FAAN Conference, 2010

FAAN has posted their spring conference list. I went last year and this is what I posted:

Whether you or your family has been newly diagnosed or you’ve had food allergies a long time, it’s always worth it to continue to educate yourself, to meet and connect with others in the food allergic community and to know you are not alone.

And it's still true! It was super to meet other food allergy bloggers, and even some Worry-Free Dinners members. I’ll be attending this year, perhaps I'll see you there.

Here’s more info from FAAN.

Bar Breton, NYC

I had originally heard about Bar Breton and their buckwheat galettes reading a Twitter conversation between Celiac Chick and the Chef/Owner Cyril Reynaud. Here’s the resultant post from Celiac Chick Kelly. She personally shepherded Bar Breton through the process of making sure their kitchen was gluten-free. Thanks Kel!

I went for a girl's night out with restaurant publicist Shari (who had worked with Chef before), Catherine of A Gluten-Free Guide and gluten-free friend Danielle.

I called ahead of our reservation, did my allergic girl thing and they took copious notes. The moment I walked in the door the host (and possibly manager) took care of us personally. I identified myself to the waiter, and didn’t even have time to ask for the manager because the Chef immediately came over to hear my particular needs and walk me through the menu. Separate fryer for gluten-free items? Check. Separate crepe pan for nutella galettes? Check. He was warm and welcoming. He checked in with us after the meal. My food was safe and delicious. They did everything right.

I need to go back a few more times at different times of the day before they can go on my AGRecs list but it was a great start.

Thank you Chef Cyril and your Bar Breton team for being attentive, hospitable and serving some delicious allergen-friendly food.

Bar Breton
254 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10001-6406
(212) 213-4999

Winter Citrus Salad, Bittman

Winter citrus salad from Mark Bittman. Love oranges in the winter. And red onion, and vinaigrette. Hey, I love this salad!

Food Allergies for Dummies, Wood

Food Allergies for Dummies is an indispensable guide for those newly diagnosed with food allergies written by top food allergy doctor, Robert Wood, MD, who has peanut allergies.

Dear friend AK's two-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with a peanut allergy after an accidental ingestion. It was when grandpa was taking care of the kids. (Isn't that often the way?) Food Allergies for Dummies was the first book I sent AK and it immediately answered many of the questions her allergist did not (and probably could not) address.

For example: "How am I going to take my PA daughter on a flight?"

I told her about all the published research I had read, and all of the flights I had taken with food allergies (and no problems) and then we turned to page 198 Dr. Robert Wood says: “In most cases, peanuts of flights does not post a significant risk. I fly often, frequently on international flights, and I’ve never had an in-flight reaction...I’ve personally flown hundreds of times without any difficulty, and I have a very severe peanut allergy.”

She said she instantly felt calmer. She has returned to the book again and again (as well as become a de facto/pro bono food allergy coaching client) to get a quick answer to a question, or before she sees the allergist to get more in-depth answers.

Food Allergies for Dummies is an excellent reference book to have on hand, if you are newly diagnosed or even someone who’s had food allergies forever like me. Family and friends often need more education about what it is that you’re going through. Food Allergies for Dummies can be a primer for them or for you when they have questions that you can’t answer.

I can’t say enough about Food Allergies for Dummies; it should be in every FA person's library as a reference.

***

Do you have other books that are on your quick reference list? Do tell!

Pregnancy, Food Allergies

This comes from Jess, an allergic girl in Boston and new mom. Anyone have any resources for her? Thanks!

"There are tons of books out there about pregnancy, tons of books about being a parent to a child with allergies, but nothing that deals with an allergic person who is pregnant. I luckily gave birth to my first child on Christmas Day without any problems. But now I'm worried about him developing allergies and was wondering if you had covered that in the past. He was 5 weeks early on top of it all, but he is luckily doing just fine."

Divvies, Kettle Corn

I saw Lori Sandler, Mrs. Divvies at a food show a few months back and she gave me a sample of their Kettle Corn (salty and sweet and all allergen-free). I didn’t have a chance to try it until a few weekends ago when I went to see Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey , Jr. and Jude Law, super fun). I’d had it for several months in my cupboard and feared it was have gone stale. Nope. It was perfect, still fresh and I gobbled it down during the movie.

Divvies, I heart you, seriously

Chef David Hall, Thyme for a Chef

According to AZCentral.com: Chef David Hall in Arizona, owner of Thyme for a Chef changed his menu to gluten-free. “After meeting his wife, Debbie, his culinary expertise expanded to include specialized menus for gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free and other wellness diets. His knowledge and ability to create menus for special dietary needs has earned him national recognition. In July, the certified gluten-free chef will teach classes on meeting special needs of the celiac and autism communities at the 14th Annual United States Personal Chef Association national conference in Denver. The catalyst for his focus was Debbie, diagnosed at age 37 with celiac, a disease that disrupots [sic] the small intestine's absorbtion [sic] of nutrients.”

I bet we're going to read more and more stories like these as more peeps get diagnosed with celiac disease.

WSJ, Food Allergies

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Many kids whose allergies were diagnosed on the basis of blood or skin tests alone may not be truly allergic to those foods, experts say. Blood tests measure the level of antibodies, called immunogloblin E (IgE), a body makes to a particular food. But having IgE antibodies doesn't mean that a person will actually have an allergic symptom when they encounter it. Skin-prick tests are slightly more predictive, but there, too, a red wheal in response to a skin prick doesn't necessarily mean that a child will have an actual allergic reaction to that food. The only way to know for sure—short of encountering the food in real life—is with a food challenge test in a doctor's office or hospital...Experts agree that the most important part of a food-allergy diagnosis is a history: What did the child eat and what kind of reaction did he have? Even if it seems clear-cut, most doctors will also do a blood test or skin-prick test to confirm that the child has antibodies to the suspect food."

Read more from this important article from the Wall Street Journal, written by Melinda Beck.

Holy Cross, Dining Services

From College of the Holy Cross:

As national reports of food allergy prevalence increase, schools nationwide have begun to offer special services to accommodate students who suffer from allergies to foods such as milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, and corn. Although Holy Cross has always worked to serve the needs of these students, Dining Services recently expanded its allergy-free accommodations with the construction of a new “allergy-free kitchen” in Kimball Dining Hall, and introduced a gluten-free meal equivalency program.

Thank you for the link Allergic Girl reader!

Memorizing Your Order, The Washington Post

I’m incredibly wary of any server who doesn’t write down my food order, especially with multiple food allergies. So I was intrigued by this article in The Washington Post, which looks at the old school waitering style, one wherein the waiter rattles off the whole menu and takes your order without writing a thing down. The Wash Po and admits that because of the way diners eat now, memorizing a table’s order is not as practical, nor as elegant, as it may have been.

“The old-school way of memorizing diners' orders is fried” by Steve Hendrix:

But the days of the waiter who doesn't write things down appear to be numbered, according to restaurant owners and industry experts. As Washington's annual Restaurant Week brings waves of new diners into local eateries, the venerable waiter memory act is in serious decline, a result of increasingly complicated orders -- customers who customize because of nutrition concerns or allergies real or imagined -- people going out in larger groups, and a generation that seems less comfortable with memorization.

For those of us with dietary restrictions, it’s imperative that a waiter does not try to memorize them. It's your job to memorize your allergies, not a waiter’s. So if a waiter isn’t writing down your order, I suggest kindly requesting that they do so. Smile, say it nicely, not in a demanding way, but make sure they write down your needs. Or hand them a chef's card, where it's all nice and written out for them. I like SelectWisely.com.

Now, about that "allergies real or imagined" line above. It’s a fact: many non-allergic diners say they are allergic to an ingredient when in fact they just don’t want it. For example, I've had kosher friends tell me that they tell waiters they're allergic to dairy to ensure they get a diary free meal. Another example: restaurants tell me that patrons say they can't have an ingredient because they are allergic and then when the waiter says the dish they ordered has that ingredient, they say: "Oh, a little is okay." That confuses everyone. For the truly allergic, a little is never OK, and many restaurants know that. No wonder some restaurants think some allergies are "imagined".

The solution: all patrons, allergic and non-allergic, be honest about what you want and need; restaurants listen to your patrons and give them what they want and ask for. It’s that simple. Once there’s a better line of communication and an increased trust between restaurants and the patrons they hope to serve, we will all be better off.