on the food. Milk was one of those, but then a few years ago it suddenly came back as anaphylaxis and I now have zero tolerance for even trace amounts (and yep, even trace amounts in baked goods :-( ).

Basically, my immune system is thoroughly messed up and not at all representative of normal, or even normal allergic people or normal food allergic people.

-SW

One of my friends was allergic to a variety of things as a child, outgrew most of them, only to have them replaced by different allergies as an adult. So, there are more non-normal allergic people out there (not that it's any consolation).

 

[PinkBudgie]

Nope, they developed over time, the first (to a specific type of fish) at age 10, then more seafood through late teens until age 22 when the canned tuna I could still have I suddenly could not (so much fun to find that out the hard way in a university dorm). Peanuts and tree nuts was about age 26; milk a few years ago. The joys of developing them during/post-puberty is apprently there is NO "outgrowing" like somehow little kids appear to manage to do. I hope the list has stopped getting longer.

On top of that I have had non-anaphylactic food allergies on and off since the very first time my mother tried to feed me some real food at age 4 months (on paediatricians advice; that little experiment apparently ended quickly and i was back to exclusively breastfed for the rest of my first year; my mother had to be really really careful about what she ate). The list changed over time and I am quite confident many went undiagnosed for periods of time, even years, in part because my child/teenhood allergist was, as I now know, horribly incompetant. When I was in my late teens my mom and I identified a list of about a dozen foods that would trigger asthma attacks each time I had them, so we cut those from my diet and I didn't try any of those foods again until I was in my twenties -- and found I could tolerate different amounts depending on the food. Milk was one of those, but then a few years ago it suddenly came back as anaphylaxis and I now have zero tolerance for even trace amounts (and yep, even trace amounts in baked goods :-( ).

Basically, my immune system is thoroughly messed up and not at all representative of normal, or even normal allergic people or normal food allergic people.

-SW

I have to say I don't often run across adults with FA, usually it is children. I only recently developed a fish allergy (anaphlylactic) even though I've had tuna all my life. And I also assume for now shellfish allergy because the last time I had fish safely, I had shellfish. I've been afraid to try it. I also developed OAS to melons. Not ana, so I feel safe to pick it out and just not eat it. And a few years earlier, I suddenly became lactose intolerant. Hope that's the end of the sudden changes!
I went to WDW last summer and they were awesome with FA. Even though I've been to DLR many times, this summer will be my first with food allergies. Most snacks and desserts are safe for me, my concern is sauces and cooking surfaces and utensils.

 

[Starwind]

I have to say I don't often run across adults with FA, usually it is children. I only recently developed a fish allergy (anaphlylactic) even though I've had tuna all my life. And I also assume for now shellfish allergy because the last time I had fish safely, I had shellfish. I've been afraid to try it. I also developed OAS to melons. Not ana, so I feel safe to pick it out and just not eat it. And a few years earlier, I suddenly became lactose intolerant. Hope that's the end of the sudden changes!
I went to WDW last summer and they were awesome with FA. Even though I've been to DLR many times, this summer will be my first with food allergies. Most snacks and desserts are safe for me, my concern is sauces and cooking surfaces and utensils.

I also don't meet a lot of adults with FA, but know some IRL and more online. I get the impression that lots of adults don't tell others about their FA, except family and perhaps close friends. I also know some adults who have developed their FA as adults, having not had any previous FA.

One of the reasons we choose to vacation with Disney is because they set the Gold Standard (someone else called it the Platinum standard, that works too -- they set THE standard) for dealing with FA. We have had great experiences at both TS and QS restaurants. We contact special diets beforehand, have the allergies listed on our ADRs, and make sure the checkin and serving (TS) or cashier (QS) CMs are told as well. That kicks in the Disney FA process and we get to deal with a chef (TS) or manager/supervisor (QS). I have always found them to be well-informed about FA and the food served in their restaurant (and how to adapt it).

One thing I do at home and when traveling that works really well (and I have had chefs come out to thank me for it at restaurants at home) is I have an index card that I have printed my allergy info on. I give this "chef card" to the wait staff and it informs them and they can take it to the kitchen to inform the kitchen staff. It has worked really well and is a lot easier than rhyming off the list of allergies and hoping you didn't miss one and the person you are telling them to got them all. Various organizations have free chef card templates available. I took the best of a few of them and made my own in MS Word. I had been using 3x5 pale yellow index cards, but they are a pain to print on, so have switched to 4x6 which is a lot easier to print on since it is photo size and most printers can handle that these days. I also have one printed on white and then laminated, that stays on the table and then I take it back. The yellow card I don't care if I get back since I can make more of them easily

For snacks, we usually get our WDW snacks at a QS restaurant -- the OMG chocolate chip cookies are awesome! -- or bring stuff into the park with us (we fly to WDW, but we place a Garden Grocer order or order from Amazon, etc to have some snacks like GoGoSqeez apple sauce or bananas available). I will also get Dole whips And usually once will get popcorn. The nice thing with most of the QS snacks is not only are they portable, but they will keep for later; so for example at lunch I could pick up an OMG or Enjoy Life cookie, which is factory packaged (and has an ingredient list on the package), and keep it for the mid-afternoon snack when my sister gets her funnel cake.

SW

 

[PinkBudgie]

I have some chef cards too. I keep them in my purse in case I'm not feeling like the server is "getting it". Since I have only two allergies, or all seafood in general, I haven't had to use them yet. I go over sauces and the fryer (if I want french fries). Sometimes I have to urge "Can you please check with the chef?" when the server doesn't THINK the fries are fried in the same fryer as fish.
At WDW it was so much easier- the chef or manager came out and took charge of the order. I hope DLR is the same. It sounds like it will be.

 

[todzwife]

We bring gluten free turkey sticks for our gluten allergic daughter as well as protein bars (you can usually find stuff that is allergy free- I know there is a brand that is completely allergy free but the name is escaping me). I ate a LOT of salads this time around.

 

[PinkBudgie]

We bring gluten free turkey sticks for our gluten allergic daughter as well as protein bars (you can usually find stuff that is allergy free- I know there is a brand that is completely allergy free but the name is escaping me). I ate a LOT of salads this time around.

I know Enjoy Life is a brand a lot of people like. Is that what you were thinking of?

 

[Starwind]

We bring gluten free turkey sticks for our gluten allergic daughter as well as protein bars (you can usually find stuff that is allergy free- I know there is a brand that is completely allergy free but the name is escaping me). I ate a LOT of salads this time around.

Perhaps Enjoy Life brand ? Free of the top 11 allergens.

SW

 

[starshine514]

Enjoy Life, those are the people that make the allergen free chocolate chips, right? So, the rest of their stuff is good, too? That's very good to know!

 

[todzwife]

Yes enjoy life!! Their cookies are great!

 

[Starwind]

Enjoy Life makes chocolate chips (a few different sizes), yes. They have a whole slew of products, though not all may be available at any given retailor that sells their stuff: http://enjoylifefoods.com/

SW