Food allergy expert tells people to get creative with substitute ingredients

With May being National Food Allergy Month and National Celiac Disease Month (in the U.S.), Carol Fenster, Ph.D., author of Special Diet Solutions and an expert in allergy-free cooking says substitute ingredients are already in your pantry.

It's a crazy fact that some of our top allergens, e.g. wheat, dairy and eggs are also the most common food ingredients in the Western world, this of course makes them extremely difficult to avoid, as anyone with a food allergy will tell you.

However, millions of people do just that. "What these people have learned," says Carol Fenster "is that replacements for wheat, milk, and eggs may already be in your pantry or as close as your local grocery or natural food store."

As an example, people avoiding wheat can use a whole different spectrum of flours such as soya, rice, bean, corn, potato, sorghum, tapioca etc. Allowing them to enjoy typical baked favourites such as pizza, brownies and cookies.

She also emphasises how important it is to recognise the different names for allergens (see our blog wheat by any other name). She recommends that if you don't understand what an ingredient is then contact the manufacturer first before eating and risking a harmful reaction. In the U.S currently 30,000 visits to the emergency room per year are the result of food allergy reactions.

Carol Fenster, Ph.D., is a well published author on food allergies.