FAAN Holiday Safety Tips

 Alert holiday party hosts about your food allergy and clarify all ingredients used to prepare foods. 

Avoid dishes with sauces or myriad ingredients; these may contain hidden ingredients. 

Eat before attending special events in case the foods that are served contain allergens. 

For party hosts, FAAN encourages sensitivity towards guest with food allergies and suggests using designated pots, pans and utensils to avoid cross contact of foods. FAAN stresses that it only takes a particle of an allergen to cause a reaction.

 Confusing Ingredient Terms – During the holiday season, FAAN receives numerous phone calls from members who have questions about ingredients. Here are some of the terms that often asked about:

Nutmeg and mace: Both are obtained from the same tropical tree. The seed of this tree is the source of nutmeg. The outer coating of the seed is ground to make the mace. These ingredients should, according to FAAN, be safe for a person who is allergic to tree nuts.   http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/treenut.html Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate: Combinations of lactic acid and stearic acid. They are used as dough conditioners, whipping agents and emulsifiers. These ingredients should be safe for a milk-allergic person. Lactic acid: A commercial food produced either by chemical synthesis or from bacterial fermentation of a carbohydrate such as corn sugar. It is considered safe for a milk-allergic person. However, lactic acid starter culture may contain milk. Patients should contact the manufacturer to find out the safety of this ingredient. Marzipan: A paste made of ground almonds, sugar and sometimes egg whites. Marzipan is not safe for people who are allergic to almonds or eggs. 

Additional resources are available on the FAAN Web site (www.foodallergy.org) or by calling 800-929-4040.

 A few more tips: bring your own when in doubt, or to minimize your stress watch the turkey – they call it ‘Butterball‘ for a reason, so always check the label for added ingredients and solutions be aware of every single ingredient in every recipe – this is the time of year when people get experimental – don’t assume they make it the way you do.  Stuffing or any other dish with many ingredients should be closely scrutinized or avoided. Ground nuts are very common additions for flavor. create new traditional favorites.  Make an apple or fruit pie instead of pumpkin, but only at the holidays – make it special.  Bake certain cookies only for the holiday so they are more treasured and anticipated shop early for food alternatives for favorite recipes – i.e. Tofutti sour cream and cream cheese, both made with soy.  Whipped toppings that are dairy free – the frozen type for decorative/layered desserts, the ones in the can for toppings (dairy free hot cocoa, etc) where they don’t have to hold their shape.  Shop the kosher sections, or check in the freezer section for Rich’s Whip, Kineret, etc.   Soy-a-too is a canned variety, in the Wegman’s.   Rich’s Whip is in the freezer case (at Top’s on Maple/Bailey), Kineret is generally found in the frozen kosher section.