Is Nutmeg a nut? and should the nut allergic community avoid it? I don't think so. Nutmeg isn't actually a nut and I can eat nutmeg without any problems. So what is nutmeg? The nutmeg tree is used to produce nutmeg, just as the name suggests, but did you also know that mace is produced from the same seed as nutmeg? Something I never knew before researching this spice. Nutmeg … [Read more...]
Should you avoid chestnuts with nut allergy?
If you are allergic to nuts you may have been told to avoid chestnuts along with all the other nuts. You may never have even eaten them in your life. But do you need to continue avoiding them? What are chestnuts? The definition in dictionary.com explains: "any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong … [Read more...]
Are you being conned into spending too much on coconut milk?
A recent discussion on yahoo exposed an interesting debate - are you paying too much for your coconut milk? If you've ever cooked thai food at home you'll know that it's not cheap; coconut milk can cost as much as £1.99 for a small 400ml can! On a recent yahoo forum I saw a debate about coconut milk prices at Morrisons. One example of a rip-off is that they (Morrisons) … [Read more...]
Understanding food intolerance: fact from fiction
My understanding has always been that food intolerance tests are not entirely scientific. I've been told this by lots of different people, including my own doctor, who told me that you can't test for food intolerances. Recently I've had allergy blood tests done which helped diagnose the foods I knew I was allergic to; food allergy tests look for IgE reactions in the blood which … [Read more...]
Coriander beer? Nut beer? Brewers! Leave our beer alone!
Did you know that other ingredients such as coriander, orange and even nuts can be added during the brewing process to add flavour to the hops? Mildly interesting if you like real ale but if you have an allergy to any of these things, that little fact is quite alarming. Could this pose a problem for those with allergies? What happens to the allergenicity of coriander, for … [Read more...]