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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

Preservative Allergies?? Anyone with experience

10 replies

bounty007 · 02/12/2011 11:24

Tests this week showed that I'm allergic to a list of preservatives. I meet consultant again this afternoon and dietician in next few weeks. I have looked in cupboards and fridge and have to avoid most foods in there Sad. Any tips on shopping/ shops to go to...how to deal with this....what next etc
TIA

OP posts:
rockinhippy · 02/12/2011 12:50

DD is intolerant to a lot of preservatives & other food additives, I am myself a bit too - it looks pretty daunting in the beginning, but its not really, you'll soon get used to it -

its a lot to do with reading labels & cooking from scratch, some stores are better than others, but it depends on what you have a problem with & what you are buying, so theres no all round better shops, bar places like infinity foods & sticking with organic

A good tip is to cook more than you need & freeze the rest in meal sized batches - those plastic lidded tubs you get with some takeaways are great for that & can be bought easily - doing this means you have good easy ready meals you can trust

rockinhippy · 02/12/2011 12:53

Should have added we find Morrisons & Aldis pretty good & Azda used to be good too, but don't shop there anymore, so not sure - but nowhere is perfect, so its all about reading & after a while you'll get to recognise what types of foods are more likely to be a problem

Did the hospital not give you an additive info sheet?? - ours gave my DD one, which lists outs the various names for each additive, E number etc & what foods its likely to be in - you should ask if you've not been given one as I can imagine it would be a big help if you are not used to it

Original poster
bounty007 · 02/12/2011 19:25

Thanks rockinhippy . I was given sheets of info about each preservative that i cant eat...there are just so many....I was hoping that there would be a magical shop that I could go to and they would know what I can & cant eat Xmas Hmm. Ive never heard of infinity foods but will google later. Eating out is going to be a pain (well it already was in terms of food, but now that I know that they have been making me ill, and I have to avoid them altogether, its going to be tough)

OP posts:
eragon · 03/12/2011 23:21

what sort of test? is it reliable? did u see a immunologist?

Original poster
bounty007 · 05/12/2011 20:12

eragon it was open patch food additive tests at an nhs hospital in the dept of dermatology. I was referred by my consultant in oral medicine. I haven't seen him yet to discuss the results...it was the dermatology consultant I met with....

Any other help & advice would be great thanks!

OP posts:
CardyMow · 07/12/2011 22:05

I was diagnosed with this at 15yo (am that old again now...). I was given a list with all the names and E-numbers of the additives on it that I am allergic to. It was discovered when I went into anaphylaxis after eating pasta with a dolmio stir-in sauce, and had to be airlifted to hospital (Lived in the arse end of nowhere, nearest hospital was 100 miles away!). They then did patch tests at the hospital.

My answer? Cook from scratch. Literally from scratch. Think granny's kitchen type ingredients. Nothing processed, make sauces from scratch. Eating out. Erm, I don't because most restaurants use at least some pre-made sauces etc. Make your own stock very boring and time consuming.

Original poster
bounty007 · 09/12/2011 22:10

thanks for your reply HuntyCat. You are right about cooking from scratch. I used to only ever cook from scratch, but since having DCs I have resorted to some tinned soups & packet sauces. Eating out is going to be hard...Xmas Sad
Ive been prescribed steroids to help reduce my mouth discomfort and while changes to diet kick in etc..
have you found anything apart from milk & water to drink? any alcoholic drinks? any brands that I should look for?

OP posts:
CardyMow · 09/12/2011 22:41

Vodka. Has the least preservatives of all alcohol. Fresh fruit juice - think tropicana 100% fruit, NOT juice from concentrate. My favourite is sanguinello - but it's really dear and fairly hard to get hold of. Your own juicer / smoothie maker is almost an essential. I have Green&Blacks hot chocolate if I want a hot drink, or I warm some Copella apple juice and add some cinnamon.

It's not so much brands as getting used to cooking from scratch. Which is a total PITA when you're tired, especially when you have dc. (I've got 4, one is 10mo). You do get used to it in the end, though. I tend to do big cook-offs every other weekend, and freeze stuff in foil containers, then I have a quick meal I can microwave when I CBA.

MrsMagnolia · 10/12/2011 18:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

eragon · 19/12/2011 12:08

of course the most common perservative allergy, is the one used for dried fruit.

lots of perservatives are normal common foods, and not artifical at all, esp these days with change from removing additives and colourings. salt being one.

i take it that all of these normal foods were removed from suspect list before the testing for perservatives?

what are yr histamine levels like? can you eat high histamine foods like tomatos?

what environmental allergies do you have?

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