Safe Snacks at Starbucks!

I love Starbucks. I love their coffee beans (I have three different types machines at home just for making coffee), I love their espresso drinks (caramel latte is my favourite), I love the atmosphere in their stores, and up until recently I loved their baked goods.

Then came Ella's peanut allergy, and the days of going out on a mommy-daughter date to Starbucks and sharing a banana loaf or ginger molasses cookie went out the window.

Until now!

Starbucks has recently started selling Lucy's cookies. They are free of wheat, gluten, dairy milk, butter, eggs, casein, peanuts and tree nuts. Which, I admit, made me a little skeptical at first, but we tried them anyway. And they are AMAZING. So yummy! And it was less than $2 for a bag of 4 cookies, which is totally reasonable.

So, thank you , Starbucks! Because now I can once again go out for coffee with the kids in tow, and there's something for them to eat and keep them busy while I get 5 minutes of peace.

Celebrities With Peanut Allergies

I was curious to see if there were any famous people with peanut allergies, so I decided to Google it. Turns out there are...

• Joshua Jackson (OK, he's allergic to tree nuts, not peanuts, but close enough)
• Serena Williams
• Ray Romano
• Alex Kapranos (from Franz Ferdinand)
• Kelis
• Robert Kennedy Jr's son, Conor
• Tom Poti (NHL player)
• Clay Aiken (tree nuts, not peanuts)

Dr. Oz Talks About Anaphylaxis

I must admit, I've never actually watched The Dr. Oz Show. But my mom mentioned the other day that he had done a segment on anaphylaxis, so I thought I should check it out. Here's the video:

Overall, I thought it was pretty good. I love that he's creating awareness and teaching people what an anaphylactic reaction looks like, and what to do about it.

However, I also had a couple of issues with it.

First, he made it look like the only symptoms of a reaction are the skin symptoms (hives, redness, swelling), the mouth symptoms (tingling), and the lung symptoms (wheezing, coughing, hoarseness). He didn't even mention the gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, pain) or the cardiovascular symptoms (weak pulse, paleness, lethargy, unconsciousness). And he said that the breathing problems were the most serious, but the rapid drop in blood pressure is also a major factor in whether it's going to kill you.

Also, I don't think he should have had her hold the EpiPen like a pen. I know you don't need to apply a whole lot of pressure to get the needle to deploy (you really don't need to stab the person), but holding it like a pen doesn't give you much control over the device. It's much better to hold it in your fist, like so:

Anyway, creating public awareness for anaphylaxis is awesome. Good job, Dr. Oz.

Baked Goods!

Do you know how hard it is to find baked good that are peanut-free? Near impossible. In fact, most of the time I don't even bother walking through the bakery section, because it just depresses me. But I got a tip (from one of the great moms who was at my anaphylaxis group meeting) that Superstore had some. So, naturally, I drove out to Superstore the first chance I got.

And she was right! It was wonderful. I almost didn't know what to pick, but this is what I got:

And check it out...peanut-free!

I have to give props to Superstore. They have the largest selection of peanut-free stuff that I have seen so far. Even their "no name" candy (like jelly beans and jujubes) is peanut-free. And baked goods!

I love cookies...

Nut-Free Chocolate!

As anyone with a peanut allergy would know, it is really hard to find candy and chocolate that is safe. Basically, I've found my options to be limited to snack-size Smarties, Aero, Coffee Crisp, and Kit Kat. And after a while, that gets really boring.

Needless to say, I was delighted to find a chocolate store that specializes in nut-free treats: Vermont Nut Free Chocolates. We ordered a box of assorted chocolates and some wrapped chocolates for Christmas. And they were DELICIOUS. Just as good as Purdy's, or any other similar chocolates, and priced about the same, too. And shipping wasn't too expensive, either.

I will definitely be ordering more. Not only do they make amazing boxed chocolates, but they also have candy, baking chocolates, fun shapes, and things for every different holiday.

My First Meeting

So, I attended my first "Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group" meeting this week (the group is coordinated through Anaphylaxis Canada, which I talked about in this post).

It was AWESOME.

I got to meet a bunch of other parents of kids with peanut (and other) allergies, and talk about anything and everything to do with the allergy. We discussed where to buy peanut-free foods, where to take the kids out to eat, vacationing, daycare, school, EpiPens, swimming...and so much more. It was so great to hear what other parents are doing to keep their kids safe. I got so many useful tips and ideas that I hadn't even thought about before!

I highly recommend joining this group. I can't wait for the next meeting!

Airline Travel Becomes Safer

Thanks to Transport Canada, I will soon feel more comfortable about taking Ella on a plane!

According to this article in the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Transport Agency has ruled that individuals with a peanut/nut allergy should be considered "disabled" and therefore special accommodations must made to address their needs. Basically this means that a peanut/nut-free buffer zone has to be established on the airplane. The ruling only applies to Air Canada, but other airlines usually follow suit in similar situations.

Ideally, I would love peanut-free fights, but this "buffer zone" idea is at least a step in the right direction.