How much do you know about food allergies? Could you pass this simple quiz? The answers may surprise you.

1. True or False: Food allergy is, at most, a minor inconvenience. The most severe symptoms it can cause are indigestion and headache.
2. True or False: The standard treatment for food allergy is a two- to three-year series of shots given at an allergist’s office, which leads to a complete cure.
3. True or False: Special precautions must be taken when cooking for a person with food allergies.

Millions of Americans suffer from severe food allergies. For these people (often children) and their loved ones, food allergy is far more than a minor inconvenience… ingestion of even a tiny amount of allergen can cause an almost immediate reaction which can rapidly lead to death. There currently is no cure for food allergies. The only “treatment” is complete avoidance of the offending allergen(s). For many, “complete avoidance” means avoiding foods which contain any amount of allergen as an ingredient – as well as foods which have merely touched an allergen or touched a food which contains an allergen.

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has declared May 11 – 17, 2003 “Food Allergy Awareness Week,” a time for educating the public about food allergies. For those who must cope with food allergies, however, every week is “food allergy awareness week.”

Those with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergies and their families face numerous challenges, including getting others to take the allergy seriously, creating a safe school environment (for food allergic children), and dealing with social situations, travel and restaurants. The biggest challenge for many is one which must be faced on a daily basis: what to eat when one is on a restricted diet. Where does one find recipes for safe, easy-to-fix, delicious food that meet the requirements of the prescribed “strict avoidance” diet?

What’s to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook offers solutions to the cooking and menu-planning dilemmas faced by those who must follow a completely dairy-, egg-, and nut-free diet. This is an easy-to-use, comprehensive cookbook, with 147 recipes for everything from baked goods to soups and salads, main courses, side dishes, and breakfast foods.

What’s to Eat? has received enthusiastic reviews from across the country. “It was a relief to find your book,” writes N. Dilley of Minnesota, “as I was not finding enough answers to the question of what to cook for three meals a day and snacks. Your book solved this problem.” D. Rossetti of Washington says, “Your cookbook, as the teenagers say, RULES! The recipes are, as promised, tasty and delicious.” A. Peterson of Illinois explains, “Your book gave us great and tasty options. Most importantly, it gave us hope for my son’s future. It made me realize that he is going to be able to be a normal kid.”

What’s to Eat? is available directly from the publisher at www.FoodAllergyBooks.com or nationwide at various online retailers, bookstores, and natural foods stores.

# # #

Click Here to return to previous page