Sunday, August 31, 2008

Food Allergies

My "social cause" is food allergies. I know this is not a huge topic like biodiversity or poverty, but it IS a huge issue in my house. My 6 year old son has multiple food allergies. He's allergic to: milk, egg, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, peanut, tree nut, beef, and pork. That means that he can't eat anything that contains - or has TOUCHED - these foods. Yes, I know - it sounds crazy. We've adapted to it in our house, but outside our house is a whole other story!

I need to pack food for him every time we leave the house because I can't just pick up fast food if we get stuck out at meal time. We can only eat at The Outback because so far it is the only restaurant willing to make my son's meals safely every time. And of course, restaurants can't heat up food for us so if we eat anyplace else, we have to cook at home for him and bring it with us (and hope we get our food before his gets cold). At school, his teachers have been wonderful, making the kids wash their hands any time they handle food (because merely the touch of milk on a table or someone's hands will make my son break out in severe hives, or worse). During lunch, his desk is pushed up to the edge of his class's table so he can still sit with his buddies without running the risk of an allergen being on his spot at the table.

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Age 30 - A Year of Books is a guest blogger at Bridges.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our youngest child was diagnosed with a milk allergy this year. I realized that, as much as I had tried to be sympathetic to families dealing with food allergies, I really had never understood the sort of vigilance it requires.

Thanks for this post.

ZM said...

+heather.pnr, nope - I never got it either, until the Eldest turned up. And then I only got some of it, until the Toddles came along to smack us with his FA list.

And so we learn, eh? Some days, it makes me really want to kick the TV for that J&J ad - having kids changes everything! You betcha. Especially what's for dinner.

heatherc11 said...

Hi!
My 19 month old son is allergic to soy,peanuts,eggs,wheat and dairy so I can sympathize with what you are going through.
I thought you might be interested in my site, www.spewdfree.com where all of the recipes are free of soy,peanuts,eggs,wheat,and dairy.
Thanks