Finally… Food I Can Eat was published earlier this year, and has been getting a lot of very positive press. Shirley and Helen also have their own business called Delicious Alternatives.

On May 7, 2008, the Delicious Alternatives team will be presenting ideas on

• substitution cooking
• recipe conversion
• rotation and elimination diets
• organic food
• food additives and preservatives
• other helpful hints

Needing to go on a special diet plan, whether to lose weight, eat better or avoid foods due to allergies, intolerances or other health concerns, can be a difficult and frustrating task.

Delicious Alternatives specializes in menu planning, recipe creation/conversion and catering for people trying to deal with these issues. Through dietary consultations, they customize menu plans and recipes to meet an individual's needs and goals.

Their recommendations focus on healthy, natural, additive- and preservative-free cooking, customized to clients' lifestyle requirements.

Delicious Alternatives… helping you shed light on food allergies and food intolerances through healthy and creative eating.

Click here to go to the General Store Publishing House online store, where you can order "Finally… Food I Can Eat".

Click here to go to the CTV Regional Contact page, where you can find the segment about Shirley and her journey. (Scroll down to SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2008.)

For more details about Kyle and his "You Must Be Nuts!" CD for kids with food allergies, go to his website.

For more details about the Ottawa concerts, see the Proposal Letter for Principals.

The dates that Kyle is available to give concerts in the Ottawa region are:

If you think your school would be interested, please pass the following materials on to your school principal (or the appropriate party):

She told me that what is great about Appletree is that she will run the same consulting allergy & asthma practice as she does now, same testing methods, etc. but they have electronic medical records, which she feels is better. Also, patients can book appointments by emailing the clinic.

May 03, 2007
Peter Krivel, Toronto Star, Staff reporter

Canadians who suffer from food allergies continue to wait for common-sense food-labelling laws that should have been on the books at least a year ago.

Health Canada's amendments to labelling regulations were made two years ago. All that's needed before they are put into effect is final comments from interested parties.

The owner is the mom of a child who is severely allergic to peanuts, nuts, dairy, and eggs, so all the desserts that she makes is free of these allergens. Her business partner is a doctor.

The website is going to be bilingual but for the moment has mostly French content. You can see an English page with general info, though.

The product page shows beautiful cakes, cookies, muffins, and breads (chocolate bread and banana bread). The cakes look really stunning.

We are going to try to get her products into our region.

I like what the Mission page states (which I've translated): "... it's time to put an end to the boring, sad, and dry desserts that are usually offered to people with food allergies."

I couldn't agree more!

The video focuses on the need for more research and better technology for people at risk of anaphylaxis.

It also reveals what it is like to live with food allergies from the perspective of parents, siblings and those with allergies themselves. You will hear personal accounts, from children and their parents, of allergic reactions … sometimes as a result of airborne allergens or trace amounts.

The video is produced by David Bunning and Denise Bunning. He’s a millionaire businessman out of Chicago who has given $15 million to research for a cure.

Some of the research sponsored by the FAI - Food Allergy Initiative - is funded by the Food Allergy Project.

As Cindy Paskey of NASK says, "We need a cure. In the meantime, only education and extreme vigilance can keep food allergic people safe."

I certainly admire this family for putting their money to good use!

The allergy that was getting the most attention was dairy. The school has removed the milk program and pizza days in order to reduce the risk to dairy-allergic students, and it's upset some parents.

In his editorial, the editor expressed his frustration at his wife not being able to send in home-made products and his not being able to get straight answers to his questions from the school board and Ministry of Health.

He also quoted one anonymous mother as saying "They've made everyone else worry about milk allergies except the student with the allergy. He doesn't have to change his life but every other kid in his class does".

For children with food allergies and their parents, an allergy isn't just a medical condition, it's a psychologically taxing way of life.

Click here for the remaining text.

One very interesting comment was: "Several hospitals around the country [in the U.S.] are in the process of developing psychiatric programs specifically for families with food allergies."

I hadn’t heard about this before, and was curious: if we had a program like this at CHEO, would you use it?

Links include

• The legislation
• A Sabrina's Law in Your Province? Organizing to see this type of legislation spread across Canada - and into the U.S. - is taking place on Allergic Living's forum.
• Allergic Living magazine's full article - Sabrina's Law
• For teachers and principals - Ontario e-workshop
• A comprehensive resource - Allergy Safe Communities site
• Sabrina Shannon's CBC radio documentary- A Nutty Tale