Talking Allergies

I am just curious to get other people's feedback on this. I have been shocked at how much my allergy bill has gone down since I nailed down that corn was the cause of my problems. There have been a few high-ticket items---I spent nearly $6 on a box of cream of tartar today so I could make my own baking powder, for instance. And there are a few convenience items I miss But overall, I would say my bill about 20% cheaper since I buy hardly any frozen or convenience items now. I guess I had no idea I was spending so much on that stuff before! I still buy a certain brand of veggie burger, and I buy a few salad dressings (no low-fat ones due to corn starch) but a lot of snack items (granola bars, fruit roll-ups etc) are out due to the corn syrup, a lot of cereals are out due to corn flour (although there are a few I still can buy) and a lot of frozen foods are out due to the corn starch. Last week, I was fairly extravagant because I needed new cereal, and I bought some baking stuff. But I still only managed to spend $34 on a week and a half's worth of food. So for me, the rare specialty item like the cream of tartar is more than balanced out by the vastly reduced spending in other areas.

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Asthma and eczema
Drug allergy (succinylcholine)
Food (corn, raw apples, green beans, tree nuts, flax)
Misc (pollen, grass, mold, dogs, cats)

I think that there are some big ticket items but...we don't eat out so it tends to balance out.
Does anyone know how much real cheese costs now a days? The fake stuff is really not much more expensive.
The pasta drives me crazy!! Regular pasta is $0.77 per package on sale but our stuff rarely goes on sale and is $2.67.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Susan - I'm curious about the pasta - what is in regular pasta that your daughter cannot have? If she had a wheat allergy, I could understand, but with egg and dairy.... Anyway, just curious!

Anyway, I agree, a lot of packaged foods are really expensive. I am always amazed at what a box of cereal costs. If you could handle oatmeal every morning, you would save tons of money, because a bag of oatmeal is pretty cheap compared to a box of cereal, and you would get a lot more bowls out of it!

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I think I pay more. I am spending more on baking supplies and bakery products ( bread etc.). I also find that a lot of the generic store brands have"may contain" warnings where the name brand may not. For example, PC corn flakes ( $1.99) say "may contain" but Kellogg's ( $3.99) do not. I also regularly buy the Eat Well products that are more expensive but worth it.

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daughter: 6 years tree nuts, peanuts

I know I spend a good 100. or more a month on grocerys. That is just in Soy milk alone.

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Karen in Ohio mom of 7
Allergic to tons and tons of food as well as perfumes, scented air sprays and cleaners. Hubby to Fish, ds #2 Shellfish, youngest to Eggplant, potato, Caesin, Raw Tomato & spinach.

Our grocery bill is substanially up.

First, I cook more; second, products, breads that don't contain soy as an emulsifier (moistening agent) tend to be more upscale, therefore more dollars.

On the other hand, we eat out only less frequently than we used to. That saves many $.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Our grocery bill is also up. We've never eaten a lot of processed foods, so that hasn't changed much. But we now opt for trusted manufacturers with good labelling practices rather than what is cheapest, and use some products that we can only get at the health food store, which cost considerably more.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

Ours is way up and it was pricey to begin with since we have lots of fresh produce and a reasonable organic commitment. Since DD's is still quite diet restricted, we often have our real meal after she's in bed. So we seem to buy more, buy more specialised foods and of course hit the health food stores. I also think that I have a need to offer her more variety in one meal - in part for real nutritional need but also because she's limited by her allergens.

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renie
daughter: ana for egg, sesame, dairy, pistachio/cashew/hazelnut. allergic on contact. allergic to soy protein isolate. other lesser allergies (e.g. dogs, dust mites). well controlled asthma. eczema.
son: p-p-p-p-peanuts

Karen, we have never trusted the regular pastas Catelli, Lancia etc as they all make egg noodles and I am not comfortable with the risk of cross contamination. I called years ago and was advised they used the same lines.
We stick to rice noodles either the chinese stick noodles which are not too expensive or for a treat Rizopia noodles which are shaped like shells, fusilli or spiral noodles (for lake of a better term). They do not allow eggs in their facility. They go on sale on occasion at $0.99 per package and we try to buy enough to last until the next sale.
I personally can't stand the rice stick noodles but have found Y & Y egg less chow mein noodles at most supermarkets. These are $1.99 per package as well. They look like ramen noodles and you get 8 squares per package.
If you know of a egg free pasta I would love to hear of it. You're right, we don't have to worry about wheat-thank goodness!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I just sent you a PM - I'm pretty sure another OASG member will have an answer for you. I will be honest, we are not that rigourous and have never had a problem, and my youngest scores really high for the risk of reacting to egg. But I know that every family is different.

I guess I had enough rice pasta in the 3 years we were avoiding wheat!!!!

Also, it might be worth calling the companies again, since they might have changed their processes...

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I've called the pasta companies too and NO LUCK - all that I have called run egg on the same line HOWEVER Susan there are a number of the PC pasta products that are safely egg free (not on same line). Most of the PC Organics (rotini, fusilli, spaghetti) and some of the PC Whole Wheat (but not all the whole wheat) are safe (for egg, sesame and dairy)
I was THRILLED when I discovered this and frankly am so paranoid, that every time I call PC I double check to make sure it hasn't changed. We use the PC ones as well as the Eden 60% Whole Wheat and the Tinkyada (sp?).

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renie
daughter: ana for egg, sesame, dairy, pistachio/cashew/hazelnut. allergic on contact. allergic to soy protein isolate. other lesser allergies (e.g. dogs, dust mites). well controlled asthma. eczema.
son: p-p-p-p-peanuts

Our's is at least 30% higher. I think omitting wheat/oats and milk probably costs us the most money. Then again, turkey, chicken and egg didn't help either!

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2.5 year old: allergic to wheat, dairy, egg, peanut, oat, turkey, and cats
5 year old: no known allergies
Husband no known allergies
Me allergy to morphine only

We only use tinkyada pasta as well...since regular pastas have always bothered my youngest (hives around mouth etc.). She's very skin reactive so it's pretty obvious when something is not okay for her. I'll look into the pc organics ones...we've had a lot of luck lately with organic products, they seem to have stricter cross contamination control procedures.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

Low down on PC pastas - I honestly cried when I discovered that I could open up the pasta world for our girl.
As you know, information could change at any time so I always recommend calling for yourself and of course what is right for one family is not acceptable for another...

The Memories of Marrakesh Couscous (plain and whole wheat), organic macaroni, organic brown rice spaghetti and tagliatelli nests have no egg in the plant.

The WW Rotini & Spaghetti have egg in the plant, but not on the line.

I *believe* that the Organic penne, rotini and spaghetti do not have egg in the plant, but am not 100% sure. I do know for certain that egg is not on the line as that is not an acceptable risk for our DD.

I obsessively write down bar codes and call even on unlikely products, like pasta. Sometimes it turns out and I do a happy dance.

If you want bar codes, PM me and I will pull them from my allergen-food file

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renie
daughter: ana for egg, sesame, dairy, pistachio/cashew/hazelnut. allergic on contact. allergic to soy protein isolate. other lesser allergies (e.g. dogs, dust mites). well controlled asthma. eczema.
son: p-p-p-p-peanuts

Renie and all,

Thanks for the pasta and couscous info! Dh and I are both so excited. Neither of us mind the Tinkyada pasta, but we DO mind the price when we can't get it on sale regularly enough.

And, to add my piece to this thread, I think our grocery bill is higher, but I can't say by how much. It is partly due to needing to buy some speciality products, but then also just that we've started to think harder about what we're eating, so have organic produce delivered and I tend to pick organic items more often.

Thanks again!

Marla

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*Son, 5 years old: Asperger's, allergic to eggs, peanuts, and mustard seed (outgrew dairy and soy)
*Son, 23 months old
*Hubby: allergic to cats and trees (non-specified types)
*Self: allergic to penicillin