Sidebar! Food Allergies!

I don’t know why, but this has been on my mind lately. I do not have any personal experience with food allergies, except my husband’s minor blueberry allergy, but I do know people who do. One of the most unfortunate things about food allergies is the public’s lack of knowledge about them. Not nearly enough people take these allergies seriously. They are not a joke however. For some children, these allergies are deadly. Parents lose their children because of a food. If that’s not serious, I don’t know what is. The measures that these parents have to go through to keep their children safe are overwhelming and should be acknowledged by all. Here is a statistic for you – 3.1 million school-age children have food allergies(The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network). Here is a small sampling of my ideas to help keep your child’s playmates and acquaintances safe.

· If you are planning to send treats in for your child’s birthday or another special occasion, always be sure to email the teacher first and ask if there are any children with food allergies. If there are, make something that is free of all allergens - usually: dairy, wheat, eggs, and peanuts. Various cookbooks and online resources can help you find delicious recipes for these kinds of treats. Try this one for starters.

· When hosting a party for your child, or any party where children will be present, be sure to ask somewhere on the invitation to be contacted if any attending child has food allergies so that special food arrangements can be made. This should be a must on every invitation you send out for every event you host. If a parent calls to inform you they do, ask what their child’s favorite recipe is. Make it clear to the parent that it is no bother to you and your absolute pleasure to make a special treat for their child, and that you want every invited child to feel special and be welcomed into a danger free home. If you are making something special, be sure to do it on a clean surface away from anything else that can contaminate it. It is best to make these at a separate time either before or after the other party food has been made and be sure to store it, sealed, away from the other food. I have heard of too many parents keeping their child away from parties because it can be a huge risk. By going a little above and beyond, and reaching out to these parents, you can help ease their mind and help that child to have a little bit more fun.


Again I say - I really don’t know why this is heavy on my mind at the moment. Maybe because I have heard so many allergy parents talk about how they are not taken seriously enough. I know that if my son had a food allergy, I would expect to be taken serious, and I would greatly appreciate anyone who did so.