Playing Host To Someone With A Food Allergy
Having a food allergy can make eating out, or at someone else’s home difficult to say the least. I have a minor food allergy to citric acid. It’s not life threatening, but the reaction can still make me quite uncomfortable. One food item that I can have difficulty with is pizza due to the sauce. Some pizzas I can eat without a problem while others I have a major issue with. In fact as I write this post I’m watching a group of people eat Cottage Inn pizza which is a brand that I cannot eat, but it was a very popular choice when I was a kid. It was difficult explaining to people that I couldn’t eat that pizza. Food allergies weren’t so big when I was little, and since my reaction isn’t very visible many people just didn’t get it. I always felt that they thought that I was just being difficult.
My allergy just makes me uncomfortable, but an allergy like Nick’s is a big deal because it can be deadly. As a concerned mother I am always making sure that Nick isn’t given food he can’t have. I won’t always be able to monitor his food though. There will be many times when I will have to rely on teachers and other parents to make sure Nick doesn’t eat anything with eggs. It seems simple, but it is very easy to overlook an ingredient.
If you are hosting someone that has a food allergy I suggest talking to the parent. Keeping our kids safe and healthy is so important, so I can’t imagine any parent not wanting to take the time to talk about it. Every food allergy is different and warrants different concerns. Main foods aren’t too difficult with Nick, but he can’t eat most desserts or breakfast items. Having some food ideas in mind is a good idea because then the other parent can easily tell you if their child can eat it or not.
Helping Nick not to feel left out because of his allergy is very important to me, so I like having a heads up over menu items. That way I can make a replacement item for Nick. When his daycare threw the big birthday party back in May I knew Nick wouldn’t be able to eat the cake, so I made him an egg free chocolate muffin to take for him. Having to take the time to make special food for Nick can be a pain, but it is something that I feel very strongly about.
I’m sure that hosting someone that has a life threatening allergy can feel daunting. I know because I was overwhelmed by it when we realized that Nick couldn’t have eggs. The added thought of the chance that you might have to use an Epi-pen makes it worse (having the parent show you how to use it if you don’t know how is a good idea too). Still you can easily plan a meal that includes items that the child can eat that will result in no problems at all.
