Oxo cubes. We all know about those. We don't eat Oxo cubes if we are allergic to wheat or celery because they are not just stock... they are lots of other things too. The moral of this blog is that you must always keep checking and checking and when that little niggling doubt is in the back of your mind you keep asking until you sound like a broken record because while no … [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...]
Is gluten an allergen and do oats contain gluten?
At the recent judging session for FreeFrom Eating out Awards we had a heated discussion about oats and whether they came under the Top 14 allergens banner. I thought that oats were not in the Top 14 allergens but others disagreed.It turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. I know that oats don't contain gluten and many coeliacs can tolerate oats. So why would they be in the … [Read more...]
Itchy palms or soles of feet – is this a sign of an allergy?
Just this week I've noticed something strange has been happening. When you have allergies and eczema you get used to that - makes life interesting (Not!). So this is the thing. The palms of my hands and the soles of my feet have been itching, they've been on fire and so tight and scratchy but I cannot see any rash or obvious hives to show for it. If I feel the skin I can … [Read more...]
Wheat allergy #101
If you're allergic to wheat you'll know how hard it is to avoid, it's used an ingredient in so many things. Wheat allergy occurs when the body wrongly reacts to protein in the wheat when it's eaten, causing an immediate inflammatory response. The body sees the wheat as invader and goes on the attack, causing skin irritation, watering eyes, vomiting, trouble breathing... the … [Read more...]