Introducing Neocate Flavor Straws

Great News – Neocate just launched new dairy-free Flavor Straws! Available in Strawberry, Banana and Cookies and Cream the straws are kid-friendly and designed to introduce new flavors to children on Neocate Junior and Neocate One+.

Interested in trying out the straws? Visit www.Nutricia-NA.com/flavorstraws. Nutricia is offering 20 Flavor Straws free for every case of Neocate Junior or Neocate One+ that you purchase.

Also, check with your healthcare provider for samples.

Do you think your children will enjoy Flavor Straws? Let us know what you think and which flavors are their favorites!

- Sarah

Halloween Food Allergy Twitter Party

Halloween is a little over a month away, and we know that all those treats can be tricky when you have little ones with food allergies. To help you plan for a fun and safe celebration, Ruth Smith of www.bestallergysites.com and Jennifer Buteau of www.foodallergybuzz.com are hosting a Halloween Food Allergy Twitter Party! If you participated in their past Twitter Parties about Back to School and Food Allergy Awareness Week you know this is a great way to connect with other parents in the food allergy community to share tips and ideas.

The party will take place on Friday, October 2nd from 9:30 PM to 10:20 PM (EST) at summize.com or tweetgrid.com. The hashtag for the party is #foodallergy.

The discussion will cover safe Halloween treats, parties, trick-or-treating and more. There will also be a chance to win some great door prizes. For more information, and to RSVP, be sure to check out the event invitation here.

Hope to see you all there!

-Christine

Allergy Dogs Are Saving Children’s Lives

As many food allergy parents know, sending your little ones off to school or daycare can be a nerve-wracking experience. Without a carefully controlled environment, children could accidentally come into contact with allergenic foods and experience an anaphylactic reaction. And while many schools are making the change to “peanut-free” zones, there are few that prohibit other food allergens such as milk.

Enter Angel Service Dogs. These furry friends are specially trained to sniff out trace amounts of allergens and then alert their handler to these potential threats. These service dogs can shadow young children at school or daycare when parents aren’t around to watch their child’s every move. For example, the dog can enter the cafeteria ahead of the child and sniff out and signal the presence of allergens.

Unfortunately, these life-saving dogs come with a steep price tag - $15,000. But for families like the Slobodians in Lindenhurst, Illinois, the cost is worth it for an extra layer of protection for their daughter Kate. They are working hard to raise the money by hosting special fundraisers in their town.

Hopefully more dogs will be trained to detect allergens and will help make life a bit easier for children with severe food allergies.

- Nita

After School Special: Milk-Free Shakes

With the school year back in full swing, we wanted to share with you a tasty, healthy and safe after-school snack. This “Milk-Free Shake” is made with Neocate Nutra, a hypoallergenic, amino acid-based semi-solid medical food that is a good source of calcium and Vitamin D. You can also vary the recipe by substituting other tolerated fruits for the banana in this shake. Enjoy!

Milk-Free Banana Shake

• 8 scoops (37 g) Neocate Nutra powder
• 2 fl oz water
• ½ cup banana, sliced
• 2 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into container and enjoy.

Yields 1 serving.

Calories 240
Protein 4 g
Carbohydrate 42 g
Fat 7 g
Calcium 254 mg
Vitamin D 2mcg

For other snack ideas, check out the Neocate Nutra Recipe Guide.

-Mallory

Faster Food-Safety Alerts

We have written about the dangers of food contamination for allergic children before, and last week the FDA implemented a new system to help identify potential problems much faster.

Companies will now be required to use an electronic food registry to alert the FDA within 24 hours of finding good contamination that could cause people to become severely ill or die. This is a huge improvement over the past, when the FDA was only notified of contamination when people became ill. If a company fails to report potential food-borne outbreaks within 24 hours they will face an injunction, fines or other punishment.

Luckily for parents, the makers of infant formula are already required to report contamination problems to the FDA through a separate electronic system. However, it is nice to know that now ALL of our food will be subject to more intense scrutiny.

-Christine

Hope For a Milk Allergy Cure at Children’s Hospital Boston

A new Milk Allergy Desensitization study is being conducted at Children’s Hospital Boston. Cameras followed the first patient to participate in the study, Brett Nasuti, along the way. Brett is 11 years old and was born with allergies to 15 different foods, including a severe milk allergy.

The first video in this three part series features Brett and his mother Robin talking about the challenges the family faces living with his milk allergy. In the second video Dr. Lynda Schneider, MD, the Allergy Program Director, discusses the details of her groundbreaking study and how the clinical trial works. Finally, in the third video we get to watch as Brett takes his first “sips” of milk to test his tolerance.

You’ll have to watch the videos to see the outcome of Brett’s first experience with milk, but this little guy has a great attitude throughout the process. Hopefully this study will bring new hope and a cure for food allergies!

-Nita

When Cookie Dough Becomes Dangerous

I came across this article the other day in The Washington Post about a woman in Las Vegas who has been fighting for her life since eating a tube of cookie dough contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The article highlights the real dangers of food contamination. While this is always a concern for those with food allergies who could have severe reactions to food that is contaminated with unknown allergens, the general public now also runs the risk of bacterial contamination in the food supply.

Fortunately, as the article reports, Congress is taking action:

“In July, the House approved legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new powers and place new responsibilities on food producers. The bill would speed up the ability of health officials to track down the source of an outbreak and give the government the power to mandate a recall, rather than rely on food producers to voluntarily pull tainted products from the shelves.”

This bill also gives the FDA the power to act quickly in response to food that contains undeclared allergens, which is great news for those living with food allergies. Hopefully this important legislation will be passed by Congress and help prevent tragedies like this one.

-Mallory

How an iPhone Can Help Manage Your Food Allergies

As anyone dealing with food allergies knows, grocery shopping and eating out can be daunting tasks. Fortunately, new technology is making managing food allergies a little easier. By making use of some handy iPhone apps you can get help identifying safe food options in the grocery store and when you are traveling or away from home.

Allergy Companion NoPeanut features a list of foods to avoid at popular chain restaurants in the United States and Canada, emergency and allergy restaurant cards in multiple languages, and links to information about allergens. Cost: $2.99.

Eat Safe! is designed for travelers with food allergies who don’t speak the language of the country they are visiting. It uses graphics to show what items people are allergic to, including Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Soy and Wheat. Cost: $2.99.

iCanEat OnTheGo Gluten & Allergen Free(TM) helps you search for allergen free items from 15 fast food chains in the United States. The application allows users to select from one or any combination of the 9 most common allergens including eggs, fish, gluten, milk, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts and wheat. The app hides items that contain the selected allergen and lists only the safe options from a database of over 1,500 menu items at Arby's, Boston Market, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Dairy Queen, Domino's, Dunkin' Donuts, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Qdoba, Sonic, Subway, Taco Bell & Wendy's. Cost: $4.99.

Pepper Stuff Gluten-Free Restaurant Cards From Celiac Travel provides allergy cards in multiple languages that individuals with celiac disease can show at restaurants when they are traveling abroad. Cost: FREE.

WebArtisan Food Additives provides information about what several hundred common food additives are derived from and notes which ones are gluten-free. Cost: $3.99.

All of these apps are available for download in the iTunes store. Have you used any of these Food Allergy Apps or do you know of any others? Let us know in the comments section!

-Christine