Although I’ve been hosting holiday gatherings for decades, this is the first time one of my guests has a food allergy. I’m usually nuts about nuts, but my menu needed to be reshaped to help accommodate a tree nut allergy that took priority over the typical dishes I serve.
The holiday season is joyous and exciting for most of us, but for the 15 million Americans with food allergies, holiday gatherings may arrive with a side dish of scary. Family gatherings around a feast can become isolating and anxiety-provoking events. Food is everywhere during the holiday season, making it easy for those without food allergies to unintentionally overlook the difficulty that a well-meaning cookie swap or friendsgiving potluck dinner entails for those with food allergies.
These days it seems as if everyone is talking about having a food allergy or intolerance to some food or another. This growth in food sensitivities is not just due to popular media headlines; in the last 20 years, the incidence of food allergies has nearly doubled. Just eight foods account for 90 percent of all food allergies, including tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish (such as shrimp, lobster and crab), fish, milk, wheat, soybeans and eggs.
Every three minutes, a life-threatening food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room. Individuals with food allergies know the importance of diligent food label reading, but with so many homemade goodies — usually without an accompanying ingredient label — those with food allergies really need to put on their detective hats and examine every morsel of food they eat under a microscope, especially this time of year.
Just like it’s essential for those with food allergies to be attentive about avoiding allergens and to be prepared to act in case of a reaction, it’s also crucial holiday hosts are aware of how they may need to modify their menus to help prevent allergic reactions in their guests.
Here are nine tips to keep in mind when guests have food allergies, plus how you can help ease their dietary concerns:
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Before Dinner
You can start preparing for a food allergy-friendly meal way before your guests arrive.
Communicate with your guests. The first thing you need to be aware of when hosting a food allergy-friendly holiday is knowing whether any of your guests have food issues. It’s best to ask about any food allergies or intolerances at the time you extend the invitation, so you know what to expect before you start planning your menu. When in doubt about any of the above, ask your guest with the allergy for assistance.
Get educated about allergies. You don’t have to become a dietitian, but if someone has an egg allergy, get to know what other ingredients or substances contain eggs. Eggs can hide in a food under the following names: albumin, albuminate, globulin, lecithin, livetin, lysozyme, vitellin and words that begin with ova or ovo (such as ovalbumin or ovoglobulin).
Be a supermarket sleuth. You can’t judge a food (for food allergies) by the front of its package! Since 2004, companies are required to state a product “may contain [major food allergen]” on packages to alert consumers if it contains a top-eight food allergen (tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, fish, milk, wheat, soy, eggs). Just because a food appears to be safe doesn’t mean it is; you must always read the full ingredient list to be sure the allergen isn’t hiding in a product.
Avoid it if you can. There’s no foolproof treatment for food allergies, so the best way to remain safe is to avoid it altogether. While planning your menu, the best practice is to 100 percent avoid the allergen and inform other guests of the food allergy as well. However, this may be easier said than done, as certain allergens — like eggs or gluten — are much more widespread than others (like fish or nuts).
Think about cross-contamination. If you’re unable to avoid the allergen completely, be careful about cross-contamination. First, this means reading every label to be sure none of your products are “manufactured in a facility that also uses [insert allergen here]” or “may contain [food allergy here].” Second, this includes cross-contamination in your kitchen. If you’re using a baking sheet to toast nuts, for example, be sure it’s completely clean before using it for a nut-free dish. This also goes for your hands! For those with serious food allergies, reactions can occur when as little as 10 parts per million of an allergen is contained in a dish.
Keep your preparation clean. As highlighted above, keeping food preparation areas clean is essential to prevent cross-contamination. Although using the same toaster oven for bread as another gluten-free dish may not seem like a big deal if you don’t have a food allergy, it can mean hours of discomfort for someone with a gluten intolerance. Be sure every utensil is clean before re-using it.
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At Dinner
So you did your best to avoid all food allergens while preparing dinner, but what about at dinner itself?
Label every dish. To make your guests with food allergies feel comfortable, labeling every dish with potential allergens is key. Even better, if you’re setting up a buffet, keep the dishes with potential allergens to one area of the buffet. It also may be a good idea to pull your guest with food allergies to the side and review the menu with him or her. This can make that person feel safe and reduce some of the anxiety associated with eating food prepared by others.
You can find plenty of printable allergy-friendly labels online and simply check off which allergens are contained within a dish.
Use separate serving utensils for every dish. Those without food allergies typically don’t think about this, but providing separate serving utensils for each dish is a good way to avoid cross-contamination while serving food.
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Prepare a safe dish. Even if the party is not a potluck, your guest may feel most comfortable bringing a dish he or she knows is safe to eat. Someone with food allergies may feel uncomfortable asking if this is OK, so instead, broach the subject early on by mentioning something like, “If you’d like to bring an allergy-free dish or two we’d love to have it join our table,” so he or she knows the option is available.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction typically arise within one to two hours of ingesting an allergen. These reactions may include but are not limited to hives; itching and/or swelling of the lips, tongue, face and mouth; gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps; and life-threatening anaphylaxis, often accompanied by lightheadedness and a drop in blood pressure. If you suspect someone at your holiday table is experiencing a food allergy reaction, contact 911 immediately.
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What a Holiday Host Needs to Know When Guests Have Food Allergies originally appeared on usnews.com
