Once your child’s allergies or intolerances have been confirmed, it is important to learn to read food labels because the food your child is allergic or intolerant to, may be an ingredient of many other foods.
I have tried my best to list all the possibilities for each food group. If you however have any concerns, please feel free to contact me.
Please also be aware that if your child’s food allergies are severe that you should avoid giving your child foods that may have been prepared using equipment that was also used to prepare the types of food that your child is allergic to.
Egg Allergy :
Something that I have recently learnt. Some children can tolerate cooked egg but have an allergic reaction to raw egg.
I had been giving Jessica cooked egg, but when I contacted her dietician about an egg protein powder that I found, she said that I needed to test her for raw egg allergy. This entailed, rubbing raw egg white around her mouth and on her forearm. If she was allergic she would have come up in a rash pretty quickly, which she didn’t thankfully !!! As for the protein powder, you will need to read my blog for an update !!!
Should your child have an egg allergy avoid foods that contain any of the following:
albumin
egg (white, yolk, dried, powdered, solids)
egg substitutes
eggnog
globulin
lysozyme (used in Europe)
mayonnaise
meringue
ovalbumin
ovomucin
ovomucoid
ovovitellin
Simpleese
Vitellin
Soy Allergy :
My daughter is not allergic as her blood allergy test came back negative to Soy, so when her dairy allergy test was positive we immediately put her onto Soy. Unbeknown to me, she was severely intolerant and so her symptoms were that her stools changed colour and she had continuous nappy rash until we changed her to Rice milk. This in actual fact is known as chemical burn. So even if your child’s allergy test to anything comes back negative, they can still be intolerant.
Should your child have a SOY allergy avoid foods that contain any of the following ingredients:
miso
shoyu sauce
soy (flour, grits, nuts, milk, tofu soy bean sprouts)
soybean (granules, curd)
soy protein (concentrate, isolate)
soy sauce
textured vegetable protein (TVP)
tofu
Ingredients that MAY indicate the presence of soy protein:
flavourings
hydrolyzed plant protein
hydrolyzed
soy protein
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
natural flavouring
vegetable broth
vegetable gum
vegetable starch
Wheat Allergy :
Thankfully Jessica is not allergic to wheat as this is a whole different ball game !! As I work through researching all of the allergens, I will constantly update you !!!
In the meant time :
Should your child a WHEAT allergy avoid foods that contain any of the following:
Please note that this list is a compilation of the most common but not ALL the possible wheat/gluten foods and ingredients.
bread crumbs
bran
cereal extract
acker meal
enriched flour
farina
semolina durham
gluten
high gluten flour
high protein flour
vital gluten
wheat bran
wheat gluten
wheat starch
whole wheat flour
oats
barley
Ingredients that MAY indicate the presence of wheat protein:
gelatinized starch
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
modified food starch
modified starch
natural flavoring
soy sauce
starch
vegetable gum
vegetable starch
Dairy Allergy :
So this is where all our drama started. Jessica’s main allergy is Dairy. We tried her on goat’s milk yoghurts and she was allergic to those as well. Every child’s symptoms will differ but with Jessica, her symptoms were that she just constantly had a very blocked nose and because of all the mucus and the fact that she was also immune deficient, it meant that she was susceptible to infection. Because she has two older twin sisters, she would pick up all their little viruses which would cause constant upper respiratory tract infections.
Should your child have a DAIRY allergy avoid foods that contain any of the following:
artificial butter flavour
butter, butter fat, buttermilk
casein
caseinates (ammonia, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium)
cheese
cottage cheese
curds
custard
half and half
hydrolysates (casein, milk protein, protein, whey, whey protein)
lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate
lactoglobulin
lactose
milk (derivative, protein, solids, malted, condensed, evaporated, dry, whole, low fat, non fat, skim)
nougat
pudding
rennet casein
sour cream, sour cream solids
sour milk solids
whey (delactosed, demineralized, protein concentrate)
yogurt
Ingredients that MAY indicate the presence of milk protein:
brown sugar flavouring
caramel flavouring
chocolate
high protein flour
margarine
natural flavouring
Simplesse
Tree Nut Allergy :
I had no idea that there were two different kinds of nuts, but you learn something new everyday !!
Should your child have a TREE NUT allergy avoid foods that contain nuts or any of these ingredients:
almonds
brazil nuts
cashews
chestnuts
filberts / hazelnuts
gianduja (a creamy mixture of chocolate and chopped toasted nuts found in premium or imported chocolates)
hickory nuts
macadamia nuts
marzipan / almond paste
nougat
nut butters, i.e. cashew butter
nut oil
nut paste, i.e. almond paste
pecans
pine nuts (pinyon nuts)
pistachios
walnuts
Avoid natural extracts such as pure almond extracts, and natural wintergreen extract (for filbert/hazelnut sensitive). Use imitation or artificial flavoured extracts.
Pea Nut Allergy :
More and more kids are being diagnosed with peanut allergies everyday and due to the severity of the allergic reactions the kids are having, schools are not allowing peanut butter sandwiches anymore.
Should your child have a PEANUT allergy avoid foods that contain any of these ingredients:
cold pressed peanut oil
ground nuts mixed nut
Nu-Nuts artificial nuts
peanut
peanut butter
peanut flour Foods and
Foods that MAY indicate presence of peanut protein:
hydrolyzed plant protein
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
marzipan
nougat
Peanuts are very allergenic and can cause a life threatening anaphylactic (general body) reaction.
Fish and Shell Fish Allergy :
Fish is usually not a hidden ingredient and is usually appears as its own species in ingredient lists.
Moms, I would however suggest that if your child does have a Fish allergy that you do become aware of the many different types of fish for maximum safety in reading labels.
For the shellfish allergic, stay away from all shelled fish: crab, lobster, shrimp and snails. Also mollusks (clams and oysters) should be avoided.
Shellfish and fish allergy: dishes to look out for :
Dishes to look out for include paella, bouillabaisse, gumbo.
Surimi (a processed seafood product) is usually made from white fish but may contain shellfish extract. Surimi can be present in processed foods such as pizza toppings.
Caesar salad dressing normally contains anchovies. Worcestershire sauce may.
Fish sauce is a common ingredient in the Far East. Terms to look out for are Nuoc Mam and Nam Pla. Fish sauce can be made with shellfish as well as fish.
Check the ingredient lists on ready-made Oriental sauces, pastes and prepared meals. In fact check the ingredient lists of all food for unexpected ingredients.
IMPORTANT : Be aware that restaurants that serve fish dishes, may use the same oil to cook the fish as they to cook the other foods as well as the same surfaces.
Sesame Seed Allergy:
Sesame seed allergies are definitely becoming more common.
Should your child have a SESAME allergy avoid foods that contain any of these ingredients:
Alternative names for sesame seeds
Benne
Benne seed / benniseed
Gingelly / gingelly oil
Seeds
Sesamol / sesamolina
Sesamum indicum
Sim sim
Til
Food and products that contain or may contain sesame seeds
Bread (for example, hamburger rolls, multi-grains)
Bread crumbs & sticks
Cereals
Crackers
melba toast
muesli
Dips / spreads eg.hummus, chutney
Sesame oil, sesame salt (gomasio)
Tahina / Tahini (sesame paste)
Tempeh
Vegetarian burgers
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