Do you ever feel the steam rising when people who know you have allergies keep on offering you unsuitable snacks or foods?
I think it’s just an instinctive sharing thing, I think people don’t mean to make you want to scream inside…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
For the love of God, I have been allergic to dairy now for over 15 YEARS – I still CANNOT EAT THINGS WITH MILK, CHEESE, BUTTER, YOGURT, CREAM… I – CANNOT – EAT – MINI – CHEDDARS…
If I had a pound for every time I was offered stuff I clearly can’t have like milk in my tea, ice cream, pudding, cake, biscuits… by people who know better I’d be quite rich (Well I’d maybe have about a hundred quid).
I think it’s those little habits, like just stirring a cup of tea, not thinking about the cross contamination from milk in other hot drinks you’re making at the same time.
We make these kinds of mistakes even in our own house and I know some people say you should ban all allergens, and yes ALL NUTS ARE BANNED – DO NOT BRING NUTS TO MY HOUSE! However I don’t think it’s fair to also make my husband cut out dairy, wheat and tomatoes just because I am. He couldn’t give a fig about the soya or celery so no arguments there.
And please don’t think I am getting at any of you who ask me this, it’s not meant as a dig (Dad, Mother in Law, HUSBAND!…) it just makes me laugh.
I usually put my head on one side and ask, “Do you think I can?” if I’m feeling cheeky, or just politely decline. I’m really not that bothered.
Because when your favourite flavour used to be cheese and onion, when you have eaten quavers, wotsits AND mini cheddars, being offered them is quite frustrating. When you crave cheese and butter melted on toast and cream and proper ice cream from a cone it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
And it’s not just the cheese flavoured crisps which contain dairy it’s pretty much ALL flavoured crisps except ready salted, which are usually OK. I like these too, but they’re not quite mini cheddars.
However when you have had an anaphylactic attack after eating a small mouthful of dairy, it’s not worth getting worked up about. I can’t eat dairy anymore but I CAN eat so many other things.
Really.
FACE?
BOVVERED?
LOOK AT MY FACE? DO I LOOK BOVVERED… I AIN’T BOVVERED.
(apologies to anyone who is not a Catherine Tate fan, for whom these last few lines will make no sense what so ever)
And actually, I would always rather you asked.
Always check. Always. That’s the thing with allergies, you have to be vigilant all the time and in my opinion there is no stupid question so I would rather you asked me a hundred times,
“Can you eat mini cheddars?” than not ask me and possibly find I get a reaction from cross contamination; I’m thinking empty bowls being refilled, fingers taking mini cheddars and then going for the plain crisps.
It’s a jungle out there. Please try to separate the freefrom snacks if you’re throwing a party. Or better still, you dairy, nut, wheat guzzling lucky old so-and-so’s can just do without for one evening.
“Can you eat mini cheddars?”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Because if I’m honest, I am just a little bit bovvered that I can’t eat these cheesy snacks anymore :o(
Hi Ruth,
You say it so well!
What I usually get now is “you can’t eat this can you, shame”, as they stuff it into their mouth. I don’t think I need to tell you what runs through my head – I know you know. The other day, I got a ” shame you can’t eat this, it’s delicious ” and that was at home! I really don’t think people stop for a minute and actually imagine how they would feel of they couldn’t have something they love, ever, not even once more.
It’s the cheese I miss. Sigh!
Anyway, I can’t remember the name of them, you’ll have to do a bit of googling but there is now a company that makes a gluten AND dairy free flavoured crisp. Yes, I’m pretty sure they even make a cheese and onion flavour. I haven’t looked into it any further because the have yeast extract in them, something else I have to avoid, but it may be worth while just having a look.
Wishing you all the best for the New Year.
Mindie
Oh yes, the ‘you can’t eat this…’ comment. I hate that too. Most people don’t do it but some people run through everything… Grrrrrrr. I found some crisps too, via Twitter, after writing this and sharing on there… Tenacre make loads of vegan and gluten free crisps including a cheese and onion flavour. Is that the ones? I am not great with processed food but I will try these, as they only cause mild nodular prurigo and eczema from something in processed food. No idea what it is. Hopefully these Tenacre ones will be OK.
That’s the ones.
Not sure what it is in processed food either, but I always get some sort of reaction from anything that I don’t make myself. Sadly it can be a case of, how much I want to eat something vs what reaction I get ( or as I like to say when weighing things up ” how hard will this kick me back?” ) Shouldn’t do it I know, but we all do I think from time to time!
I cannot wait to try them, but they might not be great because non processed is the only real way for me to stay completely ok. Very annoying, and I do test myself sometimes with the odd thing, not with any of my known allergens but stuff that is processed, My system is just getting more and more sensitive to crap food. Keeps me healthy ;o)
Christmas has been especially hard. We’ve been staying @ my mum’s, in America. For a year and a half we’ve talked about not much other than what I can & can’t eat, and yet in preparing a meal for my daughter & me to have just home from the airport, dear old mum served up chicken breasts with an unidentifiable creamy sauce, which turned out to be pmayonnaise & parmesan (Yes, Mom, last I checked, Parmesan was dairy…). On Christmas Day, everyone had their choice of rum-raisin pie, derby pie, pumpkin pie, fruitcake, chocolate-peanut butter balls, chocolate-coconut balls, & peppermint cake balls. Not a single one was both gluten and dairy free. I miss desserts. I miss cream and cheese. Mostly I just miss being able to pick something off a platter or to graze at a party without first asking for an ingredients list. It’s bad enough to go to a party and not drink, but when you can’t drink OR eat, it starts to feel awkward.
Oh I know, it can be so frustrating. I hate how every meal ends up being all about allergies, and what you can and can’t eat. It has be that way though unfortunately. I wish I could share sone my mince pies that I just made. Gluten and dairy free and very tasty. And I agree, fruit salad is not a pudding ;o) Happy Christmas and keep smiling.