As many of you know by now, I got into food allergies, intolerance, and awareness because of my son's milk protein intolerance.  But what many of you don't know is that I am also allergic to a food.  Not as common, but just as scary.  Inspired by Tami's comment on my blog last week, I'll tell you the story of a close encounter with my food allergen.... strawberries. 

Ahhh.. Halloween!  The chance to be someone, or something else for the night and consume ridiculous amounts of sugar filled candy all in the name of tradition!  I wasn't expecting red #40 to become a topic of conversation 2 times over the weekend, but since it did, I thought I would share with you what I learned about this hot topic in the food allergy world.

Maybe it is because I have a background in marketing that I seem to notice company marketing strategies more than some.  Or maybe the use of gluten-free products for marketing is so apparent that I notice it (and maybe you do, too) seemingly everywhere I look!  While I am thrilled that Celiac and gluten-sensitive patients have more options, I am dismayed at how negligent companies can be with their "gluten-free" marketing ploy.  

I don't hide the fact that I love to help people who have been diagnosed with a food allergy or intolerance.  One of the first questions I tend to ask someone, is "how were you diagnosed?"  Lately, the responses I have been getting have been scary.  See, there is a bit of a difference in what is happening in your body when you are either allergic to food or intolerant to food (my second blog covers some of the basics here)
And while the end result is usually the same... staying away from the trouble food... the doctor who makes that decision needs to be the right one.  

I wanted to take just a second to apologize for not responding to blog comments!  I really appreciate each and every one of them.  While I am great at a few things in life, techy stuff is not one of them!  So, while I figure out how to reply

It's not secret... I LOVE to eat out!  And when I had to eat milk-protein-free, I learned a lot of tips and tricks to make my experiences much less stressful.  These will hopefully help anyone suffering from a food allergy or intolerance, across the spectrum of foods, and at different types of restaurants.

If you read my last post, you already know that my son Jack was diagnosed as milk protein intolerant at 6 days old.  (If you didn't check it out, click here to catch up!}

As you could imagine, eating out, grocery shopping, and going to social gatherings all became a chore, especially since most people and eateries have never heard of milk protein intolerance before.  They were always quick to correct me, "don't you mean lactose intolerant?"  No.  I don't.    

It is true; I started this blog for a college course assignment.  I am grateful that I was required to do so because it is something I had been thinking about doing for a long time.  My story of how I came to be a Dietetic student is paved with the reason I am so interested in blogging about this topic... food allergies!

In March of 2008, only 6 days after my son was born, he woke up covered in bloody vomit.  After rushing him to the emergency room, followed by a transfer to a children's hospital, and then a barrage of testing, I received the news.  My baby, Jack,  was severely milk protein intolerant.