As any soy-allergic person will tell you, it seems as though the small vegetable is in just about everything – and they’re right. The tiny legumes – which are related to clover, peas and alfalfa – are incredibly versatile as a food, but they are also used in thousands of products such as soaps, cosmetics,plastics, [...]

Allergic Living’s tips for living safely and well with food allergies. 1. Never eat without your auto-injector, period. 2. If you’re a child, never eat food that one of your parents hasn’t approved. If you’re an adult, don’t even think about that mystery food. 3. Read labels. Always. Know the ingredients of every food that [...]

Allergen Where It Hides Alternate Names Peanuts chocolate/candy bars-barbecue sauces Asian-style dipping sauces (particularly Szechuan) curry sauces egg rolls, spring rolls trail mixes Ice cream (peanut butter flavor or “Reese’s” ice cream) Certain body-care products and makeups use peanut derivatives or peanut oil dog food or biscuits non food: bird seed, bird feeder, ant traps [...]

You’ve been given the list of foods to avoid and the task of reading the labels on everything in your kitchen. You may be wide-eyed at the task ahead, but with a little preparation (OK, a lot at first), and maybe a few new tools, you’ll soon be able to make safe, nutritious meals for [...]

For such a small, fuzzy fruit, it sure can cause more than its share of problems. Also known as the Chinese gooseberry or macaque peach, the kiwi fruit has gone from being an exotic import to becoming a mainstay of the North American diet – and along with its newfound popularity has come an increase [...]

If you were to ask people on the street what are the most common food allergies, they would likely answer: peanuts, nuts, seafood, wheat or milk. But sesame? Probably not. So how did it land on Health Canada’s list of priority allergens? In short, in the ‘80s and ‘90s sesame became more common in breads, [...]

Seeds are a good inexpensive source of protein, and we’re eating more of them. They lurk in unlikely places. While sesame is the only seed trigger on Canada’s current priority allergen list, medical studies show people have reacted to mustard seed, sunflower, poppy seeds, flax seeds – and even perilla, an Asian seed used in [...]

A food allergy occurs when a person’s immune system identifies proteins in a food as allergenic and begins to produce antibodies – called Immunoglobulin E or IgE – to guard against that food (e.g. shellfish or peanuts). These antibodies attach themselves to mast cells in the body, and when the person again eats the allergenic [...]

Mustard has taken its place among the top foods of concern for allergies in Canada. Health Canada announced in September 2009 that it is adding the seed on its list of “priority allergens”, which also includes peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat and sulphites. Health Canada also developed criteria with [...]

You’ve just come home from the doctor’s office. You have a white prescription slip for an EpiPen and a newly diagnosed sesame allergy for your child. Life is about to change, but rest assured, food allergies can be managed. It helps if you to adopt a cautious, not fearful, approach and develop a plan. Allergy [...]