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 Grocery
Shopping Tips
The most important tip for grocery shopping is to read
ingredient listings carefully. This process takes time, plan to leave
your children at home so you can concentrate on reading the ingredient
information.
- Learn the scientific and techanical names for foods.
For example, rennet casein and sodium caseinates are milk by-products
(see ingredients on food labels).
- Read the labels on all foods. Do not assume a product
will always be safe; ingredients change without warning. Read all
labels each time
you shop.
- Most labels contain allergen information about
the facility. Read carefully, “Manufactured in a facility
that uses peanuts.”
- Avoid
buying a food unless you know the definition of each label ingredient.
- Ask
your child's doctor which cooking oils are safe to use. Most oils
are considered safe for people with food allergies because the
protein is removed during the manufacturing process. However, cold
presses or expeller pressed oil is the exception and should be avoided.
Beware
- “Non-dairy” products, such as Cool Whip® or
Carnation Non-Dairy Creamer® contain casein.
- Natural or artifical
flavors: these are often catch-all phrases for trace amounts of
a variety of ingredients. If you cannot avoid products
with natural or artifical flavors, call the manufacturer and ask about these ingredients.
- Processed foods. The
more processed the food, the more likely it may contain
a hidden ingredient that can cause a reaction. Buy foods that are close to their natural
state.
Avoid
- Bulk food bins
- Deli meats
- Foods without ingredient listings or imported
foods with foreign language ingredient listings. Do not buy or
eat any food if the ingredients
are not listed on a package,
or if you cannot be absolutely sure you know what an ingredient word means.
Keep in mind that foreign manufacturers may not use the same standards as local manufacturers.
*portions
of this are excerpt from “Getting Started with Food Allergies”:
A guide for Parents, by S. Allan Bock, M.D. and Anne Munoz-Furlong (FAAN)
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