Peanuts, milk and playdates

By Lisa Natcharian

Doesn’t it seem as if EVERYONE has food allergies thesedays?  Between the peanut-free table inthe school lunchroom, the gluten-free snacks you need to bring for the teamafter soccer, and the kid down the street who can’t eat cheese, it’s gettingharder and harder to feed other people’s children.  When once we could casually invite a friendto stay for dinner and know that if he didn’t like mac ‘n cheese, we couldthrow on a hot dog and everyone would be happy, now it’s almost too dangerousto try to be hospitable.

So what CAN you do when you are entertaining a food-allergicchild in your home?  The first thing youwant to determine is whether your little friend has anaphylactic allergies orfood sensitivities.  The well-knownpeanut allergy is the type that can cause a severe reaction after a very minorexposure to the food.  If a child couldpossibly get hives, have trouble breathing, or feel his throat close up if hecomes near a certain food, his mom will very likely be right on top of that,and probably won’t feel comfortable with you feeding him.  She will also probably leave you an Epi-Penin case of an emergency, along with her cell phone number, her beeper number, directionsto the nearest hospital and probably the keys to her car (just kidding… tryingto make the point that with severe allergies, you won’t be at a loss for whatto do…not trying to minimize the severity of anaphylactic reactions in any way).

If your child’s friend has less severe allergies, however,the scenario is likely to be different. Many times parents are loathe to beseen as high-maintenance, and try not to “be a bother” by giving you too muchinformation about their child’s food sensitivities.  If ingesting a small amount of an allergenicfood will “only” give their child a stomachache, a rash, or a headache, theymay not tell you all the gory details. Many parents also hate to see their children excluded from “normal”activities with everyone else, and may rationalize to themselves that oneexception won’t be too bad. 

It is in these cases that you will make a friend for life ofthat parent if you proactively offer non-allergenic food choices forsnacks.   The most common food allergensare wheat, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, nuts and shellfish.  If you take a quick look at the labels on thesnacks currently in your pantry, it will take you about a minute and a half torealize that 99% of pre-made foods from the store contain at least one, if notseveral of these ingredients. 

Rather than start baking early on the morning of yourplaydate, just plan a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up onallergy-friendly food items.  Find out ifyour child’s friend has more than one allergy, then pick up a few items thatcover all the bases.  Some easy snackitems include:

Of course, not every allergic child can eat every one ofthese suggestions (mine are allergic to apples, grapes and carrots, forexample), so it pays to press the parents for details to make sure they’vementioned all of their child’s trigger foods.  I tend to forget the apple part and just tell other parents about the“big three,” dairy, eggs and corn.  ThenI whack myself on the forehead when the parent offers my kids juice, which 9times out of 10 contains apples. 

Communication is the key! And don’t be afraid to try new foods… non-allergenic snacks tend to bemuch healthier for everyone J