Savoury Muffins (DF, WF, GF, EF, SF, NF)

Really delicious and super healthy! We like the chickpea (gram) flour option. Eat fresh, or freeze to defrost and eat later. Sadly egg free baked goods do not keep and go stale very quickly out of the freezer.

Ingredients - makes 14

Updates!

 

I know it's been a while... In fact I nearly deleted the blog entirely as I was unhappy with the out of date sections. However I've decided to update it and so far I've updated most of the pages at the top. So keep checking in!

Unfortunately for such a long-standing blog which has survived multiple Blogger interface updates it is now incredibly difficult to change the appearance without starting from scratch, and life prevents that currently. However, the content is being dragged kicking and screaming into the present!

Lunch pots

 Whilst in hospital in March, my daughter was keen to try some of the rather delicious Bol lunch pots / salad jars available in the newsagents on site. Problem is, with her collection of food reactions this was unlikely to be possible. We did however discover that one was safe, as long as we discarded the sealed dressing inside. *

Meal in a bottle - some wonderful new options!

Some really useful finds this week! Our daughter is still on a really restricted diet and I've been on the look out for complete meals for ages, for those times when you end up in hospital and they can only feed your child cold chips, (which is all they ever seem to be able to offer a child on a medical exclusion diet... goodness knows how they think parents manage!) or a school/choir overnight trip where you need a nutritional back up for the inevitable times the caterers get it wrong.... and now I have some! 

HUEL shakes and bars. I've known about HUEL complete meal supplement powder for a while. You can live on it, it's complete... but it was still a little too "medical"and lacking in convenience. The shakes are A delicious, complete, and affordable meal in a handy bottle, containing all 26 essential vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates, protein, fat, fibre and phytonutrients. They are quite thick, like custard and in fact we now use the vanilla one instead of custard, and they are very palatable, not sickly sweet. (A rare thing in free from food world!) 

NOT a lifestyle Choice - why the Free From Food industry needs to reconnect with it's primary consumers

I published this in 2014 but it's oh-so-pertinent again. Marks and Spencer recently introduced their "Plant Kitchen" range in response to the new Vegan trend (nothing wrong with that) but forgot those of us NOT dealing with choice and included wheat and dairy in meals/foods previously free of these allergens. Sainsbury's started slapping "may contain ...  all of the top 14 allergens" on their fresh meat and now the media are flagging up the "chemicals" in gluten free foods. It's time we remembered why the such foods exist, and what their primary market is.

In my inbox this morning was a request to complete a short and sweet questionnaire about "Free From" foods. Right I thought, I'm a bit of an expert on that one... should only take me a minute! So I duly clicked on the link... how long could it take?!

Well that depends on whether you find the questionnaire possible to complete in the first place, and whether it triggers a response like this or not :-

So why I am getting so hot under the collar about an innocuous set of questions? Well here they are:-

I'll tell you what my "attitude" towards them is; that they are an essential, vital form of sustenance for my children who would otherwise become very ill. Foods which are sold as if I should be grateful, which are often poor in nutritional content and high in price, which we cannot do without.

It wouldn't be so bad if the first option in question 2 was "Medical Necessity" - because after all, that is the main reason the "Free From" food industry exists, even if it has become something of a fad amongst many, and this growth in consumption of "dietary" foods has undoubtedly increased production, which benefits us all. However, if the main focus for it's existence is forgotten, short cuts will be taken and those with medical needs will be the first to miss out precisely because  - and hear we come to the crux of the argument - for us it's NOT a CHOICE! 

Eating "freefrom" food is not a lifestyle choice for the vast majority, it's a no-alternative, medically imposed way of life and to suggest otherwise is both ignorant and offensive.

So when faced with a questionnaire asking me to rate answers as to why I choose "free from" food in order of importance, seeing options such as "helps weight loss" and "they are lower calorie" makes me not a little cross!

Traybake Cake - GF, WF, EF, DF, SF, NF

This is a new favourite here! It's basically a simple sponge cake mixture with everything substituted as necessary. It can be a cup cake, single cake or traybake cake, whatever takes your fancy, the basic ratio is 4:4:4:2 or 6:6:6:3 for sugar:margarine:flour:eggs and you can scale it up to suit. So 6oz sugar, 6oz margarine, 6oz self raising flour and three eggs. the numbers don't sound quite so neat with grams, but it's the same ratio! I decorated with Betty Crocker frosting and safe marshmallows and sprinkles. 

My youngest son pronounced it delicious - then post on Instagram as "Archie Berry" that it was "very tasty, very soft on the inside, crisp on the outside with a beautiful blend of flavour."!! Praise indeed! It didn't last long... but definitely kept well overnight.

#traybake #cake #glutenfree #eggfree #dairyfree #soyafree #nutfree

Ingredients

• 170g (6oz margarine 
• 170g (6oz) caster sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 170g (6oz) self-raising flour (I use Doves Farm) 
• tsp additional gluten-free baking powder
• 3 eggs or egg replacer for 3 eggs
• your choice of icing/decoration

 Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C (170C Fan) then lightly grease an 8" square tin, or similar capacity tin
• Beat together caster sugar and margarine until light and creamy.
• Mix up egg replacer for 3 eggs or break 3 eggs and whisk.
• Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl. 
• Gradually add the eggs/egg replacer to the sugar/margarine mixture.
• Add the vanilla essence
• Sift flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. 
• Now combine first the eggs slowly if beating by hand, then gradually add the flour and additional baking powder.
• TIP :  if the mixture curdles add some flour!
• If you are using a mixer, you can safely add eggs and flour all together, then combine.
• Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the top with the back of a spoon. 
• Bake for 20-25 mins until golden on top. 
• Leave to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack. DO NOT CUT until fully cool.
• Decorate as you please!

Lemon Loaf Cake DF EF GF WF SF NF

This is my variation on a gingerbread loaf recipe in Pippa Kendrick's "Free From Food for Family and Friends".  It's a fabulous recipe, rises well and is so simple and quick to make.

Ingredients

• 275g Gluten-free self-raising flour (I use Doves Farm)
• 1tbsp Mixed Spice
• 1tsp additional gluten-free baking powder
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1tsp lemon flavouring
• 170ml water

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) then lightly grease a large loaf tin and line with baking parchment.(Tip, I buy the ready formed loaf tin liners from Lakeland!)
• Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl.
• Pour over the lemon juice, sunflower oil and lemon flavouring plus 170ml water and mix until you have a smooth batter.
• Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, levelling the top with the back of a spoon.
• Bake for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Leave to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  DO NOT CUT until full cool.

Freezes really well in slices ready for last minute treats, packed lunches and days out!

The Child First and Always?

Last night we waited for the ITV programme on Great Ormond Street with trepidation. So many families I know feel violated all over again by the articles over on The Bureau of Investigative Journalism which although ground breaking in many respects fall short of holding the Gastro department at GOSH to account.  They - and we - have had to endure years of poor care/no care/false accusations whilst being kept in the dark about what was really happening at the hospital. For some it's cathartic that some of the truth is coming out at last, but for many it's opening old wounds.

Our thoughts?
It was a good start. We thought the documentary was quite clear the disease exists, but is rare. It covered the accusations of over diagnosis and over treatment simplistically but fell short of making it clear how desperate many families are for help by the time they get to GOSH. More concerning was that it also came across on the programme that it was clear cut this had occurred and that this was founded on an agreed definition of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease - EGID.

Anyone who has any experience of EGID will tell you there is no such thing.

A Post Fact Era

- or how Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children managed to avoid the factual information of their damning Investigative Review in 2015 from going public whilst parents took the blame.

So today, you have probably read The Guardian article on over diagnosis and over treatment of EGID at Great Ormond Street Hospital over the past seven years. Having been in the middle of this for all of those seven years, I can assure you there is MUCH more to the story. There is more info here, sadly the Syrian situation meant the Guardian article was cut down. It's STILL not the whole story though. 

Warning: This is super long. The events at Great Ormond Street over the past few years have left many of my friends and I reeling, collateral damage as the Gastro department attempted to extricate themselves from a hugely damning - and damaging, had it been made public - investigation by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. What followed their investigation in 2015 should make you angry. Very angry. This hospital persistently campaigns for charitable funding over and above any other hospital in the UK. Many departments are centres of excellence, but not Gastro. The RCPCH identified considerable failings, but in an attempt to restore order the proverbial baby went out with the bath water. Good doctors were scapegoated along with parents and the biggest losers of all were the patients. 

Children.

Our Story

We first went to GOSH at the end of July 2010. With a very strong family history of reflux and associated gastro issues, also seemingly non-associated non-gastro issues, we were desperate for answers.  As per our story here http://thereciperesource.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/why-i-set-up-recipe-resource-long.html we were making progress on the reflux but struggling with motility issues, distension and a host of other issues.

We initially saw our new consultant privately, following an NHS referral from our local hospital being moved to another Consultant. (Our local paediatrician was keen for us to see this particular doctor because she had several patients under him and felt he was most expert on allergic gut conditions and would aim for the most normal approach possible, unlike some consultants at GOSH who were renown for pulling all food and imposing formula only diets when EGID or similar was suspected.)

Our consultant was quite thorough but very quickly fitted both twins into the allergic gut camp during our discussion. 

The photo below of our son’s hugely distended abdomen concerned him considerably. He later said he was concerned this was symptomatic of Pseudo Obstruction but in actual fact it was more connected with the 12 sachets a day of Movicol he had been prescribed locally for some time - something I had been concerned about. Movicol is the same plastic that is in disposable nappies. All parents have no doubt seen what happens when a toddler in a nappy sits in water.... it's a great drug for those with hard stool, but if your gut can't move loose stool, it certainly isn't going to do a great job of moving large volumes of loose stool...

We were prescribed medication - cetirizine daily, sodium chromoglycate and maintained our high dose of PPI medication (acid production suppressant) and were booked for review. Unfortunately our son’s motility issues were no better so he was booked for a gastroscopy and colonoscopy. This was no knee jerk reaction. Our son was going 2-3 weeks without passing stool then blocking the toilet, and was in huge discomfort. We were told that significant eosinophils per hpf were found throughout his bowel, in addition to lymphoid hyperplasia and he was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Enterocolitis. 

There was discussion as to whether Lymphoid Hyperplasia is EGID “waxing” or “waning”, and I actually asked how he knew eosinophils were intrinsically bad - or whether they in fact be part of the repair process? I know of many families for whom LH became the sole reason for diagnosis, and later many more who were diagnosed on symptoms alone. I suspect the desire to reduce invasive testing was the paramount concern for our consultant, but however well intentioned this meant some were perhaps labelled without supporting evidence. This should however be weighed against the merits of trialling treatments to produce resolution as quickly and easily as possible though with minimal discomfort and maximum gain for the patient. For this reason we never queried his assertion that our daughter was also an EGID patient.

Over the next few years our children never really became symptom free, although treatment DID mean they were better managed, growing properly and thriving.  

This should not be understated. Gt Ormond Street is not a local hospital. It's usually a place of last resort, where children with chronic or seriously acute problems go when no one else can help. Families are often desperate - like us - and grateful for help. It's also a place of novel and slightly unusual treatments, doctors are at the cutting edge of paediatric medicine and are always trying to push boundaries to help children. We embraced the plan - and the early results it brought.

Going Dairy Free

A good friend's daughter is embarking on a medically advised dairy free diet for her son and my friend asked me for some substitution tips. It occurred to me that recent posts have focussed more on those on very restricted diets, and whilst that is our reality there are many out there catering for single excursion diets - which can be just as daunting and stressful at the outset!

I wrote some suggestions down and decided it would be a good idea to publish them on the Recipe Resource!

First of all, the usual disclaimer! Children have complex nutritional needs and dairy products fulfilling many essential requirements. The vast majority of children outgrow dairy allergy, and those who are dairy intolerant are usually only temporarily so. Whilst nothing can stop an adult imposing restrictions on their own diet, you must take advice before taking such steps in a child's diet. Calcium, Vitamin D and other minerals - plus essential fats and low sugar make cow's milk a perfect food and drink for most children. 

Getting Started

I have a "Basic Substitutions" page here with some information, but this article focusses on purely Dairy Free diets. 

First, try not to substitute all dairy with soya products. Soya is high in oestrogens, and also highly allergenic in itself. It's not uncommon to develop an allergy to soya protein, and you increase that risk in an allergic child by substituting wholesale with soya. That said, if you are allowed soya it should mean you can more easily achieve a balanced diet without dairy products, without some of the sugar that is put in all free from foods.

When you take out food proteins, you remove flavour, so manufacturers replace it with sugar…. a concern which I have written about before. Most free-from biscuits and cakes are full of cheap fillers and “non-foods” so I always bake myself wherever possible.

Devonshire Apple Cake - #EF #DF #SF #WF #GF

Unbelievably, my twins turned twelve yesterday. TWELVE!!! Scarcely seems possible. And yet, in so many ways they are proving extremely mature and sensible beyond their years. 

Well, sometimes. 

Their birthdays are always a little bittersweet. Usually when the children reach a milestone, or celebrate a birthday we think back on their early years, and I invariably fish out an older photo (or two) to post on social media. How cute they were! Except with the twins. They were so, so unwell for weeks - months - that their early photos bring pain and sadness, and not a little anger. 

Despite a strong family history of reflux, despite suffering myself, my father also, despite knowing EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT when I took them to the GP at 3 weeks old, *nothing* was done for SIX MONTHS. Nothing. Just weekly weights, the odd blood test, the usual fobbing off - and the ward social worker visiting me to see "how she could help me" and "what I could change" to help feed them more/help them gain weight. Because of course, it had to be my fault - how could I be so naive to try and continue breastfeeding twins?!

But it stands to reason if you regurgitate every feed until it's time for the next one, you are not going to gain much weight. And if you are in awful discomfort from burning acid reflux which is so bad you develop a hoarse cry and torticolis, go rigid and display symptoms of Sandifer's that you may very well not want to feed. Because it HURTS. 

Eventually, we had to go private, and the twins were given medication. We had tried an elemental feed but it was so thin that until the inflammation had been reduced, and their reflux slightly improved it wasn't going to stay down. So I embarked on a strict maternal exclusion diet and breastfed them, on new medications until such time as they were well enough to take the formula as a top up - and guess what. They started gaining weight. 

It's really not rocket science.

And yet this is what happens all over the NHS. Twenty years after I dealt with this with my eldest son the NHS STILL blames parents - mothers - first, and thinks outside the box second. And using private healthcare brands you a diagnosis-seeking,  desperate-for-intervention type of parent. Not a good image at a time when 20% of ALL under 5s are referred to Social Services and MBP or FII referrals are sky high. But I would do it again in a heartbeat, and no baby should be left to suffer months on end like they did.

Anyway... this birthday was all about CAKE! Both twins wanted a unique cake, to fit with their current favourite flavours. K loves apples and apple muffins. My Mum has always made a Cranks Apple Cake, from her recipe book dating back almost 40 years. Wheat and Gluten free is easy, as is dairy free, but egg free - and she had no egg replacer - is more of a challenge. The result was so successful that I thought I must share - particularly since some of my readers have children who cannot tolerate egg replacer!

Spanish Almond Cake - contains EGGS

Whilst this won't suit anyone with an egg allergy, it's perfect for coeliacs, those allergic to wheat/gluten or avoiding flour. There are only THREE ingredients, it's *really* simple to make and absolutely delicious! It works as a single, deeper cake, or as a birthday/sandwich cake.

Gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, soya free, contains only sugar, almonds (ground) and eggs.

Ingredients

• 200g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200g ground almonds

Method

• Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy. This takes approx 5 mins in a mixer, much longer by hand.
• Fold in the ground almonds
• Transfer to either one 8" springform tin or two 6" sandwich tins
• Bake at 180C (170C Fan) for 40 mins if in a single, larger tin or 25 mins if two smaller ones.

Allow to cool. The top may rise to form a "crust" which has a tendency to collapse after. Don't worry! It tastes moist and delicious inside! You can add raspberry jam as a filler, like in a Bakewell Tart, or cherries, or even chocolate. Dust with icing sugar and serve!

Luxury Mince Pies

I've had a few requests for this "recipe" - the inverted commas are because it's not entirely homemade, but the pastry was! I've experimented with numerous flours/mixes for pastry and it's always super crumbly, but this time I seem to be on to a winner.

For the pastry:-

I used the traditional; "half fat to flour" recipe, but the addition of coconut oil (to bind) and wet egg replacer necessitated a little additional flour. Apologies for the imperial measurements those who prefer metric but I have no time to convert at present! I might revisit this recipe and edit later...

9oz Doves Farm gluten free plain flour
4oz Stork block margarine (at room temperature) or other free from margarine
2 tbsp coconut oil, the white set kind at room temperature
Organ egg replacer for 1 egg

Be patient, this took a while to combine but made a pretty good dough. It was a little sticky and rolling is always tricky but you can rough cut and shape in the tins.

Mincemeat:-

Totally cheated on this one!!! Meridian make a delicious, free from mince pie filling so don't sweat the small stuff, this one's a winner. A teaspoon of filling in each pie case is sufficient.

Bake these open at 165C Fan /180C standard oven and leave to cool.

Once cool, I cut marzipan and fondant icing circles to make the tops, and sprayed with safe cake shimmer. You can make the marzipan or purchase it, unless you are avoiding nuts it's easy to buy both safe marzipan and fondant icing.

Enjoy! 

Chickpea and courgettes fritters

This is a bit of a reworking of a previous recipe - to be honest this works with almost any veg combination although wet vegetables tend to make a sloppy mix that needs a lot of flour and they can end up quite dry. Sweetcorn is a favourite here, but this time I needed to use up some courgettes!

I baked two large potatoes in the microwave, peeled and roughly diced them once cool, part cooked the courgettes (so they were not too sloppy) and added them to a 400g can of drained chickpeas in my food processor. I added mixed herbs, salt and pepper to taste and whizzed them all together - but not so it was too smooth, just enough to combine.

Then roll large balls in gram flour and shallow fry as patties to look as above!

TIP: Don't worry if the mixture does end up a little sloppy, you can stiffen it up stirring in/mixing in some gram flour before making patties. 

Hallowe'en Brownie Bites

A belated Hallwe'en post!

I made brownies from a fabulous new mix from Tesco last week and posted them on Instagram. Many asked for the recipe - but I'm afraid this was a cheat, I used the packet below from Tesco!

I'm now getting used to egg replacer, after 18 months and replaced the 2 eggs needed with Organ egg replacer. (Anyone else noticed they are selling two different types at present? One has a blue box the other yellow - and one needs two teaspoons and the other one? One is just twice as concentrated as otherwise it's the same......) I used a free from margarine and then poured the mixture into some hallowe'en cups to make "Brownie Bites"!

I must say the kids were really pleased, it was a lovely recipe!

NEAW17

This week has been the National Eosinophil Awareness Week. Largely USA driven, but in recent years following research and increased understanding into Eosinophilic Diseases there has been a strong supporting role from the UK EGID community, largely coordinated by FABED.

This year however, it's all been rather different. Supporting, treating and establishing good practice for an emergent disease is never easy. It takes individuals and teams taking a leap of faith in trying new strategies, putting their heads above the parapet and bidding for funds for research to support new theories. This last is a gargantuan task - as I've stated previously on this Blog, less that 1% of all research funding goes on gastrointestinal conditions. Absolutely NONE goes on paediatric gastrointestinal conditions. Although eosinophilic disorders do indeed affect adults (my father has EoE) adult treatments are less controversial.

In the UK, few medications are licensed for under 12s. Tertiary level consultants can, however prescribe the, - and many do, it's surprisingly common. But prescribing medication for an emergent disease in under 12s is VERY challenging, and should always be carefully monitored.

My Blog Stats bear out the fact that many come across the Recipe Resource looking for information on EGID - Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease. I therefore feel in this week in particular I need to write something to give the little information those in the EGID community have to my readers.

Homity Pies - introducing Voakes Free From

This is a recipe adapted from a childhood favourite. Many years ago, at the height of the 1970s a vegetarian restaurant called "Cranks" pended in London. In the 1980s I visited with my mother, and she bought their cookbook. One of our favourites was a small "Homity Pie" which was basically potato and veg in a pastry case topped with cheese. It's still my favourite kind of food, and I decided to reinvent it for my daughter.

I've had a few wonderful mail order recommendations recently which have made my free from cooking so much easier. The first is Voakes Free From . Their sausage rolls are amazing, my youngest son loves them, and his older brother is particularly partial to their pork pies. Although there is nothing ready made my daughter can eat their pastry has been little short of a revelation.

Voakes Free From - https://www.voakesfreefrom.co.uk

Those of you trying to make MEWS and Gluten Free pastry will have had limited success I suspect, but at LAST, here is a pastry ready made, freezes well AND ROLLS BEAUTIFULLY. What is even MORE amazing, it tastes delicious too. A real winner!

I should point out here - this is neither a sponsored post or one solicited by Voakes. They don't know me or that I am writing it. I firmly believe that anyone helping life easier for those of us catering for exclusion diets deserves a huge pat on the back. It's far too easy to make sugar-loaded biscuits and cakes but free from (and not containing soya - here's looking at you Sainsbury's!!!!) savoury food that is tasty and nourishing is hard to come by. I highly recommend them - excellent service too.

So I didn't make the pastry for this recipe. And I didn't make the cheese sauce either....

Vegusto is a company I have used before, but not for some time. Their cheese has nuts in so it isn't safe for all, and some have other ingredients in which don't suit everyone, but our issue was the strong taste which I - as a true cheese love, liked - but which my daughter hated. However, children grow up and I pretended it was a new product..... and she accepted the Moo Free Sauce quite readily!

Vegusto No-Moo Cheese Sauce

I was quite keen to persevere, since unlike the milder tasting Violife cheese, Vegusto No-Moo has protein in it.

So, on to the recipe. It's really, really simple.

Method

• Roll out the pastry and using a large cutter and a deep muffin tin, cut the pastry cases out and place in the tin wells.
• Par-boil potatoes, cool and roughly cut into largish chunks. 
• Part cook vegetables of your choice.
• Mix with some cheese sauce (important the veg isn't too well cooked or it collapses at this point)
• Fill the cases with the cases with the mixture
• Grate some free from cheese (I did use Violife here) on top
• Back for approx 20 mins at 180C

Tip - these don't freeze but are delicious hot! 

Suggestion :- 

I rolled another portion of pastry, filled a large pie dish and froze it in the dish (freezer proof dish). I now have a ready made case to fill with apple/other fruit or to make a savoury pie.

I cannot tell you how exciting it is to be able to handle free from pastry which doesn't keep breaking!!

Update!

I've been quite overwhelmed with the kind messages of support after my decision yesterday to delete The Recipe Resource and say goodbye.

In many respects, I do feel that there are other blogs which offer more, certainly which are updated more often than mine is now! However as a bank of recipes for those struggling on limited diets I hope it is still useful.

So I have been persuaded to "undelete" it (is there such a word?!) and it will stay. Who knows, it might one day get a facelift but for now it's here as a resource for those of you navigating feeding children on restricted diets.

The reason I started the Recipe Resource was to help others - and for that reason I've resurrected it. I'm immensely grateful to all my readers for their ongoing support!

This cupcake is from the Organ Chocolate Cake mix, made as cupcakes today. I really rate the mix, the cake came out evenly cooked and springy.  A big success.

Chocolate Banana Bread

This is not a recipe I created from scratch, rather I adapted slightly a recipe in Pippa Kendrick's "Free From food for Family and Friends" book. I highly recommend it, it's given me lots of new ideas!

This is nut free, gluten free, vegan, soya free, yeast free and really, really tasty. I've made it twice now and it works best in the food processor rather than my Kenwood mixer, since the batter needs to be quite smooth.

Slow hand clap to the Food Standards Agency...

You know that popular meme of someone staring at a computer late into the night? Can't go to bed because "someone is wrong on the internet"? Quite appropriate..... except it's not bedtime and I *should* be focussing on the kids' homework, the child who is on the loo (he won't be going anywhere for around 45 minutes though, but then that's non IgE allergies for you...) and the fact that after the week I've had it really *is* Wine O'Clock and this could wait.

Except it can't.      

Myself and many, many others, from Fabed, National Allergy Strategy Group, Adam Fox and his team of paediatric Allergists and Allergy nurses, based at St Thomas's hospital, numerous paediatric gastroenterologists here and abroad plus parents dealing with the reality of life with non IgE food allergies have spent years campaigning to increase awareness and understanding amongst health professionals, teachers and communities that food allergy is not confined to an acute IgE episode. 

I wrote about the desperate need for increased awareness here . You would be *stunned* to know how many parents I know who have encountered health professionals who still simply do not understand how delayed allergic responses work, what FPIES and EGID are, or how cell mediated gut allergic responses cannot be tested for. The numbers of families damaged by poor or indifferent care, or those with little support for children at school, and even those hounded by Social Services because community professionals just don't "get" non Ige allergies. I've attended meetings for the All Party Group on Allergy before, and there are increasing numbers of people appreciating these issues - then the FSA railroads over all recent work in one ridiculous picture.

Yup, they've attempted to differentiate between food allergies and intolerances by reaction time, not even mentioning non IgE allergies. There is so much wrong with this I scarcely know where to start. Their sole defence is that they are trying to "simplify" things. But that's like listing a simplified list of political parties in Britain as Labour and the Conservatives. It's not simple, it's simply WRONG. it helps no one and subtley erodes the hard-won gains made by those of us trying to bring hope for our children.

If my daughter has half a slice of gluten free bread with egg in she becomes unwell several hours later and the response lasts days. If she has the tiniest amount of soya the entire response process which includes soiling and bleeding lasts up to a month. Just where on that chart would she fit? Or her twin brother who has long term bowel damage from non IgE symptoms and narrowly escaped surgical intervention years ago, whose non IgE allergic gut reaction to wheat in particular accumulates over days and weeks.

This isn't a simplified chart, it's an exclusive one, which excludes a significant proportion of those with food allergies. 

We have to contend with the media spouting about the middle class disease that is food allergies, who never stop to think of the opportunity such an editorial presents for education, for explanation and enlightenment. I've contributed myself as a lay person to publications on allergy, which fail to accurately detail non IgE food allergies. Yet still the ignorance persists.

It's not even particularly new information. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has had their own chart since February 2011, which is here. THEIR chart is reproduced below. It's a bit small, but that's because you just cannot over simplify this, at least not in the way the FSA are attempting to.

So what *are* non-IgE Allergies?

Non IgE food allergies DO involve the immune system, but locally, in the gut. It is a cell mediated response rather than a systemic, whole body reaction. It isn't immediately life threatening, but the long term impact ca be significant. t is a local reaction and is rarely possible to test for. Gut allergies are often delayed, which is why food allergies are so traumatic and difficult to manage, requiring strict exclusion diets to determine responses to possible triggers. Imagine an eczema reaction in the gut - it's a localised response to an allergen (or a false allergen which the body responds inappropriately to) and causes a localised problem - no anaphylaxis, no outside response (although IgE responses are often present in addition in those with gut allergies) and is very difficult to diagnose. Wikipedia actually explains this very well here . Like I said, it isn't new, and there is NO excuse for the FSA being so slapdash.

So my advice to them is to get with the programme. Work IN the 21st Century, add a third column and revise your information. Or delete it completely, because quite honestly, you've just shown yourself to be out of date, out of touch and under-informed. Unfortunately though, that picture has probably done more damage than the impact its had on your reputation.  

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