How To Plan and Cook An Allergen Free Thanksgiving

Fall has officially kicked in. Halloween has come and gone, but that means that Thanksgiving, Chanakuah, Christmas and New Years are all around the corner.

To us, these holidays represent good friends, family and of course food! But for someone with food allergies, these food festive holidays can be daunting. Are you hosting a Thanksgiving this year? Is anyone attending that has food allergies? Here are six helpful tips to navigate your way through a successful Thanksgiving if you are serving someone with food allergies:

1. Make sure to ask your guests about any food allergies, sensitivities or intolerances ahead of time!
2. If you aren’t sure about a particular ingredient based on your guests responses, make sure you ask them during your meal planning stage so you don’t waste time buying, prepping and cooking something that your guest can’t eat. They know better than you. So just ask!
3. Check the labels of all ingredients even if you regularly use them. Many day-to-day ingredients have hidden allergens in them, for example gluten or soy. For example some chicken stocks and salted butter have gluten added.
4. Something else to check the label for is cross contamination. Some products are made in factories that make other products, which may contain allergens. Be sure to check the label for any cross contamination verbiage like, “may contain” even though the ingredient isn’t listed among the ingredients.
5.  When you serve your meal, make sure to identify dishes that your food allergy guests SHOULD NOT EAT. And, maybe move them away from the other food so that no cross contamination occurs on accident. It’s ok to have some dishes that they might not be able to eat, just make sure it’s labeled properly.
6. Cross contamination is a real threat. Be sure to use separate serving dishes and serving spoons for each dish, especially for those that you are making specifically allergen-free.

If you have any other questions about food allergies or want more solutions on how to go about preparing a food allergy friendly Thanksgiving meal, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are here to help! Feel free to give us a call at 212-729-1283 or email us at info@hudsonallergy.com

Also, if you are looking for a good resource for allergen-free Thanksgiving recipes and ideas, check out the Food Your Way: Intentional & Creative Living blog post titled, Allergen-Free Dishes for Thanksgiving Dinner for a list of great allergen free recipes.

Photo credit: The Vault DFW via photopin cc

Tips to Prevent Candy Allergies During Halloween

October is here and with that comes Halloween. However, for those who have food allergies, this time of year can be tricky as some Halloween candies contain ingredients that people are allergic to. This can be dangerous -- especially for children. In fact, food allergies affect 1 in 13 children under the age of 18.

Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/special/618283/

Nuts are commonly found in Halloween candy, which is one of the “Big 8” ingredients that cause allergies. Some examples of Halloween candies with nuts are Snickers, Butterfingers, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Something else important to know is that even if a particular candy does not actually contain nuts, a child can still be allergic to candy that is made in a plant that processes peanuts and tree nuts. Therefore it is important to know where the candy is made and if this type of information is available on the label. Common symptoms related to these types of food allergies are nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, hives, shortness of breath, wheezing, lightheadedness or even cause someone to go into anaphylactic shock.

Food allergies can also be caused by milk, eggs, wheat, and soy, which are also common, ingredients in candy. Often times, these food allergens are hidden ingredients in candy. For example, did you know that soy can be found in lollipops and gummy candies? The best way to confirm if there are hidden allergens in Halloween candy is to read the ingredient label on each candy package. Another thing to know is that the ingredients of bite-sized candy may differ from those ingredients used in the regular size of the same candy.

It’s important that parents prepare for Halloween by knowing before hand which candies have ingredients that can cause food allergies before Halloween trick-or-treating starts! Here are a few tips from Hudson Allergy to help parents prevent unforeseen allergic reactions during Halloween.

●      Identify candy that you already know your child is allergic to before you start trick-or-treating.

●      Establish ground rules and identify candy that your child shouldn’t eat before Halloween.

●      Prepare a bag filled with allergy “safe treats” in advance and then swap them out for the candy that’s been collected that contains ingredients that your child is allergic to.

●      Carry emergency medication such as an Epi Pen or Benadryl.

●      Go trick-or-treating with your child.

●      Educate your child’s friends and their families about your child’s allergy

●      Try to avoid letting other children touch or carry candy that contains the allergens your child is allergic to.

So, before you start trick-or-treating, let your neighbors know that your child has food allergies and suggest allergy-free Halloween treats in advance to hand out to your child.  Another good idea is to feed your child before going trick-or-treating so there is less temptation to "sneak a treat" while they are out and about. By taking the time to prepare, you can better protect your children and have a safe Halloween. 

If you have any questions regarding candy allergies, contact us at info@hudsonallergy.com or give us a call at 212-729-1283.

Three Things To Know If You Have Food Allergies – Roundtable Event Recap!

We had so much fun last week at our food allergy roundtable event that we wanted to do a short recap post. In addition, we also wanted to thank all of our participants for asking great questions and adding to the conversation as well as The Skinny Chef, Jen Isherloh for bringing the “chefs” perspective on dining out with food allergies.

Here are the three main take-aways from the event:

1)   It’s important to have a plan in place when dining out at restaurants if you have food allergies

The main topic of the food allergy roundtable event was to educate people on how to dine out safely in restaurants if you have food allergies. While it’s our hope that restaurants have a protocol in place to properly serve someone with food allergies, this is not often the case. For that reason, we are big proponents of mapping out a strategy for patients that have food allergies, especially life-threatening ones.

As we outlined in a previous blog post, “Four Tips on dining out at restaurants if you have allergies,” here are the four tips we recommend to our patients:

1. Know your restaurant
2. Communicate with everyone, but start at the top
3. Make sure that the dish that arrives is YOUR dish
4. Beware of hidden allergens

2) It’s important to know how to use an EpiPen

We’ve all heard of an “EpiPen” but now it’s time to answer some questions around the device. Here’s why you need to use it, when to use it and finally how to use it.

The reason why you’d need to use an epipen is incase you go into anaphylactic shock.  According to epipen.com, “Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction that can occur quickly (as fast as within a couple of minutes). Symptoms of a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) vary, but can include hives, itching, flushing, and swelling of the lips, tongue, and roof of mouth. Other more severe symptoms include shortness of breath, throat closing, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, etc.”

Even if you don’t have food allergies it’s important to know how to administrate an epipen injection, as you never know when you might be in a situation when you are asked to administer a shot for someone.  It’s actually said that about 20% of the time an epipen is used, the shot is given by someone else, and not the person who it’s prescribed to.

Here’s are a few tips on how to properly use an EpiPen:

1. Make sure you have a “live” or full EpiPen.
2. Remove blue cap at the top of the pen
3. To hold the epipen properly, grab it as if you were holding a bar, so that both your fingers and thumb are wrapped around the device. Do not put your thumb on the top of the device.
4. When you are ready, stick the epipen into the outer or lateral thigh region of the body and hold for 10 seconds. This is very important because you want to ensure that all the liquid from the pen gets injected into the body.
5.  Don’t worry about removing clothes. The epipen will penetrate through the clothes as long as they are tight to your skin.

3) Having a “gluten allergy” is a misnomer

Here’s why: While we could dedicate a whole post to this topic, the main point we want to share is that considering gluten as an allergy (or allergen) is a misnomer. Not being able to digest gluten is really an antibody mediated inflammatory response, which is different than typical allergies.

If your system truly can’t tolerate gluten, then you have the disease that is called Celiac disease. Celiac disease is a disorder that hurts the inside lining of the small intestine and inhibits it from absorbing parts of food that you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The damage is a result of a reaction to eating gluten.

The test for identifying Celiac disease isn’t always conclusive however and this is where the grey area happens. From an allergist’s perspective, we believe that there are some people who do not fit the standard criteria for Celiac Disease, however they are still gluten sensitive.

If you think you have Celiac disease, we’d recommend visiting a Primary Care or Gastroenterologist. If after that you are still looking for answers, then come and visit your local Tribeca allergist. Together we will try to look for an answer and see if there is actually a gluten allergy.

To learn more about food allergies visit our website: www.hudsonallergy.com 

Three helpful mobile apps for people with allergies!

Everyday we see new patients who come to us because they think they have allergies.  It’s important to us not only treat our patients, but also provide our patients with education and tools to help them successfully live life with allergies. (Reason number 234 why we aren’t just another allergy practice! We understand out patients and want to help them in today’s modern times. )

According to Pew Research, as of 2013, 56% of American adults are now smartphone owners. With such a high adoption rate, mobile applications are continually created to help satisfy a need or provide a way to make life easier. This concept has been applied to people with allergies, as new applications are being build every day to help people with food and pollen allergies.

Here are three mobile applications that we’d recommend every person with allergies have on their smart phone:

UPC Food Scanner

This is a great mobile application that detects and identifies allergy related ingredients on barcodes and labels of packaged food products. This application allows you to identify and “tag” your particular food allergies, for example, milk, nuts, shellfish. Then, when you scan a bar code on a food product, it'll tell you if your allergy is in the ingredients. The one thing that you need to keep in mind is that it doesn’t let you know if a product was made in a facility with shared equipment or cross contamination warnings for listed with ingredients.

This application is available for download on an iPhone and iPad to make shopping for groceries that much easier for people who have food allergies.  Click here to learn more about UPC Food Scanner.

AllergyCast

As fall is just around the corner, many of our patients ask us to recommend a website or phone application we’d suggest using to track pollen levels.  Our answer is AllergyCast by Zyrtec.  But, in addition to checking pollen levels, the AllergyCast app also allows you to check the weather, log your allergy symptoms and track how you’re feeling. This can be a really helpful tool to keep track of what’s happen in terms of pollen counts, but also how the pollen levels (and which in particular) are affecting you!!

Click here to download the phone app, which is available on both iPhone as well as Android devices.

 

Leafsnap App

The LeafSnap phone application was developed by University of Maryland, Smithsonian Institute and Columbia University to help turn users into LeafSnap citizen scientists, automatically sharing images, species identifications, and geo-coded stamps of species locations with a community of scientists who will use the stream of data to map and monitor the ebb and flow of flora nationwide.

It uses a proprietary database that can determine the type of tree just by taking a photograph of a leaf. This is a perfect phone app for those people with springtime tree allergies. This app will help you learn to recognize what trees you are allergic to so that you can try to avoid sitting under one during your weekend picnic in Central Park.

This app is available for iPhone and iPad users. Click here to download.

If you are looking for more information about allergies or have questions about other resources available to people with allergies, give us a call. We can be reached at 212-729-1283 or send us an email at info@hudsonallergy.com.

Hudson Allergy and the Skinny Chef Host a Community Roundtable Event to Educate People With Food Allergies on How to Safely Dine in a Restaurant

Don’t let food allergies prevent you from dining out. Attend Hudson Allergy’s roundtable discussion and learn quick tips and tools to dine out safely.

Leading Tribeca Allergy Practice, Hudson Allergy, teams up with The Skinny Chef, Jennifer Iserloh, to host a free community event in Tribeca aimed at educating the public on how to consider food allergies when dining in a restaurant.

Restaurant culture and dining out drives the New York City life style, however ordering at a restaurant can prove challenging for people with food and alcohol allergies, especially as restaurants continue to evolve their menus to keep up with consumers appetites. It has become imperative that people who have allergies understand what they need to consider when ordering food in a restaurant.

Two of Hudson Allergies top physicians, Dr. Tim Mainardi and Dr. Julie Kuriakose, regularly advise patients on things they need to consider when eating food that has been prepared by a third party. Be it reviewing ingredients on the side of packaging or asking a server if the bread has egg wash, there are many things that people with allergies have to consider when dining. Hudson Allergy has paired with The Skinny Chef, Jennifer Iserloh, to host a community roundtable to educate the public about tips and resources available to them to help prevent allergic reactions to food in restaurant situations.

Chef Iserloh was invited to participate in the discussion to give advice on eating out with allergies from a chef’s perspective. Additionally, the Skinny Chef will be giving away some of her latest super-food sauces.

Topics to be discussed include, questions to ask at a restaurant, what to do if you feel the onset of symptoms, dining out resources, reasons to see an allergist, and a question and answer segment. Space is limited at this free community event and RSVPs are requested at hudsonallergy(at)gmail(dot)com. Specific questions are encouraged to be emailed before the event, however can be asked during the Q&A part of the discussion.

“It is our duty as physicians to foster a more educated and healthier community,” stated Dr. Julie Kuriakose, co-founder and allergist at Hudson Allergy. “While it’s estimated that up to 15 million people in the US live with food allergies, this shouldn’t inhibit them from eating at some of the amazing restaurants that New York City has to offer. As a practice we are glad to offer free events and educate the community on how to do their own due diligence to minimize their chances of having an allergic reaction while enjoying a night on the town.”

About Hudson Allergy

Hudson Allergy was formed in early 2012 and offers a new standard of medical care. Hudson Allergy is lead by two Columbia University trained physicians who strive to provide personalized, evidence based care that best serves the need of their patients.

Hudson Allergy offers the highest level of care, with same-day appointments, comprehensive services and electronic medical records. The doctors at Hudson Allergy spend more time with patients and patients spend less time waiting. Hudson Allergy strongly believes in patient education, which is at the center of the practice. An educated patient is a healthier patient.

Roundtable Event: Don’t let food allergies keep you from dining out in NYC!

Don’t be afraid to eat at restaurants because of your food allergies. Embrace them. Just be sure you know the facts!

The doctors at Hudson Allergy are joined by the Skinny Chef to give people with food allergies quick tips and tools to dine our safely.

Join us on Thursday, August 15^th at 6:30pm

 Hudson Allergy, 49 Murray Street, Tribeca

Dr. Tim Mainardi & Dr. Julie Kuriakose from Hudson Allergy will host this roundtable discussion dedicated to food allergies and dining out safely in our foodie culture. The event will highlight:

-       Questions to ask when you are at a restaurant

-       What to do if you feel the onset of symptoms

-       Dining out resources

-       Reasons to see an allergist

-       Q & A

Plus, joining the doctors of Hudson Allergy is special guest Jennifer Iserloh.

Jennifer Iserloh, also known as the Skinny Chef, joins the discussion and gives advice on eating out with allergies from a chef’s perspective. Plus she’ll be giving away her latest superfood sauces to a few lucky winners!

Do you have specific questions? Please email us in advance at info@hudsonallergy.com or ask them during the  Q & A session. Looking forward to seeing you there. If you are planning on attending, please register on our Facebook Page.