Where to buy nut free foods?

Fire_Fox

Amazon actually has tons of 'health foods', many available in bulk and/ or on the Subscribe & Save scheme with free delivery. You can set it up to deliver as infrequently as every six months and still skip deliveries if you don't need a top up.

kingfisherblue

If you contact Cadbury's, they will send a list of chocolate produced on a nut free line (so no cross contamination). Kinnerton have nut free chocolate. Other than that, I just check labels. I'm allergic to almonds, pineapple, ibuprofen, aspirin and other non-steroid anti-inflammatories. I avoid all nuts, on the advice of my GP, and the kids aren't allowed nuts either, also on his advice.

daisiegg

Just read labels and check ingredients. Use your common sense to decide whether or not to avoid the 'may contain traces of nut' products. Everything says it! I tend to eat them and only avoid them if I actually get a reaction. I am allergic to dairy, eggs, nuts, and NSAID drugs too, as well as the usual animals, pollen, dust, etc. Specific 'free from' foods can be expensive I find. Lots of products are nut free anyway.

GlasweJen

Daisie are your allergies anaphylactic? Your strategy sounds risky! I once went into anaphylaxis eating a Cadbury product that doesn't contain nuts so I'm not risking that again.

I can't even eat supermarket fruit that's been near nuts without a reaction so gambling on "may contain nut traces" is quite risky.

daisiegg

GlasweJen wrote: »

Daisie are your allergies anaphylactic? Your strategy sounds risky! I once went into anaphylaxis eating a Cadbury product that doesn't contain nuts so I'm not risking that again.

Yes, extremely, but I use my common sense. Do the usual - rub a bit of the food on your inner wrist, if it doesn't itch, try a bit on the edge of your tongue (no swallowing), if it doesn't prickle, try eating a tiny nibble, wait a bit, if nothing happens, eat a bit more, wait a bit longer, if nothing happens, you're probably fine to eat the rest. I find that 90% of things that say 'may contain traces...' are fine.

Equally, sometimes I end up getting a reaction from eating something that didn't even say it may contain traces - but it must have done and my allergies are just incredibly sensitive - so eating anything at all is a gamble! Also, in July I very nearly died after going into severe, severe anaphylaxis from taking an ibuprofen - which I have taken my entire adult life with no ill effects. So it is possible to suddenly develop an allergy to something new out of the blue! So you can never be completely 'safe'. I just always carry a bottle of antihistamine liquid (works more quickly than tablets) and two epipens (although the medical advice now is that you only need one, after having to have two in July and more in the ambulance I am never going out without two!) and despite having severe allergies to lots of things I have not died yet and I still enjoy my food!

You will be horrified to know that recently I bought some chocolates that had on the side 'You should avoid this product if you have an allergy to any foods' !!!! If that's the way the 'may contain traces' brigade is going, people like you and me would starve to death!

daisiegg

GlasweJen wrote: »

I can't even eat supermarket fruit that's been near nuts without a reaction so gambling on "may contain nut traces" is quite risky.

But that makes sense - raw fruit that has touched raw nuts is much more likely to cause a reaction than something that says 'may contain traces' because perhaps the flour that they have used is made in the same factory as a nut product, albeit in a completely different part of the factory, and the manufacturers of the product are just saying it to cover themselves.

You also get to learn the things that would be more likely to cause a reaction. So I'd be much more careful with chocolate or biscuits that said 'may contain traces of nuts' because obviously the chocolate or biscuit company probably makes nut products in the same place, than with, say, a can of baked beans, where it's more likely that they can't guarantee that every single ingredient has never been in the same room as another ingredient that has been in the same room as a nut...

Oh, also, are you signed up to mailing lists like allergy.co.uk? Food manufacturers put out press releases through them when they have discovered that there has been mislabelling or something of a product, which is quite useful.

zoomcloud

:jThere's a link where you can buy lots of nut free foods (including nut free butters!!!) in the No Nuts section at
www SpecialDietsDirectory

It's at the top of the No Nuts section which you'll find on LHS of main page (Sorry it won't let me post the link here).

jacqhale

Wow you guys are so knowledgeable about allergies! It's all relatively new to me. DD is 2 and severely allergic to eggs and intolerant to dairy, it makes her eczma worse :-(
I have heard about a replacement for eggs for use in cake recipes etc, does anyone know where I might be able to get this? Or if it is any good?!
Also try supermarkets for dairy free products though I normally find if they don't have egg they contain dairy and if they don't contain dairy they contain eggs ..... Mum has a thing about finding dairy free 'squirty cream in a can' for Christmas, do you know if anything like this exists and where to find it?
Sorry bit off topic but couldn't resist taking advantage of your experience, I find this all very difficult. I think the rest of my family think I overreact about it all but when you have seen your baby unable to breathe there is nothing you wouldn't do to prevent it!
Thanks guys x

daisiegg

jacqhale wrote: »

Wow you guys are so knowledgeable about allergies! It's all relatively new to me. DD is 2 and severely allergic to eggs and intolerant to dairy, it makes her eczma worse :-(
I have heard about a replacement for eggs for use in cake recipes etc, does anyone know where I might be able to get this? Or if it is any good?!
Also try supermarkets for dairy free products though I normally find if they don't have egg they contain dairy and if they don't contain dairy they contain eggs ..... Mum has a thing about finding dairy free 'squirty cream in a can' for Christmas, do you know if anything like this exists and where to find it?
Sorry bit off topic but couldn't resist taking advantage of your experience, I find this all very difficult. I think the rest of my family think I overreact about it all but when you have seen your baby unable to breathe there is nothing you wouldn't do to prevent it!
Thanks guys x

Hey

This is my area of expertise as I have been allergic to eggs, dairy and nuts all my life.

For egg replacer I use Ener-g, which can be found in health food shops if you have an independent one near you - Holland and Barratts doesn't have it. Alternatively, look into vegan baking recipes - often they don't use an egg replacer, just regular ingredients you would have around the house. This book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352235563&sr=8-1 is fab but there are loads of recipes online.

I recently discovered this online shop http://www.veganstore.co.uk/ which is great for dairy and egg free products. They have squirty cream (http://www.veganstore.co.uk/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=204&Category_Code=640) but to be honest, I have had this sort of product before and I have never found it to be very nice.

Please contact me if you have any questions at all! Your daughter is in a much better position than I was when I was a baby in the eighties and you couldn't even buy soya milk in shops let alone any dairy free products. Now there are loads of options, you just need to know where to look

PS just noticed you also asked if the egg replacer works in baking - yes it does! I am an avid baker and bake everything, and everyone loves what I make.

Fire_Fox

jacqhale wrote: »

Wow you guys are so knowledgeable about allergies! It's all relatively new to me. DD is 2 and severely allergic to eggs and intolerant to dairy, it makes her eczma worse :-(
I have heard about a replacement for eggs for use in cake recipes etc, does anyone know where I might be able to get this? Or if it is any good?!
Also try supermarkets for dairy free products though I normally find if they don't have egg they contain dairy and if they don't contain dairy they contain eggs ..... Mum has a thing about finding dairy free 'squirty cream in a can' for Christmas, do you know if anything like this exists and where to find it?
Sorry bit off topic but couldn't resist taking advantage of your experience, I find this all very difficult. I think the rest of my family think I overreact about it all but when you have seen your baby unable to breathe there is nothing you wouldn't do to prevent it!
Thanks guys x

I was thinking vegan foods might be worth investigating. Has your GP spoken to you about low glycaemic anti inflammatory diet or better still have you been referred to a state registered dietician? These can be beneficial for milder allergies (NOT anaphylaxis), various forms of dermatitis and some food intolerances and is a generally healthy way for the whole family to eat. Do you know if your daughter has an issue with the lactose (natural sugar) or the whey/ casein (proteins) in dairy or both?

Appreciate you might want to have cake or processed 'cream' for a special occasion, but you might be worsening the health issues by doing this more than very occasionally. You would want to be avoiding or limiting sugar and white/ refined carbohydrates and eating more healthy fats especially from oily fish and more of the most antioxidant rich dark coloured fruits and vegetables, beans and lentils.

Not only those foods, you still eat a balanced diet containing a broad range of different wholefoods just make healthy swaps and really cut out as much processed or refined as possible. And you can still have sweet treats - but for example homemade flapjacks with jumbo oats and dried tree fruits and a natural sugar replacer instead of cake made with sugar and flour.