Sweethearts Candy Blog's

I'm so excited to share the following guest blog post with you from Jennifer Roeder, Director of Marketing and Media Communications for FAAN, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. I have met Jen a couple of times at FAAN conferences, including the most recent one in Chicago and she kindly offered to write a guest post. As someone who not only works with FAAN in a dynamic capacity, but as someone who deals with dietary restrictions herself, Jen gives us some valuable insights on summer travel with food allergies. She also shared this great picture of herself with her husband Mark on a recent vacation. Thanks to Jen (and FAAN) for all you do!

School’s out for summer! And that means summer vacations are in full swing. Traveling with food allergies presents unique challenges, but with advance planning, it can be done.

While I don’t have a life-threatening food allergy, I do have to avoid all milk and gluten products due to my own medical conditions, so I always have to plan ahead to make sure that I have access to safe foods when traveling.

My husband and I enjoy traveling. Earlier this year we traveled with my parents, and next week we are headed to North Carolina with my husband’s parents to enjoy some time at the beach. Here are some of the preparations I make when traveling, as do others who are avoiding certain ingredients:

1. Pack safe food and snacks. There are certain foods that are hard for me to find substitutes for such as yogurt, butter, pasta, and bread. These substitutes are certainly easier to find then they were 15 years ago, but when you are traveling to an unfamiliar location you don’t always know what the grocery stores will carry. When traveling by plane, I always have one bag with food staples and snacks. It works out nicely that you eat the food while you are on vacation and then have a bag to bring home souvenirs. When driving to a vacation destination, I pack a cooler and a bag with food to make sure that I have enough food to eat on the drive, plus some cooking essentials for the week. I have also heard from people that they ship food to their destination in advance. The method of getting the food to vacation may vary, but one thing is for sure – vacation is much more enjoyable when you know you won’t have to worry about what you’re going to eat.

2.Reserve a hotel room with a kitchen or kitchenette. With food allergies and intolerances, many of us feel safest eating food that we or family members have cooked. Having access to a kitchen makes it that much easier.

3.Research local restaurants. Many hotels and resorts have a wonderful concierge staff that knows the local restaurants. On several trips I have found wonderful restaurants I would never have known about without their help.

4.Bring your medicine. It is always important to have your medicine in case of an allergic reaction. Before traveling, make sure to double-check the expiration dates of all medicine you are packing, and talk to your doctor if you need extra.

5. Find the location of emergency medical care. We hope you won’t need it, but it is better to know the location of emergency medical care and never need to use it than need it and not know where to go.

The key to traveling with food allergies and intolerances is planning ahead. Here is to a safe and enjoyable summer. It’s time for me to start packing!

Recently I was contacted by Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate, one of my all-time favorite nut allergy-friendly companies, about their new granola snack--the Tanabar! This delicious granola bar is 100% peanut- and tree nut-free and when it comes to a granola snack, nut-free is hard to find. I received samples of all three flavors and my kids devoured them! In fact, I had to hide the bar you see in the photo above so that I would have time to get a picture of it for my blog--believe me, it would have been eaten.

The Tanabar comes in three flavors: Wild Berry, Sweet Raisin and Chocolate Chip. The Wild Berry and Sweet Raisin flavors won't melt in the heat so you don't have to order a cold pack to keep them fresh. My kids really loved all three flavors with my oldest leaning towards the chocolate chip (she's a chocoholic). For those of us dealing with allergies besides nuts, please be aware that the Tanabar may contain wheat and soy.

As a parent dealing with nut allergies, it's hard to find snack bars that are safe to send to school for a healthy snack, as a great take-along snack to activities or an after school snack. The Tanabar is the perfect treat for all of these situations. I used to enjoy regular granola bars but haven't bought them for years because of the presence of nuts and peanut flour. I am thrilled to find a snack that is safe for my allergic daughter but that I will also enjoy.

I love Vermont Nut-Free--in fact, my kids are already placing their Halloween orders from VNF! In the meantime, I'm very happy to discover this delicious treat. To help counter the cost, if you "like" the Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate Facebook fan page you can get special discounts. Also, signing up for their e-mail alerts will provide you with consistent discount offers as well. When you place your orders with VNF, be sure to sign up for these alerts. You can get great savings!

Let me know how you enjoy the Tanabar--I wish my samples weren't gone. I could use one right about now!

FTC Note: I was provided with food samples but received no other compensation for this review.

This post is a reprise of one I did this time last year. It's an important piece of the back-to-school puzzle, so here it is: key info for new readers and a reminder for the rest of us!

Many of us are getting our paperwork ready for back to school, or for a lot of us our child's first year of school--the big K--kindergarten. Even a seasoned food allergy parent like me gets a little queasy just thinking about what can go wrong at school. What helps me feel a lot, lot more in control is having a current copy of my daughter's Food Allergy Action Plan on file at the school office.

Do you have your Food Allergy Action Plan ready yet? Here is a link if you need a copy, available from the FAAN website.

The action plan will show the school staff every symptom to look for and action to take in the event of a reaction. I know that schools use these--we've had a reaction at school and the school health aide followed it to the letter. Although Benadryl was enough, without the dose of Benadryl, who knows? Bottom line: you may need this so make sure you feel certain that it's complete and accurate.

Make sure that your doctor fills out the form completely and that they include any special info needed. For example, does your child have asthma? Other health conditions? The form provides space for all of these. This form from FAAN is very clear and easy to read--my doctor said it was the best one he ever saw!

Here are a few other tips for a successful Food Allergy Action Plan:

- Print it on neon colored paper so that it's easy to spot in the event of an emergency.

- Be sure to include a current photo of your child--I usually use last year's school yearbook photo--so that substitutes and other staff visually recognize your child.

- Make sure the form is complete before submitting it and include a post-it with your phone number that offers to answer any questions about your child and their allergy.

You have time left before school starts so get this form into your allergists now--why wait? You'll beat the mad rush at the end of the month.

Here is some more peanut-free baseball news. Recently I discovered this Facebook fan page supporting peanut-free baseball at Wrigley Field.

Paste the link in your browser to join baseball fans who want the Cubs to join the other major league baseball teams that offer peanut-free zones and/or games.


http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Chicago-Cubs-Fans-for-Peanut-Free-Baseball/117584061619677?ref=ts

If you'd like to reach the Cubs directly, click here. I know that with their new ownership that the Cubs are considering establishing peanut-free zones, so let them know they have fan support for this measure.

Thanks to Joyce, a fellow Chicagoan, for starting this effort!

While sifting through the family pictures the other day, I began thinking about how far we've come with my daughter since her first severe allergic reaction and nut allergy diagnosis at the age of 4. The birthday cake photo is a picture of her a few months before her first, life-threatening reaction. We didn't know about her allergy at that point--the homemade cake is there because that's what she wanted! (A lucky thing she likes mom's cakes, as it turns out).

The first picture is her happy, sassy, self, nearly 10 years old. She's doing really well and we've managed the allergy--with her help, I may add--better than I thought we would when I first witnessed the allergic reaction that shook our family to the core.

I know that many of you have young kids who have recently been diagnosed and I remember what a frightening time that was for me. You feel alone and worst of all, you feel that your child can never have a normal social life, school life--any kind of life that you believed they could have. That's what I thought at first and thankfully, I was wrong.

Your child can thrive with a severe nut allergy. As my daughter approaches her 10th birthday, I've been remembering all the fun things she has done on her own--things that I thought a child with a life-threatening food allergy possibly could not do. However, my daughter has done so much. She's been having a great life, just one that's a little bit more cautious with food.

For example, my daughter has flown on an airplane, participated in Girl Scouts and Girl Scout day camp, gone on many play dates without me, been in dance classes and performed in shows, gone to summer science and computer games camp, moved to a new school and made new friends, joined Student Council and other extracurricular activities, joined the family for restaurant meals, eaten lunch at school, gone on field trips without incident and much, much more. Because of this blog, she's even been interviewed for our local newspaper.

Is there ever worry about her nut allergy on either her part or ours? Of course. And it will always be there. But I think a little worry (and I said a little, too much is not good!) helps us to keep our guard up and helps her stay reaction-free. The one thing we know is that there are no guarantees, so we must always be vigilant. However, when things goes well, I'm willing to be that we celebrate a little more than families without food allergies might do.

We have many more challenges ahead of us as she grows and becomes even more independent but I'm happy about all that she's overcome so far. And if we can do it, you can too.

The weekend is here, we've got record cold temps in most of the country and winter is pretty much here to stay for a while. So how 'bout some S'Mores?

A few days ago my husband went to Whole Foods to get ingredients for a seafood paella (almost worth another blog post--it was great!) and my youngest daughter started asking him for marshmallows to roast in the fireplace. Well, Whole Foods isn't exactly a marshmallow mecca, but he did finally manage to locate these tasty little numbers! Elyon Marshmallows are kosher and gluten-free. They do not use gelatin, egg or dairy ingredients as marshmallows often do, so people with egg and/or dairy allergies can enjoy them! Oh and they're also gluten-free. Still, a warning to people with fish allergies--there is fish gelatin in these marshmallows. I know, sounds funny but you can't taste it. It's there to replace the egg and dairy gelatin, so if you or your child has a fish allergy, don't go for these.

The marshmallows do not contain any nut ingredients, either, and after a spin to the company website it looks like they don't produce nut-containing candies. I've got an e-mail into the company for clarification but right now it's looking good.

I wanted to post about these since a growing number of you are facing gluten intolerance and/or dairy and egg allergies in addition to nut allergies.

Find these guys (and is that package cute, or what) at Whole Foods like we did or check the Elyson company website for more locations.

Happy Weekend!

For kids with nut allergies, candy like gummy worms and jelly beans are usually off-limits due to cross-contact warnings on the package. That's a bummer because so many Halloween-themed recipes this time of year make use of these two popular candies.

Well, I was really happy to learn about a relatively new (founded in 2008) Chicago-area candy company that makes gummy worms and jelly beans that are free of the top 8 allergens--Surf Sweets! The best part, besides being allergy-free, is that these candies are also naturally sweetened and made with natural, organic ingredients. Plus they are free from artificial colors and flavors! Awesome. Also, Surf Sweets are made in the U.S. in a dedicated, nut-free facility. Even better.

According to their press release, Surf Sweets are available in mainstream grocery stores across the U.S. and Canada and they are also found in natural foods stores and at online retailers including Peanut-Free Planet.

To get some ideas about Halloween-themed treats you can make using Surf Sweets, check their website for a video demonstrating how to make Popcorn Candy Worm Cake, Mummy Gummys and Witch's Cauldrons. Room Moms and Treat Moms, take note.

I know I'll be sending some of these to the class Halloween party. Not only are they safe for nut allergies, but they are also good for the other students in my daughter's class who have multiple food allergies, including dairy.

Anyone else found some good allergy-free candies for Halloween that they care to share with us? Let me know.

One of the hardest things about Halloween with food allergies is that the kids who Trick or Treat come home with bags full of candy that they can't eat. Still, for a lot of kids (and parents) Trick or Treating is a big part of Halloween that they don't want to eliminate.

So what do you do to help the kids cope with treats they can't touch?

I just got the most recent FAAN newsletter and a mom had a great suggestion. She said that she has her kids place the unsafe Trick or Treat candy outside their bedroom door on Halloween night. Then, the next morning, "The Good Witch" takes the bags but leaves them a special treat, like a toy or safe candy instead.

I love this idea. It reminds me a little bit of what I do with my daughter who ends up having to give away about 3/4 of her treats bag each year.

We started a Halloween "Treasure Hunt" the first Halloween after we discovered her nut allergies. While Dad took her trick or treating, I placed "clues" around the house leading to special Halloween treats bag filled with safe candies, plus non-edible items like small toys and a Halloween book. This was such a big hit she didn't mind giving up her candies at all. In fact, at age 9 she still looks forward to it!

The only caution I have is for those of you with non-allergic kids--you will have to do something similar with them or they will feel left out. They don't need as much as the allergic kids since they're not giving up their candy, but making it a family activity definitely cuts down on the sibling rivalry and makes it a lot more fun.

What are some of your "tricks" to compensate for the unsafe treats? I'll have more of my own time-tested suggestions soon, but reader ideas are welcome!

I just wanted to give a shout out today to Kelly, aka Food Allergy Mama, on the October 1 release of her new nut-free, egg-free and dairy-free baking cookbook. You can read all about here, including how to order a signed copy of this fabulous book!

I met Kelly (a fellow Chicago area allergy mom!) at the FAAN conference last spring and I couldn't be happier for her. What a great resource for food allergy mamas everywhere, not to mention a great resource for family members and friends.

It can be really difficult to come up with delicious baked treats that don't contain milk, eggs or nuts so The Food Allergy Mama Baking Cookbook is a such a welcome resource. I'm glad it's on the shelves today!

Congrats to Kelly! I ordered my copy and am looking forward to some delicious baking. Visit her site Food Allergy Mama for more info.

At a recent school Parents Night, the teachers passed out a child development fact sheet for kids ages 8-10 years old. For the 9-year-olds, one of the common developments was "increased anxiety about the world." Add life-threatening food allergies to the mix and you can have a recipe for one stressed-out kid.

It makes sense that as kids get older, they get more concerned about things going on in the world. After all, their understanding of the world's machinations only increases each year. I find that as my daughter has gotten older, she has gotten more anxious (at times) about her severe nut allergy. A recent hives and facial swelling scare just from being around PB&J at school as well as a restaurant "near miss" this summer has contributed to her overall concern. Hey, who can blame her?

Some of you with school age kids may be going through this too. What can we do as parents to help alleviate some of the food allergy anxiety? It's not like we can tell them that it will always be OK and nothing will happen. We don't want them to over think their condition, but we definitely want them to take responsibility for their serious allergy. It's a tricky business. Here are some strategies that have worked for us:

- Have your child be responsible for carrying the EpiPen. This gives my daughter a sense of power, because she knows she always has it with her rather than relying on the adults around her. It's also good practice for the future and it seems to make her less anxious. Obviously a 3-year-old can't carry the EpiPen but as kids get a little older you can ask them: What else do I need to bring with us today? Early reinforcement of this will help them to be responsible later on.

- Let kids take the lead. This past weekend, we went to a new candy store in town that models itself after the old-fashioned ones. You know, candy in barrels, all the candy we liked as kids, etc. Since it is all tightly wrapped and there are many safe options for us, we allow her to visit there once in awhile. Apparently, however, peanut butter-filled pretzels were lying in an open container near the cash register/counter. My daughter hates to see stuff like that but because her foods were wrapped and didn't get near the pretzels, we deemed it safe for her. It took her a couple of hours to agree with us, however. After explaining the low risk to her, I let it go. It hurt me to see her not be able to enjoy her candy right away, like her sister did--until I saw her later that day, reading a favorite book and enjoying her new candy. Lesson learned? Let your kids determine what they feel is safe enough. Don't press them. It is their allergy, after all, not ours. They need to do what they think is right.

- Reinforce safe dining out experiences. It's tempting to want to avoid restaurants due to food allergy concerns, but it's good to occasionally go to them if only to show your child that you can. Thoroughly research the restaurant and then have your child order a simple menu item. We've become regulars at a few restaurants and it really boosts my daughter's morale (well, all of ours, really) to enjoy a restaurant meal successfully and safely. Plus, becoming adept at these situations will be a lifelong skill.

Back to school is now in full swing for everybody and if you have a child with life-threatening food allergies, you may be looking for convenient products for storing the Epi Pen and protecting school surfaces during lunch time.

Well, you're in luck because Alison of Allergy Essentials USA just let me know about a back-to-school sale currently running on her newly refurbished web site.

I wrote about this innovative company a while back and since then the site has been given a new look but the prices on Alison's same great products have been slashed.

Two products you might be interested in are: the Food Allergy place mat, which is great for protecting lunch tables. My daughter uses one--many designs are available and the mat even says "Food Allergy" for greater awareness. Currently place mats are $12.99 down from $14.99. They are machine washable and perfect for many uses including dining out, picnic tables and travel.

Also, the Epissentials holders are now on sale for $19.99, down from $24.99. These ingenious, adjustable holders come in sizes for both kids and adults and allow you to "wear" the EpiPen on your body -- such as your leg or arm--at all times. They even fit under loose-fitting trousers so you will know you're wearing it but no one else will.

I recently posted about ways to remember the EpiPen and the Epissentials holder is certainly a convenient way to do so.

The sales last until October 31st, so please visit http://www.allergyessentialsusa.com/ for more details and a large selection of allergy products.

One of my loyal readers (another Jenny from Illinois--thanks!) shared this link with me from the Kids with Food Allergies e-newsletter. It's a great follow-up to my previous blog post because it gives you ideas for homemade snacks that could come in handy at home or at a school party, as well as allergy-free prepared snacks that you can buy at the supermarket or online.


Check it out here!


I found out yesterday that very minimal contact with peanuts/tree nuts (apparently from residue that resulted from kids around my daughter opening packages of nutty treats and eating PB sandwiches) is enough to make her have an allergic reaction that included a puffy, swollen eyebrow and facial hives. Luckily, Benadryl did the trick and that was as far as the reaction progressed. No ingestion occurred, but be aware that for many kids contact alone can cause a skin reaction; if the kids rub their eyes or put their fingers into their mouths, anaphylaxis can occur. That didn't happen to us yesterday but it was still a good reminder to be extra careful at school.

Having some allergy-free snack ideas to share with the class can go a long way to keeping your kids safe wherever they are. If you have any others, please feel free to share them with us!

I'm having a crazy-busy week getting my kids back in the swing of things at school, so this one will be short but I think it's a good reminder.

Our school's health aide told me that last year an Epi Pen was found on the playground and they never knew who it belonged to because it had no label. This is disturbing for many reasons, not the least of which is that an allergic student may not have had access to their Epi Pen in the case of an emergency.

I know we've got a lot of details to worry about as we enter school, such as getting all of the meds together in the first place. A lot of parents are wonderful at remembering to label all of their child's belongings but if (like me) you weren't born with the labeling gene, take a minute to make sure that you place an adhesive label on the container that your child's Epi Pen comes in. You should mark it with their name, teacher, grade and the expiration date of the medication. I also did this with my daughter's asthma inhaler.

The health office at your school is probably super-busy right now so if we can save them some time by being good little labelers, we will be generating goodwill while ensuring that our kids have the right meds with them if they need them.

I'm heading over to my kids' school today for a mandatory meeting with staff and all of the fourth grade teachers regarding my daughter's food allergies. Hooray for her school! They take the time and the initiative (they called me, I didn't call them--how refreshing!) to set up meetings with each allergic family to discuss any potential pitfalls as well as medical needs, emergency procedures, field trips, snacks, lunchtime, etc.

As I get my forms ready to go, I started thinking that the biggest problem we face as my daughter gets a handle on her own allergies and is less likely to knowingly ingest peanuts or tree nuts. And that problem is peanuts and tree nuts don't only show up in the school cafeteria or in the Halloween treats bag. They can turn up in the unlikeliest places.

Touching enough peanut or tree nut residue and then bringing that into your eyes or mouth can trigger reactions. The risk is there and it has happened to my daughter on her initial allergic reaction as well as to other kids that we know. For example, a neighbor boy played a video game after his friend ate peanut candy and he got hives, facial swelling and asthma symptoms. At the FAAN conference last spring, a speaker mentioned that her teenage son had a reaction from playing an air hockey game directly after someone who was eating peanuts. So, though the risk is lower than ingestion, it does exist and I need to bring it up.

I decided to provide the following list of non-edible items that may contain peanuts or tree nuts with a request to make sure my daughter either avoids these items or is given the chance to wash her hands after handling them. They include:

- Art supplies/craft projects. Many schools use food in craft projects -- like tree nuts and peanut butter -- and art supplies may contain nut oils. These need to be checked out.

- Small rodent food. My daughter's school has a science center that houses rabbits and guinea pigs--one of the kids' favorite parts of the day is visiting these pets. However, most small rodent food (hamsters, mice, plus rabbits and guinea pigs) almost always contains peanuts and usually some type of tree nut as well. For hygienic reasons I know the kids wash up after handling these animals, but it's good for the teachers to know that she may become exposed from these cute, seemingly harmless critters.

- Science experiments. One common chemistry experiment involves making peanut brittle; many other science experiments may use food. Make sure the teachers know that your child can't be involved in any science projects that contain their specific food allergens. By letting the teachers know early in the year, you give them time to accommodate your request.