High Maintenance Mom

Our preschool does not allow peanuts, I don't eat dairy, and lots of our friends' kids have severe allergies to soy, dairy, nuts, eggs, and wheat. It's a lot to keep track of as a parent, especially if you haven't needed to watch labels in the past...

There are several stores that have great resources for allergies. Whole Foods has a special diets section of their web site where they provide information on dairy-free, gluten-free, low fat, soy, low sodium, sugar-conscious, and vegetarian foods. Clicking on dairy-free, for example, gives information about dairy allergies and intolerance including how to read food labels.

Check for Hidden Sources
Dairy ingredients come in many different forms, several with names more difficult to pronounce than "milk." The important thing is to be able to recognize them when they appear on a label. Look for: curds, whey, ghee, casein, rennet, casein, lactose, lactulose, whey and casein hydrolysates, lactalbumin, and lactoglobulin.

If you click on the store nearest you and then the diet you are interested in, you will receive a list of foods from that store that meet the dietary guidelines requested. I chose the sugar-conscious diet and was given a 16 page pdf with foods containing 4g or less sugar. A friend was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and has been shopping off this list. I try to purchase foods with less than 8g of sugar per serving. It's incredible how much sugar is in basic foods when you start reading the labels.

Trader Joes often has information in the stores and a previous post, Allergy Links contains additional places for general allergy information.

Another good resource is the magazine Living Without. The Living Without web site has a recipe section, cookbook section, articles section, and a resources section. The article on Coping With An Anaphylactic Food Allergy includes information about food allergies at school.

These resources are very helpful if you have a child with a food allergy or if your kids have friends with allergies.