My Experience With Food Challenges

I’ve done six food challenges in my life, and thankfully four of them have been successful. To back up a bit, you might be wondering what a “food challenge” is. A food challenge is where you eat something that you are/had previously been allergic to, to test if you are still allergic to that food. However when you are told to eat something that you have been avoiding your whole life, it can be a pretty stressful experience. I have food allergies to milk, eggs, and now some peanuts and tree nuts and I have tested baked milk (because the reaction is a “lesser” reaction when the protein is baked), almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts and pistachios. My first challenge was when I was nine years old and I tested baked milk. My numbers for being allergic to milk had been going down, and because it was baked, my doctor was confident I would have little to no reaction. Let’s just say it did not go as expected and it resulted in two epi-pens. That reaction really scared me, even though after a few hours I was fine, and it took several years for me to build my confidence to try to test another food. The next food challenge I did was when I was thirteen and I tested almonds, once again my doctor told me I had barely any numbers for almonds and I should be fine. This time, I had no reaction and now I could eat almonds! Even though I didn’t have a reaction, it was a hard experience because I was so nervous about eating this thing that had been a poison to me for years! My mom was really my advocate through the whole process and kept asking about my numbers and which nuts to test, and she kept reminding me that if I just tested it once and it went well, I could eat that nut for the rest of my life! That pushed me forward and about a year later I tested four nuts in a month. I tested walnuts, no reaction. I tested pecans, no reaction. I tested hazelnuts, no reaction. And then, I tested pistachios. At this point I was feeling more confident about trying different nuts because they had been going well and all my numbers were pretty low, but then pistachios resulted in an epi-pen and a whole lot of benadryl. That shocked me and scared me a little bit, but the important takeaway from the whole food challenge experience is… is it okay to just try? If the doctor is encouraging you, if your family members are encouraging you, this challenge could change your life! Please be cautious with what you try when it comes to food allergies, and please follow your doctor's advice and test safely. It’s a big choice, but it's a choice that could impact your life forever.

-Sam

Multi-purpose Gluten-Free "Breading Crust" Mix

This recipe was given by Jacqueline S!

Free of the top 9 allergens (and more!): Eggs, fish, wheat, soy, shellfish, dairy, tree nuts, sesame, and peanuts. CONTAINS CORN

This is one of my dad’s creations. He experimented with finding the best and most delicious allergy-friendly “bread crumbs”. All of these ingredients are easy to find and this mix can last a long time if stored properly.

Tools:

• Food processor or rolling pin/large object

• Resealable Plastic Bag

Ingredients

• 6 cups of Rice Krispy Cereal

• 6 cups of Cornflakes

• 3 teaspoons of Paprika

• 2 tablespoons of Salt

• 1 teaspoon of pepper

• ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (If you don’t want any heat/spice, use less or omit the ingredient.)

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder

• Any other spices/seasonings of your choice

Directions/Steps

1. Place all the cereal in a food processor and grind it until it is a fine powder. (Be cautious when using a food processor!) If you don’t have a food processor, place the cereal in a plastic bag and you can use a rolling pin or large object to pound and crush the cereal to bits.

2. Move the mix into a plastic bag and add your spices and seasonings. Seal the bag and toss it around to mix well. Make sure all of the spices are evenly incorporated.

3. Seal the bag entirely, making sure there is no air. It can last up to 3 months.

When using the mix…(Example images are using cut and dried pieces of cod)

1. Pour out only the amount of it that you need into a separate dish so that you can save the rest for other meals.

2. Coat a food of your choice with the mixture. (I’ve used pork, fish, and chicken in the past). Press firmly to make sure the mixture adheres and covers areas all around the food.

3. Cook your food as desired and serve! (You can fry or bake it!)

(Fish sticks with french fries and Brussels sprouts)

(Pork Schnitzel)

Jacqueline's Bio:

Hi, my name is Jacqueline See-Tho. I am 15 years old and a sophomore in high school from California. I have lived with food allergies to eggs, milk, tree nuts, and peanuts my entire life. I love to cook, bake, and test new recipes. Some of my other passions include traveling, dance, singing, and theatre. In my free time, I like to listen to music, play with my dog, read, and write. This is my second year being on FARE’s Teen Advisory Group, and I’m really excited to be the leader of the Chef Committee for the Cooking with Food Allergies project this year. I’m looking forward to being a part of this special community and sharing some great recipes!

Oral Immunotherapy: How a New Treatment Plan is Changing the Lives of Those With Food Allergies

Written by Abby.

Oral immunotherapy is a new treatment plan for individuals with food allergies. It involves giving a person with food allergies a very tiny amount of the food they are allergic to, small enough so the allergen does not trigger an allergic reaction. This amount is gradually increased over a period of several months or years, with the goal of raising the amount of the allergen needed to trigger a reaction, desensitizing the individual to the allergen, and protecting them from having a serious reaction if the allergen is ever accidentally ingested in a greater amount. Positives that come along with OIT include people being able to tolerate things they are allergic to; since this process desensitizes the body to the allergen, it lessens the threat of a serious reaction occurring and therefore lessens many people’s anxiety and increases their quality of life. However, OIT does not work for all patients, and some people have to stop this treatment before they can reach their full maintenance dosage if they are experiencing problems. Typical negative side effects include stomach pain, cramping, and vomiting; itching of the mouth and the throat is also common, and OIT updoses can cause some people to have serious reactions. . I started OIT for my dairy allergy in February of 2020, and my updose appointments have resulted in me having to miss school every other Wednesday morning. Dosing at home has been a bit of a nuisance, especially if I want to exercise or take a dance class early in the morning; this is because I have to dose after I eat breakfast, and I must wait at least two hours after dosing to start exercising. Updose ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY 7 appointments are nerve-racking, and the fear of potentially having a reaction has made me extremely anxious during those appointments. The doses of milk I am taking every day have also been causing my stomach to get upset a lot recently, so I had to start taking a reflux pill twice a day to try to prevent this from getting worse. Despite the negative side effects and lifestyle changes that come along with the OIT process, it has truly been life-changing for the patients the treatment has worked for. My own experience has shown that this treatment really can work; last February, I was only able to tolerate around 0.3 milliliters of milk, but now I am able to tolerate 45 milliliters. I’m going to have to stop updosing once I get to 60 milliliters due to the stomach problems I’ve been having, but I will be able to tolerate dairy in ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY 8 baked goods such as cookies or muffins, which is much better than not being able to tolerate it at all. If I had accidentally ingested something with milk in it prior to undergoing this treatment, I would have had an anaphylactic reaction; however, if I were to accidentally ingest something with milk in it now, I would most likely be fine due to OIT and the desensitization process. A great deal of progress has been made, but there are still many unknowns when it comes to Oral Immunotherapy. Hopefully, scientific discoveries made in the near future will allow OIT to work for even more people; everyone with food allergies deserves to experience what it feels like to live with a little more freedom and much less worry.