Talking Allergies

I understand from the topic about food labeling that in Canada there is no law about specific allergens on the label? In The Netherlands there are 14 allergens which has to be mentioned on the label (also "may contain") by law.
Do you have tips for us how to find out the hidden ingredients in english? Especially for milk, egg, peanuts, seeds and nuts. But also potato, olive oil and sunfloweroil.

And we are also looking for a kind of store In Vancouver, the way to Calgary, Jasper park and Vancouver Island where we can buy our food, like milk-and sesamefree bread, soy products and other things.
Thanks!

Food labeling isn't law as such, but the gov't here has had excellent compliance on naming our top 10 allergens on labels: peanut, nut, soy, shellfish, fish, dairy, egg, sesame, wheat and sulphites. Watch out for: imports (not always good compliance) and there still can be issues of ingredients of ingredients. (Though not too many incidents).

For places to shop, a great resource is Whole Foods.

There's one in West Vancouver: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/canada/ ... index.html

_________________
Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

That's great! There's a lot of lactosefree food in there. But it is not near the airport (we have for 1 night a hotel there) or is it not too far away? But it is great to know there is a good shop, so we don't need to take things for a month with us.. Is it a shop you can find in a lot of places? Is it common to find such stores? Here we have special naturestores, which you need to know when you want to go there.

The West Van Whole Foods is a good 45 minutes from the airport by car. Public transport is not a good option.
Whole Foods is a specialty store and I believe that the one in West Van is the only one in BC. You might want to research your options in Richmond, which is where the airport is located. I am not familiar with it and you need to know that it has a high Asian population, so watch for sesame as well.
As I put in my other post, you may want to consider Capers which is 20-25 minutes by car instead. They may even special order for you if you know what you want and contact them in advance.

_________________
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

Dutchmama,

Labeling in Canada is very good for the top 10 allergens; although labelling for "may contains" is optional, as is further description for "vegetable oil". I always call the phone number listed on the package if I have concern, but this could be difficult for you with your one night stay near the airport. For that one evening, it might be best to bring some safe dry foods from home. Our son has multiple food allergies which include some foods which fall within the top 10, but some that fall outside the top 10 (sunflower, mustard, poppy seed, pineapple & green peas and other legumes). If the label includes "vegetable oil" with no further descriptor (sometimes a further description will follow in brackets, but sometimes it is not included - this is still optional labeling in Canada), I will either not purchase the item, or will make sure I call the phone number listed on the package. Breads are very tricky, and there are only 2 companies that I really trust because of the sesame allergy (and other nuts and seeds). Both companies are large bread making facilities located in Toronto, so I'm not sure if the products can be found in the west. Can you bring bread from home and freeze it once you get here? I realise you are here for quite some time, but maybe you could keep the frozen bread for your allergic family member, and purchase bread for the rest of your family? Or would it be feasible to buy a breadmaker when you get here (they cost around $100) and make your own bread - not sure if this is a great option for you.

Any food investigation you can do before you arrive would probably be best. If you can order ahead of time, it would be well worth the effort.

Enjoy your trip!

_________________
14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

Julie -- I learned here that manufacturers do have to declare if peanut is the source of their vegetable oil. I did a quick search on the CFIA's website and here's the page that references it: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fss ... 1e.shtml#1

You're right Ethansmom - I forgot about the declaration for peanut oil. But, the requirement is not there for other oils, and since we are dealing with sunflower allergy (amongst others), we've found a lot of "vegetable oils" used without declaration of the specific oil, quite often end up being sunflower, which is not good for us. If other vegetable oils are a problem for certain individuals, and the allergen falls outside the top 10, the declaration of specifics is not required.

_________________
14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses