Talking Allergies

Saskmommy,
I have started using the earth balance, the only thing I don't like is that it is so hard. Do you keep yours out of the fridge?
Stephanie

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myself -Shell Fish, asthma, environmental allergies
Husband - Environmental allergies
7 year old- peanut, environmental
5 year old- eggs, nuts, fish, peas, environmental, and asthma.

Sorry saskmommy, I should have looked more closely at your posting from 2005, where you do give the URL for Earth Balance. I'm glad to hear others endorsing it as a great product. It is so much better than Fleishmann's, which of course is off limits now anyway.

I wonder when they (Fleishmann's) are going to wake up and put a 'may contain' warning on their packages?? We've been using their salted lactose-free margarine for two years as a cheaper alternative (saving the Earth Balance for baking and popcorn, etc.), and all this time we were playing russian roulette. It's hard to believe that a big company like Fleishmann's could make that kind of mistake. Oh well, they just lost the dairy allergic market.

I know this is not the recipe thread, but since we're on the subject of margarine, I have to share this great frosting recipe:

Melody's Best Ever Vegan Frosting
(created by my friend Melody Tolson, who used to be a pastry chef)

1 tub Tofutti 'Better than Cream Cheese' (original flavour)
1 cup Earth Balance margarine (or other milk-free margarine -- not Fleishmann's!)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5-7 cups confectioner's sugar, depending on desired consistency
food colouring (optional)

Combine all in stand mixer and whip on med-high until very smooth. Makes enough to frost a large sheet cake or at least one 8-in. double-layer cake.

Enjoy!

Lee Parpart
Toronto, ON
dd: asthma, anaphylactic to milk, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, pollens, and the vaccine Pentacal
dh: asthma, hay fever
me: none

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Lee Parpart
Toronto

Earth balance makes a "whipped" margarine as well. It spreads better .

I was actually thinking of trying tofutti cream creese in a frosting...thanks.

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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.

Sakmommy
I have tried the whipped as well but am still finding pretty hard. I do really like the sticks for baking with though.
Stephanie

Stephanie,

I know what you mean -- my husband preferred Fleischmann's (until the latest word about its safety) because Earth Balance was too hard. But on the plus side, it warms up faster than cold butter. Just a few minutes on the counter seems to do the trick. I wouldn't feel comfy leaving it out all the time.

Cheers,
Lee

p.s. not that anyone's probably reading signatures this closely, but I accidentally wrote in my last message that dd was anaphylactic to pollen. She's not -- she's anaphylactic to milk, peanuts, tree nuts and Pentacel, severe (with GI symptoms only) to egg, and about as sensitive to pollens as the next atopic person.

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Lee Parpart
Toronto

Hi,

I was curious whether anyone knew of a margine that also does not have soy?

My son is allergic to egg, milk and soy.

Any suggestions? I couldn't tell if all of the Earth's Best products contain soy but they didn't say anything about not containing soy so I can't tell yet....

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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

When we saw ds's dietician last month, she recommended Becel RSF. I haven't contacted the company yet about its safety for those who are milk and soy allergic though (i.e., if it's produced on the same line as their dairy&soy-containing marg's).

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

Karen,
You had mentioned that you might look into the Fleichmans letter to the editor in the last issue. Have you found anything out?
Stephanie

I did ask my friend, who said that Unilever told her there wasn't a problem. But I want to follow up.

I'm actually planning on calling Unilever tomorrow and quoting the letter to the editor to them. If the info is true about the casein, we should all know about this. If it's false, well, we should know that too.

I will report back.

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 haven't heard of a soy free margarine. I have heard of people using Spectrum Shortening as a sort of margarine.

http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=87

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 had no luck with a dairy/soy free margarine. Earth Balance contains soy. Coconut oil works well in baking, provided you don't also have coconut allergies!

Oops, sorry Karen! I didn't check your link before posting - spectrum shortening is coconut oil. I have used it in the past and it adds a really nice flavour. It is quite hard so I keep it in the cupboard, not the fridge.

Is coconut oil OK for those with peanut and/or nut allergies? I should really know this, but isn't coconut a nut? Is the oil considered OK if it's refined?

Thanks,
Lee

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Lee Parpart
Toronto

Here's a discussion about coconut: http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73
and another: http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/vie ... php?t=1215

Thanks ethansmom, very helpful.

Has there been a similar discussion about shea butter? (I ask because my daughter's kindergarten teacher loves the stuff and has it in her moisturizer and hand soap. She very graciously brought in a photocopied list of the ingredients in her moisturizer, and after some discussion about it she offered to switch to Glysomed, which is what we use at home. I gave her a big tub of the stuff and she is using it, but the staff washroom at my daughter's school still has a shea butter soap. I am not sure whether to go the extra step and ask them to switch...)

And all of this has nothing to do with margarine, so I should really be posting this elsewhere....but with folks like ethansmom knowing the history of this listserv, I thought I would ask.

cheers,
lee

dd: asthmatic, anaphylactic to milk, peanuts, tree nuts and the vaccine Pentacel, severely allergic to egg, allergic to various environmentals
dh: asthmatic, environmental allergies
me: none

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Lee Parpart
Toronto