Do you have a food allergy or food intolerance?
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I have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and I have reactions (e.g. hives, flushing, angioedema, vomiting, nausea, etc.) to a lot of different foods (e.g. dairy, gluten, wheat, blueberries, black tea, coffee, black pepper, etc.). The thing is though, MCAS doesn't just affect what I can eat, it's also stuff in the air, medication, clothes, stress, body products, etc.
Basically, it's a pain in the butt.
Basically, it's a pain in the butt.
Would be good if you could multi-select on the poll.
I have a food allergy, a food intolerance and an auto-immune disorder.
I have ulcerative colitis which as @Drewski mentioned is very challenging (for me it's very limited raw vegetables, limited cooked vegetables, limited fruit, limited nuts, nothing remotely spicy, limited fizzy drinks, no alcohol). I also discovered through having been diagnosed with colitis that I have a gluten intolerance (although a wider and better range of foods are now available they don't compare well to gluten containing equivalents on taste or price).
Completely independent of those I am also violently allergic to seafood.
In answer to the how do I manage it question - eating out is very difficult, particularly in independent restaurants/at food stalls. A few years ago it became law to have to provide details of ingredients/allergens on menu listings and that made a big difference in terms of being able to eat out at all.
Otherwise, being super-careful reading ingredients listings (with highlighted allergens) and picking items that are specifically identified as 'free from' is the main way, and there's always an element of regulatory trust around that.
I have a food allergy, a food intolerance and an auto-immune disorder.
I have ulcerative colitis which as @Drewski mentioned is very challenging (for me it's very limited raw vegetables, limited cooked vegetables, limited fruit, limited nuts, nothing remotely spicy, limited fizzy drinks, no alcohol). I also discovered through having been diagnosed with colitis that I have a gluten intolerance (although a wider and better range of foods are now available they don't compare well to gluten containing equivalents on taste or price).
Completely independent of those I am also violently allergic to seafood.
In answer to the how do I manage it question - eating out is very difficult, particularly in independent restaurants/at food stalls. A few years ago it became law to have to provide details of ingredients/allergens on menu listings and that made a big difference in terms of being able to eat out at all.
Otherwise, being super-careful reading ingredients listings (with highlighted allergens) and picking items that are specifically identified as 'free from' is the main way, and there's always an element of regulatory trust around that.
(edited 5 years ago)
Pretty badly allergic to nuts - carry an epipen and wear a wristband. Have worked out what I can and can’t eat. Makes restaurants very difficult and the worst thing has to be “ may contain nuts “ being on SO MANY products
Original post by 8472
I devour everything 
that made me laugh
Original post by She-Ra
As a nation we are becoming more aware of people who have food intolerances and allergies.
We're working with the Food Standards Agency and they have asked us to chat with you about your experinces.
Please answer the poll first
And respond to this question: If you have a food allergy or intolerance can you share the challenges of living with this and how you manage it to keep yourself safe?
We're working with the Food Standards Agency and they have asked us to chat with you about your experinces.
Please answer the poll first
And respond to this question: If you have a food allergy or intolerance can you share the challenges of living with this and how you manage it to keep yourself safe?
Kiwi fruit gives me nausea and a rash, but I don't remember the taste being worth it anyway and it's very easy to avoid.
If I drink a glass of milk, I get an stomach ache, but I wouldn't say that I'm lactose-intolerant.
Spoiler
Ulcerative colitis isn't a food intolerance, but certain foods can worsen symptoms. When I'm having a flare (like rn) anything can send me rushing to the toilet ( even a single popcorn). Coffee is a common one, but coffee has a laxative effect on many people in the general population, but that proportion increases for those with UC.
I've noticed the worst food/drink items are:
Coffee
Fruit or anything with high fruit content
Oatmeal
I also have an intolerance to sunflower seeds.
I've noticed the worst food/drink items are:
Coffee
Fruit or anything with high fruit content
Oatmeal
I also have an intolerance to sunflower seeds.
I was intolerant to pineapple, but that seems to have improved a lot and now just makes my tongue a little tingly (much better than my throat feeling like it was closing up!).
I have quite a bad intolerance to Quorn, it gives me awful tummy ache
luckily I'm not veggie and I can have tofu/soya anyway
I have quite a bad intolerance to Quorn, it gives me awful tummy ache
luckily I'm not veggie and I can have tofu/soya anyway Milk allergy - diagnosed 4 years ago. I never had any issues before then.
The only real challenge is supermarket shopping takes a little longer, but generally there is a decent substitute.
The other only challenge is when eating out or getting takeaway.
Restaurants are getting better, but I feel like I'm an inconvenience to the people I'm with, and the staff can be quite obvious about the inconvenience. Many restaurants carry allergen information (in a tick-box style), but ingredient lists or itemised lists are usually more useful as I can say 'I'll have this, just remove the cheese please' etc.
Some restaurants flat-out refuse to serve me, and others seem a little clueless or confused (Yesterday I asked in a bakery if there were any cakes with no dairy, and they asked me 'Can you have condensed milk?' and 'Do doughnuts contain milk?' - I asked them, because I don't know!)
Takeaways are a nightmare... but that's caused by online ordering systems.
Whenever I go somewhere I double-check everything, and inform the kitchen. I've never had any problems.
The only real challenge is supermarket shopping takes a little longer, but generally there is a decent substitute.
The other only challenge is when eating out or getting takeaway.
Restaurants are getting better, but I feel like I'm an inconvenience to the people I'm with, and the staff can be quite obvious about the inconvenience. Many restaurants carry allergen information (in a tick-box style), but ingredient lists or itemised lists are usually more useful as I can say 'I'll have this, just remove the cheese please' etc.
Some restaurants flat-out refuse to serve me, and others seem a little clueless or confused (Yesterday I asked in a bakery if there were any cakes with no dairy, and they asked me 'Can you have condensed milk?' and 'Do doughnuts contain milk?' - I asked them, because I don't know!)
Takeaways are a nightmare... but that's caused by online ordering systems.
Whenever I go somewhere I double-check everything, and inform the kitchen. I've never had any problems.
Yep - severe allergy to all nuts, sesame, tomatoes and white beans. I also have severe grass and tree hayfever which impacted my A Level exams last year.
What I find interesting is that when I went to be retested a couple of years ago I found out that all my allergies are linked to my hayfever/ pollen allergies. I was skin tested using the processed samples they provided and came up as only mildly allergic to peanuts/ sesame, despite my blood test coming back as more severely allergic than when I was previously tested at twelve (now eighteen). Afterwards they used fresh nuts/ sesame extract for another skin test (unprocessed) and I came up as allergic to all the ones tested. So it transpired that I'm allergic to the pollen in the nuts, but not to the actual nuts themselves - theoretically this means I could try hazelnut (previously my worst allergy) in the form of processed foods, e.g. nutella. Haven't actually tried it out of years of ingrained fear of having anaphylatic shock xD
This does make me quite hopeful for both myself and other allergy sufferers out there who have a similar thing - 'cures' are reportedly being worked on for hayfever so for allergies linked to hayfever this could potentially lead to a cure? Don't want to get my hopes up too much because it seems too good to be true but there's a small chance
In terms of how I've been affected, up until before the last test I was really careful with food labels, and any labels that said 'May contain traces of' were a no-go. Even now, I sometimes go into restaurants and once they find out I have an allergy they won't serve me anything, because they can't guarantee it's nut-free (this is usually after they ask if I have an epipen to assess the severity of my allergy - I do). Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but it's a pain. Tbh I've mainly learnt to deal with it and treat it as part of life because it's the only thing you can do in this kinda situation
What I find interesting is that when I went to be retested a couple of years ago I found out that all my allergies are linked to my hayfever/ pollen allergies. I was skin tested using the processed samples they provided and came up as only mildly allergic to peanuts/ sesame, despite my blood test coming back as more severely allergic than when I was previously tested at twelve (now eighteen). Afterwards they used fresh nuts/ sesame extract for another skin test (unprocessed) and I came up as allergic to all the ones tested. So it transpired that I'm allergic to the pollen in the nuts, but not to the actual nuts themselves - theoretically this means I could try hazelnut (previously my worst allergy) in the form of processed foods, e.g. nutella. Haven't actually tried it out of years of ingrained fear of having anaphylatic shock xD
This does make me quite hopeful for both myself and other allergy sufferers out there who have a similar thing - 'cures' are reportedly being worked on for hayfever so for allergies linked to hayfever this could potentially lead to a cure? Don't want to get my hopes up too much because it seems too good to be true but there's a small chance
In terms of how I've been affected, up until before the last test I was really careful with food labels, and any labels that said 'May contain traces of' were a no-go. Even now, I sometimes go into restaurants and once they find out I have an allergy they won't serve me anything, because they can't guarantee it's nut-free (this is usually after they ask if I have an epipen to assess the severity of my allergy - I do). Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but it's a pain. Tbh I've mainly learnt to deal with it and treat it as part of life because it's the only thing you can do in this kinda situation
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Drewski
Yep. Since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis I've figured out that my trigger foods are caffeine and gluten.
Caffeine is easy to cut out. No tea, coffee, Coke, or energy drinks.
Gluten... Not so much. Turns out, the thing that makes bread, pizza, pasta, beer, cakes, pastries, etc, nice is gluten. Eating a lot of rice nowadays. My diet is boring. And expensive.
Caffeine is easy to cut out. No tea, coffee, Coke, or energy drinks.
Gluten... Not so much. Turns out, the thing that makes bread, pizza, pasta, beer, cakes, pastries, etc, nice is gluten. Eating a lot of rice nowadays. My diet is boring. And expensive.
Have you tried other bean flour based products?
When I was a more strict vegan I cut off sugar and gluten (and soy) as well. There are plenty of bean based flour, if you eat eggs you should have enough ready meals made of bean flour, not sure how many vegan products are out there in the UK, there are only a few in Israel, so I assume there are very hard to find in the UK, but simply gluten free bread, cakes etc... made of bean flour should be found even in regular stores
I'm allergic to synthetic black color. The only food I know I'm allergic too.
Other allergies I have are dust, mold, pollen and stuff like that... but not food allergies.
As for intolerance... after a few years of being vegan I'm intolerant to milk, however, I'm almost fine with yogurt or cream or other dairy products, but can't even drink coffee with milk, it makes my stomach go nuts within minutes.
Other allergies I have are dust, mold, pollen and stuff like that... but not food allergies.
As for intolerance... after a few years of being vegan I'm intolerant to milk, however, I'm almost fine with yogurt or cream or other dairy products, but can't even drink coffee with milk, it makes my stomach go nuts within minutes.
Original post by Kathy89
Have you tried other bean flour based products?
When I was a more strict vegan I cut off sugar and gluten (and soy) as well. There are plenty of bean based flour, if you eat eggs you should have enough ready meals made of bean flour, not sure how many vegan products are out there in the UK, there are only a few in Israel, so I assume there are very hard to find in the UK, but simply gluten free bread, cakes etc... made of bean flour should be found even in regular stores
When I was a more strict vegan I cut off sugar and gluten (and soy) as well. There are plenty of bean based flour, if you eat eggs you should have enough ready meals made of bean flour, not sure how many vegan products are out there in the UK, there are only a few in Israel, so I assume there are very hard to find in the UK, but simply gluten free bread, cakes etc... made of bean flour should be found even in regular stores
There are a few.
But they taste like crap and are prohibitively eexpensive. Fortunately though, I'm not completely gluten free, I just try to limit what I have. I can have the odd normal sandwich, cookie, etc without suffering anything too bad.
Original post by Drewski
There are a few.
But they taste like crap and are prohibitively eexpensive. Fortunately though, I'm not completely gluten free, I just try to limit what I have. I can have the odd normal sandwich, cookie, etc without suffering anything too bad.
But they taste like crap and are prohibitively eexpensive. Fortunately though, I'm not completely gluten free, I just try to limit what I have. I can have the odd normal sandwich, cookie, etc without suffering anything too bad.
I used to prepare things myself... actually enjoyed that when I had time for that... I bought multi-cooker and Vitamix for that, made flours myself and baked breads in the multi-cooker.
The ready made stuff seem too expensive for me too.
None whatsoever. I'll eat almost anything you put in front of me.
Kind of nice given I've plenty of non-food allergies.
Kind of nice given I've plenty of non-food allergies.
No I don't, and I'm really grateful for that. My partner's dad and sister are both deathly allergic to pineapple though. They don't go near lots of foods as a just in case because they could easily die if they eat any.
I have an intolerance for "food" from McDonald's
I have coeliac disease, the diagnosis of which has been confirmed by a blood test and by a biopsy.
Managing this in the UK is easier than in France where I live because there is generally more awareness about the condition. However, I once went to a Jamie Oliver restaurant in Norwich where they refused to serve me vanilla ice cream (which I know I can eat) because they were over-cautious and did not want to take what they saw as a potentially litigious risk. So they made me go without a pud after a celebratory meal (I seem to remember I was offered a piece of fruit, which was a bit sad), which I was pretty annoyed about.
The other problem I have to contend with is that "gluten-free" has become a bit of a health fad and some people don't understand that there is a difference between people who choose to go gluten-free and people like me, who have a medical condition and absolutely have to follow a gluten-free diet. In order to avoid being poisoned, I often have to go into fairly explicit biological detail about what happens to my gut when I eat gluten - not for the faint-hearted and enough to put most people off their food altogether!
As far as ready-made gluten-free food is concerned (eg biscuits, bread, pastry, pasta, etc.) I get a bit fed up with the fact that this has become "everything-free" food - presumably for economic reasons, the manufacturers exclude all the main allergens: gluten, nuts, dairy and eggs; and compensate for the resulting lack of texture and flavour with chemical products, or lots of extra fat and/or sugar. The gluten-free food I make at home is therefore considerably better-tasting and a lot healthier to boot, than the stuff that I can get in the shops.
Managing this in the UK is easier than in France where I live because there is generally more awareness about the condition. However, I once went to a Jamie Oliver restaurant in Norwich where they refused to serve me vanilla ice cream (which I know I can eat) because they were over-cautious and did not want to take what they saw as a potentially litigious risk. So they made me go without a pud after a celebratory meal (I seem to remember I was offered a piece of fruit, which was a bit sad), which I was pretty annoyed about.
The other problem I have to contend with is that "gluten-free" has become a bit of a health fad and some people don't understand that there is a difference between people who choose to go gluten-free and people like me, who have a medical condition and absolutely have to follow a gluten-free diet. In order to avoid being poisoned, I often have to go into fairly explicit biological detail about what happens to my gut when I eat gluten - not for the faint-hearted and enough to put most people off their food altogether!
As far as ready-made gluten-free food is concerned (eg biscuits, bread, pastry, pasta, etc.) I get a bit fed up with the fact that this has become "everything-free" food - presumably for economic reasons, the manufacturers exclude all the main allergens: gluten, nuts, dairy and eggs; and compensate for the resulting lack of texture and flavour with chemical products, or lots of extra fat and/or sugar. The gluten-free food I make at home is therefore considerably better-tasting and a lot healthier to boot, than the stuff that I can get in the shops.
No food allergies but dust allergy
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