The Super Allergy Girl Blog

Why people with Celiac and Food Allergies Should Sign up for FAAN Alerts

Oh, yeah. I have been meaning to write this blog post for a very long time. I often find that people with celiac disease are not signed up for FAAN Alerts. Same for those with children who have life-threatening food allergies. Stop. I guess it would be really helpful to explain what FAAN is and does and what a FAAN alert looks like. FAAN stands for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. This is the link to their website: http://www.foodallergy.org/ FAAN has been helping people with IgE food allergies for about 20 years. They advocate for food allergy awareness, food labeling, and education. One of the best programs they have in my humble opinion is their FAAN Alert program.

You sign up through their website and you will receive food allergy and gluten or wheat alerts. Below are three examples of FAAN Alerts from this year.

 

October 11, 2011 Shrimp Allergy Alert Nestlé Prepared Foods Company is recalling a limited quantity of one variety of LEAN CUISINE® Dinnertime Selects which is mislabeled. The packaging identifies the meal as containing chicken, however, an error has been discovered and approximately 200 packages contain shrimp. The product possibly was shipped to retailers in Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. The recall affects LEAN CUISINE® Dinnertime Selects Chicken Fettuccini/UPC code 13800-14880 with a production code of 1253595911G and a “best before” date of October 2012. Consumers who have purchased to the product may contact Nestlé consumer services at (800) 542-6935, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, to receive a full refund.  FAANTM (The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network) 11781 Lee Jackson Highway, Suite 160 | Fairfax, VA 22033-3309 | (800) 929-4040 MILK ALLERGY ALERT  Sept. 28, 2011 M & P Food Productions, LTD., is recalling several varieties of “Vareniki/Dumplings” due to undeclared milk and wheat. The products were sold in retail stores in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. The products are packaged in 14-oz. sealed plastic bags that are distributed frozen. The recall affects the following products with “BEST BEFORE SEP 19 2011” through “BEST BEFORE MAR 19 2012:”   Bapehuku Dupling brand Vareniki cabbage, UPC 7 07163 02619 8, yellow and green background on packaging with green and black lettering. Bapehuku Dupling brand Vareniki potato & onion, UPC 7 0 7163 02616 7, yellow and brown background on packaging with brown and black lettering. Bapehuku Dupling brand Vareniki potato & mushroom, UPC 7 07163 02617 4, yellow and blue background on packaging with blue and black lettering. Bapehuku Dupling brand Vareniki farmer cheese, UPC 7 0716 302618 1, yellow and purple background on packaging with purple and black lettering. Bapehuku Dupling brand Vareniki sour cherry, UPC 7 07163 02615 0, yellow and red background on packaging with red and black lettering. Consumers may return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at (718) 438-6421, Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET.   WHEAT ALLERGY ALERT  Aug. 17, 2011 Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is recalling “Winn-Dixie Choco Charm Chocolate Drink” due to undeclared wheat.    The products were sold in the dairy departments of Winn-Dixie and SaveRite stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,Louisiana, and Mississippi. The product is packaged in a 128-oz. (one gallon) clear plastic bottle with a yellow bottle cap and marked with the UPC code 21140-29830.   Consumers may return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at (866) 946-6349.

In my humble opinion, individuals with celiac disease and gluten intolerance as well as those individuals with food allergies and food sensitivities or on the GFCF diet would do well to register to receive FAAN alerts. These are the kinds of notices that do not generally make it into the media spotlight. I can't underscore this enough. FAAN has done an exemplary job with the relationships they have established with the food manufacturing industry and as such they are on top of the food errors that occur. Just my two cents for what it is worth!

Love,

Lisa

Tribute to Bette Hagman - A Gluten Free Pioneer, Mentor and Friend

It's a funny thing about life - you never know how it will turn out. I first met Bette Hagman, a.k.a. "The Gluten-Free Gourmet", in the Spring of 2000 at a Buffalo, NY celiac support group meeting where she was the featured speaker. I had no idea then that she and I would become close enough to be remotely considered friends. I'm sure that I didn't think that she considered me her friend until I received a letter from her written while she was on vacation. I was enamored with Bette from our first meeting in 2000. Here is a picture of her and I from that chance encounter:

Bette Hagman and Lisa A.Lundy (me), May 2000 - Buffalo, New York

Bette was one of the nicest people you could ever come to know. Sometime after meeting her I wrote her a thank you note for being the pioneer that she was and for providing the cookbooks that she had published. At that time, I had an 11-month old son who had huge issues with gluten. He also had issues with dairy, eggs, soy, and other foods, so I had to modify any of Bette's recipes, but they at least gave me a place to start. At some time later, I decided that Bette needed a fan club and I called her to ask permission to print up some t-shirts with her name on them. She chuckled at the idea of a fan club or even a t-shirt, but she did say yes. I was elated. I had some t-shirts printed up that looked like this:

Bette Hagman Fan Club T-shirt

I promptly sent her t-shirts for her family and friends. It gave me such joy and pleasure to walk around in this t-shirt! I think she got some pleasure in it too! Sometime after my daughter was born in 2001, Bette and I began talking about the issues I was having in feeding my daughter. Bette Hagman was the first person ever to say to me that "Your daughter would not be alive if it were not for your expertise and efforts." I'll never forget that call or moment as I was really still in denial about how fragile and sick my daughter was. I remember telling Bette not to talk like that. But, that was one of the things that I loved about Bette - her direct and candid manner.

A memorable phone call came when Bette called me all excited because she had had ice cream for the first time in decades! I was elated for her, but wondered where she had gotten the ice cream! She laughed while explaining that my insistence that she try making non-dairy ice cream using Dari-Free (by Vances Foods) had finally gotten to her and that she had just made Raspberry Ice cream from one of the recipes that I had mailed to her! At least we seemed to get a thrill out of it. Another time Bette called me to ask if I would take a call from a man by the name of Josef who had a Bakery in New York City. Of course, I told Bette yes, but immediately followed with the most obvious question - why would he want to talk to me after all she was the Gluten-Free Gourmet! She laughed and retorted that I was the gluten-free, dairy-free, everything else free guru and she couldn't help him.

Bette had her issues with her health right around the same time that things got really, really bad with my daughter's health and I was spending an extraordinary amount of time at the doctors office, so we were a bit out of touch. I reached out to her in 2007 before she passed away and had a nice telephone conversation with her. She was the same Bette. For all her efforts in the gluten-free market, I applaud this great woman - my mentor and my friend. I think of her fondly and often! The gluten-free world is better because of her extraordinary efforts. She was an extraordinary woman. God Bless her! Feel free to share your thoughts on how Bette's work and legacy has helped you!

Love,

Lisa

Celiacs and Gluten-Free Friends: Meet me in Boston for a great gluten free dinner

Yes, calling all celiacs and those on a gluten-free diet: meet me at Burtons Grill in Hingham, MA on Monday, September 3rd for a three course gluten-free meal priced at $34.95 per person with a complimentary copy of my book going to the first 25 tables ordering off of the special menu - limit one book per table. This special dinner is sponsored by Alletess Medical Laboratory!

Here is a link to see the Event Flyer for this wonderful dinner:

Autumn Dinner at Burtons Grill

 

Here is a link to the Burtons Grill location:

Burtons Grill in Hingham, MA

The address of Burtons Grill is 94 Derby Street (The Derby Street Shoppes), Hingham, MA. The first course is your choice of Butternut Soup or Mixed Greens. The second course is your choice of Turkey Meatloaf, Spinach Lasagna or Haddock Imperial. The third course is Apple Crisp or Cherry Pie - all gluten free, of course. I will be at the restaurant for the dinner to meet and greet, answer questions and help anyone and everyone attending! In addition, Michelle Clark from Alletess will be there with information and to answer questions on medical testing. Alletess is a fantastic company that offers non-IgE mediated testing for food allergies - those are the food issues that make up approximately 90 to 95 percent of all food issues. If you as a consumer have wondered about testing for food sensitivities or food intolerances, this would be a great place and a great time to get some information and some of your questions answered. I hope to see you there!

Love,
Lisa