pancakes, waffles, donuts, pastas, commercial breads, anything coated with batter, pudding, ice cream, soups, broth/stock, cake, cookies, pie, cool whips, fudge, frostings, salad dressings, mayonnaise, tarter sauce, root beer, cream sauces, baking powders, MACARONI…my son can’t have macaroni – WHAT?
Okay – now I am freaking out!
Did you know that egg allergies are the most common trigger for Eczema? There is a very easy to read article of how a body reacts to eggs if you have an allergy to them. Now I am just wondering what all Will has eaten already and how many of those foods contain egg. Also interesting that this article sites how antibodies are created to fight off the invader (egg proteins). The antibodies (IGE) are exactly what our Immunologist has been studying already since Will had his hip infection and they have already been monitoring his IGE levels.
Is any of this related to the new allergy – is this what we have been looking at all along? I am so confused as a mom and have so many questions!
So do we really have to start closely monitoring food labels?
How to read a label for an egg-free diet:
Be sure to avoid foods that contain any of the following ingredients:
- albumin
- albuminate
- egg white
- egg yolk
- dried egg
- egg powder
- egg solids
- egg substitutes
- eggnog
- globulin
- lecithin
- livetin
- lysozyme (used in Europe)
- mayonnaise
- meringue
- ovalbumin
- ovomucin
- ovomucoid
- ovovitellin
- Simplesse™
- vitellin
2 Responses to “Are you kidding me – foods to avoid due to eggs.”
Gordy and Pam,
First of all, don’t freak out about Will being allergic to eggs. Allergies are like ghosts, they are changing all the
time. I am sure the allergy specialists at Cardinal Glennon have already told you that what Will is allergic to this year he may not have any sensitivity to next year. Your list of foods is confusing though. Lecithin is in egg yolk, but there is also lecithin made from soybeans. We use that in the baking industry so when you see lecithin in an ingredient legend on a loaf of bread it is probably soy lecithin. If labeled accurately it should say “soy lecithin.” Very few commerical breads have eggs in the formula. They’re really not needed in a bread formula, either white or whole wheat or whole grain types. None of the breads we make at Holsum have eggs or lecithin in them. A specialty bread or roll that has a hard shiny crust should be suspect, though. The sheen is usually from an egg wash applied to the crust to give it the shiny appearance and brittle crust.
The less eggs that Will eats is probably better for him in the long run anyway. The yolk is loaded with cholesterol and other fats, plus lecithin. Most people are allergic to something. I am allergic to butyhydroxytoluenol (BHT) and butyhydroxyanisol (BHA), both food preservatives. I’m also allergic to butyl alcohol (some medicines and some food ingredients) and to caine (found in topical medicines like lydocaine, lanacaine and xylocaine). When I was a child in the 1950′s in California we used to play in the woods behind our house. I would get poison oak every summer and my mom would smear the pink liquid medicine called Caladryl all over me to stop the itching so I could sleep at night. The rash would get so infected it would blister and drain and drive me crazy. The only way they could cure the mess was to put me under ultraviolet light to kill the infection. After several summers of ultraviolet light treatments at the doctor’s office I was banned from the woods. Years later when
I was living in Minneapolis I had a severe rash while working in the bakery. I went to a dermatologist who did a patch test on my back to see what was going on.
That’s how I discovered what I am allergic to. All those summers my mom was smear pink Caladryl all over me she was actually making the poison oak worse by creating an infection because of my allergy. The doctor I went to in the 1950′s had no clue at that time. It took me over 20 years to discover why I would get such bad cases of poison oak infections. That Caladryl lotion has both caine and butly alcohol in it. And the bakery allergy? I was the pan grease machine operator. I would get pan grease all over my arms. There was BHA and BHT in the pan grease to keep it from spoiling. My point is, you have to stay vigilant and learn what Will reacts to and then simply avoid those foods that trigger it. It’s a good discipline once you get into it because Will will end up eating much healthier foods because of it. So stick with it. It’s worth it when you see his skin clear up and realize you’re finaaly winning. We love you guys.
Papa Jim, Grandma Angie and Stephen.
By Papa Jim on Jul 6, 2008