If you are allergic to soya you should take a very hard look at anything containing guar gum. This is something I've never come across from any doctor or allergy specialist so I've never worried about it before. However, if you examine ingredient lists from many freefrom foods, guar gum is often present. So what does it do and what is guar gum? Guar gum, also called … [Read more...]
Soya free soy sauce alternative – Coconut Aminos
I discovered this stuff at the FreeFrom Food Awards judging session last week. Honestly, how can I have a diagnosed soya allergy for over three years and not have discovered that there is a fairly widely available and pretty amazing alternative to soya sauce? 'Coconut Aminos' have apparently been around for some time and are very popular in the US. I was lucky enough to … [Read more...]
FreeFrom things we’d love but never get!
Each year the Free From Food Awards meet to judge the entrants for foods suitable for food service and the quality just keeps on getting better and better. Apart from a huge loading of carbs because most of the products seemed to err on the side of carbohydrates, there were some fantastic products to review. Some highlights this year for me were... Flavoured crisps that … [Read more...]
Kidney bean allergy? What the legume is that all about?
Kidney beans aren't used widely in British cuisine, in fact the only meal I've ever used them in is chilli so a recent bout of full-on head, eye, nose and allergic reactions recently took a bit of detective work. We narrowed it down to the chilli and it wasn't until cooking it without kidney beans because we didn't have any in the cupboard that the penny dropped. So why … [Read more...]
Soya allergy – a complex issue…
Soya allergy is one of the top 13 allergens that have to labelled in the UK and until just this year it wasn't one I was particularly worried about. Soya is part of the legume family along with dried peas, beans, lentils, peanuts and carob. Interesting to note that I also have an peanut allergy but as far as I am aware, can eat peas, beans and lentils without … [Read more...]