Ohh! So Good: Allergen-Friendly Food Blog
#OhhMoments - Estefania shares her journey being a mom to kids who have allergies!
"Hi, my name is Estefanía, I live in Spain, I'm a mother of 3 Children, two of them with food allergies to the cow's milk protein and the egg. They also have atopic dermatitis, environmental allergies and asthma" In the case of Adrián (2011) due to his severe dairy allergy he suffers from eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic immune system disease. With Hugo (2013) we are doing a program of induction of oral tolerance to the egg, every week we go to the hospital and we raise the dose a little, it is about making your body tolerate the allergen, always under medical supervision, since a month ago We had an anaphylactic shock. In 2015 I created my allergic recipe blog "Sin trazas de leche" (No Traces of Milk) to share with more families easy recipes to make at home. Although they are normal children, our daily day is complicated due to allergies, as it has reactions by contact. We would like people to have more empathy when it comes to hosting parties at school with food, birthdays and activities so everyone could participate. We always carry with us the adrenaline auto injectors and rescue medication in case of allergic reaction."We hope to overcome at some point our allergies!!". Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Henley Jackson shares her journey of being a food Allergy Warrior!
"My name is Henley Jackson and I was diagnosed with an anaphylactic milk allergy when I was 7 weeks old. It has affected every single aspect of my life" Throughout my entire life there have been so many people that have not taken this life threatening condition seriously. Growing up I was bullied severely because of my allergy. To the point where kids would even pour milk on me in the cafeteria at lunch. I have had to use my epipen, and have been admitted into the intensive care unit at hospitals so many times I can’t even remember how many. Due to these pretty traumatic experiences I have experienced quite a bit of anxiety and stressed around food. However, I do believe that I was given this hardship for a reason. I recently began competing in pageants where I am able to bring even more awareness to anaphylaxis. Also, I am a part of the contains:courage campaign which places a spotlight on the person behind the allergy. As for my hopes for the future of allergy awareness. I am a strong believer in being the change by helping things move forward. I hope to pursue a career in allergy and immunology. I hope that I can bring awareness to many more people. And I hope that I can be a part of many more amazing campaigns and movements like #OhhMoments. I am so ecstatic to be a part of #OhhMoments and to continue to bring awareness of food allergies to many more people. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Sadia
"My name is Sadia and I am a mom of not one but two multiple food allergic children. They are allergic to dairy, wheat (not celiac but allergic), eggs, vinegar, red lentils, nuts and my son is also allergic to fish" My first encounter with food allergies was when I started giving solids to my first born. I fed my daughter chicken, she immediately had a reaction. As I had never encountered such a severe reaction before I did not know what to do or what it was even. All I knew was that something was wrong, I called Telehealth (a phone service, where nurses advise what to do). The nurse said put the phone down and immediately call 911. I called the ambulance, we went to the hospital and my daughter was kept under observation, almost for the whole night. She was diagnosed with food allergies at the age of eight months. This was 13 years ago. Back then there were hardly any allergy friendly products like OhhFoods, available in stores. I had to make everything from scratch at home. As you can imagine, some were a hit some were total disasters :). However, for the sake of feeding my kids, I learned and learned quickly. Over these thirteen years, I have come across all sorts of reactions from people. I have had people tell me you are making it up or asking what actually happens if they eat a certain food, in disbelief. Or if we refuse a certain food, they will offer another food that has another allergen in it, and I have to keep explaining and refusing. It gets pretty annoying and embarrassing sometimes. However, the one thing that everybody asks is what do I feed my kids? Well my answer to this is a lot different now than it was a few years ago, thanks to snacks such as OhhFoods. "I hope that we can raise awareness and also have a wider variety of snack options and restaurants available, where people with allergies can enjoy themselves, without the fear of a reaction" - Sadia Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments _ Jennifer Fortino shares her journey being a mom to kids who have allergies
"My name is Jennifer Fortino and I am a mother of two children, Arianna (4) and Alessandro (2). My daughter, Arianna, has a tree nut allergy - specifically cashews, pistachios, and hazelnuts" We learned about the allergy the hard way - ambulance ride and all! When she was almost 2 years old, I decided to have her try a cashew; immediately - literally after one small bite, she began coughing, vomiting, and was covered in hives, she then began to point to her throat and cry. I called 911 and within minutes, we were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Fear and worry took over my soul as I watched my happy little girl experience a severe allergic reaction. Those few brief (but never-ending) moments are etched in my mind forever. From that moment, it has become a mission of mine to help make this world safer through awareness, not just for her, but for all people suffering from food allergies. Throughout our journey so far, we have struggled with making some people understand the severity of food allergies. We have lost relationships with people that don’t seem to ‘get it’. However, we have also been blessed with people that have shown compassion, love, and understanding and do their best to help us keep our little girl (and others) safe. I truly wish all people could understand the importance of food allergies. I appreciate companies like Ohh!Foods that focuses on inclusive snacking; ensuring everyone’s safety, acceptance, and happiness. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#Ohhmoments - Liz Lawton shares her son Food Allergy story and how she handled the situation
My second child, Henry, was born and breastfed easily for 6 months, with the only (retrospective) symptom of a possible food allergy being excessive spitting up. Because it caused him no distress, he was labeled a “happy spitter” by the paediatrician. He followed behind an older sister, who nursed easily for 12 months and took to solid food like a pro, eating any and everything without issue and never giving us any reason for concern around food.As a school psychologist, I was familiar with food allergies in so far as accommodating students who had them, but food allergies were not high on my radar as a concern for my own children. We started Henry on solids at 6 months and one of the first foods I gave him (green beans) caused him to break out in full body hives within 15 minutes. I had puréed them in a small attachment that goes to our blender (after all was said and done, it was residual almond butter causing the reaction but it would be weeks before we knew this). Our paediatrician saw him immediately, instructed us to continue giving him the three foods he hadn’t reacted to, and referred us to an allergist. For those three weeks, he would continue to break out in hives seemingly sporadically, without much of a clear link to what he had eaten. Skin testing revealed reactions to dairy, egg, tree nuts and peanuts. Blood testing corroborated this, with his number for peanut being low enough the allergist wanted us to orally challenge immediately- he did and passed, and so the other three remained our “official” allergens. (The result of eating a tuna salad sandwich while simultaneously holding Henry) Those first few weeks following his diagnosis were hard. Extremely anxiety producing. Isolating. Confusing. Guilt provoking. Overwhelming. Food- the purchasing of it, the preparation of it, the consumption of it- is a large portion of every single day of a person’s life. How could we possibly keep him safe from such a ubiquitous thing? The thought alone of using his Auvi-Q, of having to jam a needle into his chubby little baby leg while watching him struggle to breathe, had me in tears. What would I do if and when the day came I had to use it? I had to eliminate all these foods from my own diet if I wanted to keep breastfeeding- that meant an immediate learning curve for me. Broader and less pressing questions to do with school and birthday parties and restaurants and vacations swirled in my head too, but the immediate issue was educating myself on reading food labels and making our home safe for Henry.I have always loved to cook and family meal times are sacred to me- Henry’s allergies involved a massive overhauling of how I cooked. I felt thankful that he was still a baby, eating mostly fruits, veggies, simple proteins and fats and not family meals yet. It gave me time to refine my menus- see which meals I regularly made for my family that could easily be modified to be egg, dairy and nut free, and ones that we would be giving up (lasagna, old friend. We still miss you). I channeled much of this into a new Instagram account, @thetoddlerfoodie, in hopes of maybe making even one more mom feel like she could still cook nutritious and balanced meals for her family despite the limitations of allergies.We had choices to make. We decided we would not make our house dairy free. We had a (freshly) two year old who loved her cow’s milk and yogurts and cheeses. We made it a rule that her milk could only be drank at meal times and while she was seated at the table. We taught her to wash hands right after eating. We taught her she could never go up to Henry’s high chair during meal times and she certainly could not share food with him. There were a few mishaps with this, but truly and thankfully not many. She is an incredible advocate for her brother and sometimes even beats her father to asking “does that have milk in it? My brother can’t have milk”. We were so lucky to have already planned that for his first 18 months he would be doing a nanny share in our own home with one other child his age. Our nanny was extremely happy to learn about his allergy needs along with me, made sure she knew how to use his epi, and made sure he was safe during the three days a week I was at work.Slowly, our house felt like a safe place for food. Our family and friends have been extremely accommodating, and we feel safe going to their houses and feeding our child. Other gatherings are still hard. We don’t go to restaurants and on the rare occasions we do, we pack Henry’s food. Starting daycare at 18 months was terrifying. I’m still surprised our kids’ school didn’t ask us to leave and not come back due to how high strung I was. I strongly debated quitting working. But with much experience with kids with food allergies, the school navigated us through utilizing a separate and buckled chair during meal times, changes their milk Sippy cup protocol in Henry’s classroom, and made his room egg and tree nut free. As a parent who was once on the other end of this (having to remember not to send PBJ for my daughter who herself was in a peanut free room due to a classmates allergies), I did and do appreciate all the other parents shouldering the inconvenience of what they can pack for their own kids, who of course may have their own challenges such as gaining weight or pickiness, in order to keep our child safe. (Henry “shopping” for play cheese at the grocery store in our museum of play. No vegan cheese there!) Henry turned two in March and the next step is starting to teach him about his own allergies. We’ve started telling him about his Ripple milk being different from his sister’s milk. How we don’t share food. How cheese will make him sick. I hate the thought of him feeling different. I know that bullying and excluding of kids with allergies is a real thing. I know that birthday parties and holidays and school events will only get harder to navigate. He passed his baked milk challenge in the fall and is scheduled to challenge baked cheese this summer. His almond numbers look low and we hope to be able to challenge that in the near future, as well. I try not to think too much about “what if he outgrows them all?” because he may not and that disappointment will be real, and devastating all over again, and the fear of navigating food allergies with a big kid will be realer still. (Henry on vacation, eating homemade pasta Bolognese while out for dinner) My allergist told me during one appointment “it’s okay that you feel significant anxiety around this. It’s the parents who don’t feel significant anxiety whose kids have more frequent reactions. Your anxiety is keeping him safe.” Just like with anything in life, on a good day or in a good moment, I try really hard to find the positives in our situation. He is healthy and growing. He is a great and adventurous eater, and therefore his nutrition is incredibly well rounded despite the fact that he can’t access some major foods. We have come up with some protocols that have allowed us to keep him very safe. We are in a position financially where we can afford to test out 9 varieties of seven dollar vegan cheeses (only to have him dislike them all), and send him to a school that handles food allergies well. Most of all, It’s clear how many people love him and care for him and work to keep him safe. If it remains our lot in life to be a food allergy family, and for Henry to deal with this throughout his life, I hope it teaches all of us to be responsible, to educate ourselves, to be empathetic to other people’s special needs and limitations. I am hugely appreciate to companies like Ohhfoods for recognizing the (unfortunately) growing market who requires food options free of top 8 allergens. And also for encouraging families with food allergies to share their stories- it helps to feel like you aren’t alone in managing a child with food allergies, and it helps for people who don’t have to deal first hand with food allergies to perhaps see the day to day challenges experienced by people who do. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Zane shares how having Food Allergies has given an opportunity to spread awareness about Food Allergies
"My name is Zane, I am 9 years (Zane will turn 10 on July 21st) and and I have multiple food allergies. My family discovered I was allergic to milk at 6 weeks old and then found out I was allergic to peanuts, soy, wheat and eggs when I was about six months old through allergy testing. Since then, I've outgrown my soy and wheat allergy, but I've also developed a tree nut allergy (except coconut)" Growing up with food allergies has been challenging and interesting. I would say it's been challenging because I see kids eating foods that I cannot eat like at birthday parties, parties at school, or even family celebrations. The challenge for me is to not feel left out when people are eating foods I cannot eat. Also it is challenging to feel safe when there are a lot of food and food crumbs around that contain my allergens. My mom has always prepared foods I can eat so that has helped me to never feel left out. Even though I try to be as safe as possible when around foods I am allergic to, accidents has happened. Most of my reactions happened when I was in day care and the teachers did not read ingredients in products that were used for class projects that had things I am allergic to inside. Since then, growing up I’ve learn how important it is to always read the product and food ingredients every single time. I’ve also learned to prepare my own foods which has made me feel in charge of what I eat and not left out. Making my own foods allow me to advocate for myself when in situations where food is involved. I like to cook my own foods because I can get creative and I am able to see that there really isn’t anything I cannot eat, I just have to add my own twist. Having food allergies has given me an opportunity to advocate for myself and to kids and families like me to cook fun and tasty foods for themselves. I get the chance to show others who have food allergies like me how it is possible to enjoy great foods through my YouTube channel and online blog. I hope one day to make Zane’s Teal Kitchen a real life restaurant that people who have food allergies can go and have a safe and enjoyable meal worry free. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Katie Greene shares her sons journey with food allergies and how she found out her son had food allergies
"Hello, my name is Katie Greene and I am a stay at home mom to two wonderful boys, Jack(3) and James(1). My son James is highly allergic to egg, dairy, peanut, and various fruits" At the age of 4 months, my son developed extremely bad eczema all over his body. His paediatrician at the time dismissed it as "just eczema." Within that same month, he continued to get worse and soon broke out in hives all over his face. After our 3rd trip that month to the Dr. I refused to accept that this was only eczema. We finally were given a food allergy blood test and it was determined that he was highly allergic to peanut, egg, and dairy. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and terrified but also validated. I knew something wasn't right with my baby and I got the answer. I soon realize this would become a common theme. I had to constantly prove that there was a true threat to my child's health. I often heard, "Well dairy isn't as dangerous as peanut so you don't have to worry that much, " or "Egg allergies are usually outgrown and aren't that big a deal." After I hear these remarks I then feel the need to educate others that all food allergies are serious. The impact it has had on me is that it changed my entire outlook on how people view those with food allergies. I realized that many minimize the food allergy to better comfort themselves. I made it a mission to educate people and advocate for my son. All food allergies should be taken seriously, and no parent should ever have to show proof that their kid is in danger. I would like to see more top 8 education and awareness. I think that with more education comes more understanding, which leads to more inclusiveness. And as always more top 8 friendly snacks! Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Hiromi Feitoza shares her story about her sons having severe allergies
"Hello I am Hiromi Feitoza, mom of three beautiful children, a meal planner and a founder of Innerlove Nutrition. Two of my children have got server food allergies, one with dairy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame and another with gluten" My first son had anaphylactic attack with formula at the age of 7 months when I introduced it for the first time to him to try to stretch his sleep. I was so shocked when I saw he was covered with hives and heard he was wheezing from his chest. It did sound like asthma so I suspected he was having anaphylaxes. Luckily he threw up all the formula so it didn’t progress further but we took him to GP. Unfortunately by the time we managed to see the doctor, all the symptoms were gone and doctor couldn’t quite diagnose him and suggested to try it again or give him soya based formula. We were left in wonder and we decided to take further step visiting another clinic for the skin prick test. He was diagnosed with multiple allergies from the test and we took him for another visit to GP to get a referral to see an immunologist. After the blood test with immunologist, he was confirmed to be anaphylactic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame and allergic to egg. He had an egg challenge at the local hospital last year but it was unfortunately unsuccessful. With second son, we found out he’s highly allergic to wheat at the age of 10 months when he was given a piece of wheat bread. He started to cry so hard because of stomach cramps followed by hives. We took him to the GP and the doctor confirmed that it was anaphylactic attack. We also took him to see immunologist and he was confirmed to be highly allergic to wheat after the blood test. We’ve once faced the incident where we needed to use Epipen with our first son. We took him to my daughter’s school gala and we did ask all the ingredients in any food he ate but he still had anaphylactic attack. We are still unsure what really caused anaphylaxis which is scary. He cannot bear with cross contamination especially with dairy so we really need to be cautious. I also found feeding them with balanced diet and more variety of meal without allergen could be challenging. My son cannot eat dairy which is believed to be food source of calcium, egg which is supposed to be good source of protein and nuts which is good source of fat and protein. To ensure they are getting enough nutrients, I am studying nutrition and have completed my course to become a qualified meal planner. I am currently finishing up my study to become a nutrition and health coach as well. I try not to say food allergies is hard but to be frank with you, it isn’t easy. When my kids attend special events at nursery or birthday party, we need to make sure kids won’t touch any food which contains their allergens. And the thing is we hardly found any food they can eat at the party or events. Occasionally some of my friends are very supportive and try their best to provide allergen free foods for my kids which I am really thankful for. But events run in public place, we need to be super cautious. We are not 100% sure if we can feed any food without worrying about cross contamination. The good thing is it’s getting easier to find allergen free snacks in super markets in New Zealand which we are very grateful for and feel so fortunate. It will be even better if we could get more varieties of healthier options in near future. What we need the most is more awareness around food safety with food allergies. Many people know anaphylaxis with tree nuts or peanuts but I still feel many people are not aware of some other allergens and some people refused to believe that people get anaphylaxis from other allergens such as dairy and egg. Some people get airborne with egg meaning they cannot even stay in the same room someone is cooking eggs. Food allergies could cause serious causality and prevention comes in first place. I really hope my story could contribute food allergy awareness. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Nicole shares her Food Allergy Journey and what makes her inspired to be Food Allergy Influencers
"Hi, I’m Nicole, a future registered dietitian nutritionist, current food allergy advocate, as well as the founder and content creator of Nutritionally Nicole, LLC. I was born with multiple anaphylactic food allergies including milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, sesame seed, poppy seed, mustard seed, coconut, and lamb". Believe it or not, there were even more foods I was allergic to as an infant in the late nineties. Being a young adult in my early twenties, I must self-advocate throughout life to stay safe needless to say I have been through various unique situations where my food allergies needed to be managed. For the majority of my time growing up, my food allergies were respected by family, friends, restaurant staff, and travel destinations. Food allergies as a medical disease may not have been understood but people did understand the severity and potential fatality of my food allergies if a reaction were to occur. To be honest, I felt safer eating out and travelling when I was younger whereas I currently avoid eating out, only book hotel rooms with kitchenettes included, and pack an extra suitcase solely for food. With the rise of food allergies, higher prevalence of food intolerance including sensitivities, and people blurring the lines of the conditions’ diagnosis criteria, I no longer feel that safety in public. The world has become more dangerous in that way. The frustration of not finding social media influencers sparking relatable food allergy conversation for young adults like myself seamlessly led to my passion for sharing my experiences with the world via written blogs and YouTube videos. I strive to help those living with food allergies to cultivate positivity, navigate through similar situations, and find a love for their life. There is much more advocacy needed especially when conveying the severeness and psychological implications of food allergies to those blessed without them. I aim to inspire the education of future food allergy allies who can help strengthen the food allergy community." Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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