FOOD ALLERGIES!!! Can you help????

[gina2000]

My nephew has just been diagnosed as allergic to milk AND corn products. EVERYTHING has corn in some way, shape or form in it......cornstarch, corn syrup, cornmeal. It has become a real challenge for my SIL to find foods that he can eat that are quick and easy. For example....he can eat peanut butter and jelly - but with the exception of natural pumpernickel and rye, every bread has milk products in it or cornmeal under it. My SIL has been canvassing natural food stores and they've been very helpful. I was wondering if anyone had any on line support groups or products that they'd like to recommend for these allergies.....

Thanks for your suggestions.....

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

I have allergies, but not to those things (my worst is shellfish), so I can't be too much help to you. I was just going to suggest that maybe you try over on the DISabilities board as well...I know I've seen posts about allergies over there before so maybe someone has experienced similar allergies. Good luck! Those would be a tough two foods to have to avoid.

 

[Rajah]

What my parents had to do for bread when they weren't allowed to eat it any more was get a bread machine and *make* their own bread, substituting one item they could have for something they couldn't. That might be an easier option than hunting all over the world for bread with the right ingredients.

 

[PandyPaws]

How old is your nephew?? My DS was diagnosed with SO many allergies when he was 4years Corn was the toughest, I feel their pain...as you said, it's in practically everything; juices, sodas, candy...even liquid medicines and other things you dont normally think of UNTIL you start thinking about it!!! Most of what he ate were fresh meats, fruits and vegetables....very little snacking on junk/convenience foods, which wasn't such a terrible thing but it did require a lot of work. I'm sorry, I can't offer anything on support groups, I sure could have used one at the time. Thankfully he grew out of it, along with most of his other food allergies, and now I only have to watch for seafood and nuts!

 

[Jeafl]

My son is allergic to corn syrup, and I was amazed to see that almost everything has corn syrup in it. I have found that some cereals that don't have corn syrup are Honey Nut Cheerios, Peanut Butter Crunch, HoneyComb, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and some of the Chex cereals. If something has honey in it, there is a good chance there's no corn syrup. Jif peanut butter is the only one I found that has no corn syrup, and I use some of the 100% fruit spreads instead of jelly. As far as bread goes, we have a bread store near us that sells all different kinds of breads sweetened with honey instead of corn syrup. A good option is to get a bread machine and make your own bread.

Tell your sister to look in the diabetic section of grocery stores for ketchup and other condiments. Another good source is health food stores. The employees there are a great source of information. If I can be of any more help, please email or pm me.

 

[Amy]

Gina, tell your SIL to check out this website for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network: FAAN. They publish a newsletter every 2 months that has recipes and tips to deal with food allergies are home, school, while traveling. They even have one or two cookbooks you can buy. I've supported them for years - DS12 is allergic to peanuts. Good luck to her! Food allergies are certainly a challenge to deal with.

 

[chell]

I agree that the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network is a great site to visit. You can also sign up with them to receive Food Allergy Alerts. They are VERY useful for me. I have a few severe food allergies. Here is a copy of one I received today:

FOOD ALLERGY & ANAPHYLAXIS NETWORK SPECIAL FOOD ALLERGY ALERT NOTICE


SOY ALLERGY ALERT
August 27, 2002

Pinnacle Foods Corporation of Mountain Lakes, NJ is recalling Great Starts
Biscuit Sandwich ("Egg, Cheese & Bacon on a Biscuit" only). Some of these
packages may contain a sausage patty instead of bacon. The sausage contains
soy.

The product is identified by the UPC code 51000 06381. Production coding on
the carton states: Recommended Use by: OCT 03 07162.

The product may have been distributed nationally through retail stores and
food service establishments.

Consumers who have purchased the product may return it to the place of
purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the
company at 1-800-554-5680.

I know this alert is not for the allergy you posted about, I just wanted to you to see an example of the alerts they send out.

 

[gina2000]

Thanks, everyone for your help. My nephew is only 2 years old so it's difficult to deny him the foods that his siblings are eating. He's a bit young to understand why so we're trying to find as many substitutes for packaged goods as possible so he doesn't feel left out.

Cornstarch seems to be another biggie in alot of foods. Alot of cereals have cornstarch as well as corn syrup in them....this seems to be a tough challenge at the moment though they've found some natural food store substitutes.

I've e-mailed the FAAN site to my SIL. I'm sure it will be of help to her.

Again, thanks. We appreciate it.

 

[poopie]

eat corn anyway, it's not supposed to be good for you. Neither is anything containing high-frutos corn syrup. I forgot where I read this but it was probaly some health realted support group. I remember some people with Celtics (sp) disease support group. They said the same thing about wheat. I have some GI problems of my own and did try to cut out corn and wheat and felt much better, but like you said it's hard to get away from the corn. Wish I could be of more help.