Food Allergies

I wanted to bring this topic up because a couple of weekends ago I had a reaction to hazelnuts, completely out of the blue. I have never had a food allergy before in my life and it was, to say the least, terrifying. Thankfully I did not go into full anaphylaxis as I had had an antihistamine in the morning (I'm allergic to dogs so take them all the time anyway, in case I come into contact with one) and as soon as I felt my face swelling I took another one.

Unfortunately I now carry an epipen, which is just horrible because I have to remember to have it with me at all times and I just found out that I have to contact airlines in advance of going on a plane so that they can remove any nuts. It's just shocking, all the things I need to remember now that for the first 39yrs + two months of my life I did not need to do. It seems to be that allergies can crop up at any time, although most doctors tend to think they appear in childhood/teens and early twenties.

Needless to say I have to go through a barrage of tests to find out what caused it and whether I'm allergic to all nuts or just some, as well as any other foods. Living in the highlands means I cannot simply go to an allergy clinic to have these tests done - I have to be referred to Glasgow, as Inverness do not have these facilities and Aberdeen don't take on clients outwith their area. There is a lot of mis-information out there. Some people/websites say that its ok to have sesame seeds and pine nuts, as they are not nuts, but other sites say that if you have a nut allergy you are highly likely to be allergic to these as well. I'm erring on the side of caution, although I do know I'm ok (at the moment) with sesame seeds and nutmeg.

I'm sad that I can no longer have any Chinese meals (from a take away or restaurant, as they use groundnut oil for cooking), peaaut butter, praline, pesto, baclava (which I adore) and so many other foods but o have to be careful aou where my food is stored - if I want some ciabatta in a restaurant and it is sitting in a basket with walnut bread, I'm in a whole world of trouble.

I wanted to share this with people because I want people to know that if you have just develoed an allergy and are scared or worried, you're not alone. I also wanted to share a link to the NHS Allergies website for proper advice, and to hopefully make anyone aware out there who deals with food that they need to think about storing foods and letting customers know if you cook with anything that might be hidden becase people can be allergic to anything. I would genuinely ask all restaurants and eateries to be very allergy aware and ask customers whether they have any allergies and to keep the most common food allergy items separate from everything else - these are nuts, strawberries and shelfish.

My husband and I were at the Snow Goose in Inverness on Friday night. We ordered a mezze-type starter - warm breads, olives and a selection of meats to share. I spotted the walnut bread and mentioned it to the waitress. She spoke with the chef, who is also allergic to nuts and he keeps some breads separate from the walnut bread and made sure I was aware that nothing else I ordered had nuts in them. it was wonderful because this was my first eating out experience since the reaction and I hadn't known that even bread touching other bread could set me off. I am truly grateful to this chef and the very kind waitress who brought it to his attention.

I will leave you with a couple of other very useful websites and hope that those of you with allergies out there are getting everything you need and those who don't have any never develop any.

Take care xx

Allergy UK
Food Standards Agency

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin