Shopping with a food allergy or intolerance

Shopping for yourself or others with a food allergy or intolerance can sometimes be frustrating. The following is a guide that will help you to do so with ease! No more feeling left out when it comes to eating your favourite foods.

I recommend that you investigate all the following outlets that are available to you which can add variety to your diet. These include:

• Free from lists - supermarkets/manufacturers
• healthfood shops
• internet special diet sites
• supermarkets special diet foods
• supermarkets labelling on products
• using suitable existing recipes
• adapting existing recipes
• new recipes from usual cookbooks
• special diet cookbooks
• recipes from internet
• recipes from special product companies

Free from lists - supermarkets/manufacturers

It is essential to obtain a 'free from list' for your particular food allergy/intolerance. This is a regularly updated booklet that contains lists of brand name foods that are suitable for your particular diet. Listings usually include; milk free, egg free, wheat free, gluten free, soya free, nut and peanut free, preservative free, vegan, vegetarian, etc. They are available free of charge from the head office of the supermarket of your choice.

Most manufacturers such as Walkers, Heinz, Findus etc also produce 'free from lists' of their products, which are also available on request.

Studying your list before you go shopping is recommended for maximum results, and don't forget to take it to the shops with you for reference.

Another set of useful booklets similar to a free from lists are those produced by the food intolerance databank. These are available for both a single dietary exclusion such as soya or wheat, or for multiple exclusions such as 'free from wheat, eggs and milk'. These booklets contain only information from supermarkets and manufacturers who choose to be included. They are only available via a state registered dietitian. If you are not already seeing a dietitian, ask your GP to refer you to your local one.

Your dietitian may pass on the cost of the booklet, which is around £4.00 (As of November 2001) It is important to note that when you are using any of these lists it is essential that you also check the ingredients labels on the products to be certain they are definitely suitable.

Health food Shops

It is certainly worthwhile regularly visiting your local health food shop. They will probably be your best source of readily available special diet products. They will also have catalogues that you can order products from that are not on the shelves. They also usually have a good selection of recipe books and seasonal items.

Internet sites

There are now many Internet sites that offer special diet products by mail order. These can easily can be found by surfing the net.

Supermarket special diet foods

As well as the free from lists, supermarkets are increasingly stocking special diet products. Soya ice creams, spreads and yoghurts, gluten free pasta, breads and biscuits and dairy free cheeses are just some examples. These products are sometimes not put in an obvious place. Look in the 'organic' section and you are sure to find some!

Supermarket labelling on products

Supermarkets and food manufacturers are tending to supply more informative labelling on their products. This includes the labelling of allergens. Typical labelling may be: 'may contain traces of peanut', 'suitable for a milk free diet', 'egg free', 'contains gluten'. It is essential to read labels closely every time you buy a product as ingredients do change. Labelling such as the examples given should make this easier. If foods do not have a label, do not risk eating them.

Using suitable existing recipes/adapting existing recipes

It may be possible to continue to eat some of the products and recipes you used to have before you had your food allergy/intolerance. You may have to adapt recipes by changing one or more ingredients, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Some ingredients such as some of the gluten free flours may take time and practice to get used to but do persevere.

Make up a file of all the successful and favourite recipes that you have enjoyed. Taking photographs
of some of the dishes is a good idea too and you can make up your own recipe book, which you
can show others who might be cooking for you.

If you are egg allergic, it is worthwhile looking at the Vegan Society website or leaflet about egg substitutes. (some vegan cookbooks also carry this information.)

New recipes from existing cookbooks

Don't forget to have a good look at all your cookbooks at home. There are probably lots of recipes that are suitable for your special diet that you haven't yet tried.

Special diet cookbooks

Special diet cookbooks are cookbooks whose recipes are devoted to a particular diet. They are often written by allergic people who want to share ideas and recipes with others in the same position. They are usually available from healthfood shops, bookshops, the internet, from allergy associations such as Allergy UK or from your dietitian. www.amazon.co.uk is one website that has an excellent selection. Choose a recipe book that avoids only your allergen as choosing one that covers lots of allergies means you will be cutting out some ingredients unnecessarily thus restricting your diet further.

Recipes from the internet

What did we do before the www? I have found some excellent sites. Just type in 'special diet cookery' or 'recipes' or anything similar to your search engine and up they come. They are also accessed via the 'links' on many of the allergy websites. I have also found some great recipes via various vegetarian sites.

Recipes from special diet product companies

When manufacturers produce a special product such as egg replacer, gluten free mix or dairy free margarine, they often produce a recipe book or leaflet. These show the consumer how versatile the product is (and encourage you to use more!). Make use of these as all the recipes are tried and tested so they are preferable to adapting your usual recipes.

Cross contamination issues for the very allergic

If you are severely allergic (anaphylactic) to a certain food, then avoiding the food to which you are allergic 100% is essential. You may inadvertently come into contact with the food to which you allergic in a number of ways:

• By buying bakery goods/delicatessen goods which although may not contain any harmful
  ingredients, may have come into contact with an allergic ingredient. (via handling.
  Contaminated knives, boards etc)
• By coming into contact with spillages
• By coming into contact with allergens on the conveyer belt at the till
• By tasting a sample product which has no written ingredients available

Walking past an allergic food

For someone who is very allergic to nuts, walking past an aisle where there are lots of unwrapped nuts can trigger a mild reaction in some people. Around Christmas time this may be worth remembering. The same applies to fish cooking where the vapours have been found to make the allergen airborne.

The issues in this article are just some of the ideas you can put to use to your advantage. If you have any other tips then do let me know and we can put them on a factsheet.

Cosmetics Labelling

The sixth amendment to the European Union Cosmetic Directive (1993) was implemented in December 1997. It requires the ingredients to be included in the label for soaps, cosmetics and 'personal care products'. This classification is taken to include any preparation that is applied to the skin, eyes, mouth, hair or nails for the purpose of cleansing, giving a pleasant smell or enhancing appearance. The labelling has helped consumers to identify products that might be harmful to them. However, because the labelling is in Latin, it is sometimes incomprehensible to the layperson. This can cause a problem when common ingredients are not recognised. An example of this is 'Arachis oil', which is the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) name for peanut oil.

The only answer is for you to have a list with the Latin names of the ingredients that you must avoid and refer to this whenever buying the products. The Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association Ltd is prepared to answer queries about these issues and has a useful leaflet listing some of the Latin (INCI) names. Below is a list of some of the ordinary names and their Latin names.

Ingredients and their INCI names (as used on product packaging)

Ingredient	INCI name
Avocado	Persea gratissima
Bitter almond	Prunus amara
Brazil nut	Bertholletia excelsa
Coconut	Cocos nucifera
Cod liver oil	Gadi iecur
Egg	Ovum
Hazel nut	Corylus rostrata / americana / avellana
Macadamia nut	Macademia ternifolia
Melon	Cucumis melo
Milk	Lac
Mixed fish oil	Piscum iecur
Pea	Pisum sativum
Peanut oil	Arachis oil
Sesame	Sesamum indicum
Soya	Glycine soja
Sweet almond / Almond oil	Prunus dulcis
Walnut	uglans regia / nigra

A comprehensive inventory of these substances has been published by the European Commission and is available on their website or on the Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association website.The terminology used in the labelling of these products must comply with that in the inventory.

Written by Tanya Wright, who is a State Registered Dietitian and Head of Nutrition and Dietetic Services at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. November 2001 - Updated 4/2009