Book Review: Allie the Allergic Elephant

One of the things our daughter most enjoys is reading. She just loves books.

Allie the Allergic Elephant is an engaging kids book, and it is a great addition to the bookshelf for any child, but especially those young children who have food allergies.

Our daughter was engaged from start to finish and was amazed that Allie wears a 'special bracelet' to tell people she's allergic'. She also enjoys finding the bracelet on Allie's leg as it repeats throughout the book. This has been particularly helpful in getting our daughter to wear her Medic Alert bracelet. Whenever we encounter resistance we simply remind our daughter that Allie wears her bracelet whenever she goes outside, and she should do the same.

The book is written well for kids, moves at the right pace and is quite educational. It provides examples of what happens to an elephant who is having an anaphylactic reaction. Allie also shows children how to say 'no thank you' when offered a peanut and gives examples of foods that are safe or unsafe. Though other books incorporate similar allergy concepts, Nicole Smith and Maggie Nichols have successfully translated these concepts into terms that a three year old can understand.

It is very hard for parents to comprehend food allergy and even harder for young children. Allie the Elephant is a staple in our regular reading rotation and I would encourage you to pick up a copy if you have a child with food allergies. Our daughter has latched onto Allie as a soul mate and I have already put in my order for a stuffed Allie (complete with Medic Alert bracelet) should one ever come onto the market.

Sunbutter Returns

I know many of you are sitting at the edge of your seats just waiting for the latest update on my quest for Sunbutter. I was disappointed when Stongs no longer carried Sunbutter and I took to the Internet to find a new source. With a peanut allergy in our house Sunbutter is the closest thing I will get to my beloved organic peanut butter.

The issue locally is that only specialty stores carry Sunbutter and they charge way too much. Online I could get it for about $5/jar, landed cost.

But this weekend I was pleasantly surprised to find Sunbutter on the shelves at Stongs again! I was way more excited than I should have been. Stongs carries it for $3.99 so not only is it easier, it's cheaper.

For now I am back in action. Stay tuned ...

Sunbutter Eclipse

Back in June I was so excited to find Sunbutter at my local grocer. Unfortunately they just took it off the shelves! The same distributor that sells Sunbutter also sells PeaButter. Apparently they are only going to carry one and Sunbutter is the odd butter out. Based on my PeaButter review I think you know how I feel!

Alas I am now searching for sub-$8 Sunbutter again. I think I'll check the Internet as suggested by a reader.

Book Review: Mommy, Is This Safe To Eat?

I was recently contacted by Christina Black, author of two books for peanut allergic children and their parents. Entitled 'Mommy, Is This Safe To Eat' and 'Starting School With A Food Allergy', the books are intended to help young children understand how to stay safe while still having fun.

I decided that the best way to review these books was to read them to my 2 1/2 year old peanut allergic daughter. She has made great progress in understanding her allergy. Every time she sees peanuts, peanut butter or potentially unsafe cookies she says: 'No peanuts for me. Peanuts make me sick'.

That being said, it is very difficult for her to be aware of peanuts hidden in other foods. The photos in these books, such as those depicting potentially unsafe muffins or crackers, were very effective. She was confused at times, and the point was clearly made that Mommy and Daddy to help her determine if a food is safe.

The M&M's were particularly confusing since Smarties are safe, at least here in Canada. She pointed and shouted, "Smarties!" only to have Daddy tell her that they were not Smarties and that she should only eat things that look like Smarties if Daddy or Mommy say it's safe.

The books also capture food allergy safety from a child's perspective. The allergy learning process can be confusing and frustrating, and the books deal with some of the most challenging scenarios: grocery shopping , forgoing cookies or snacks in social situations and dealing with concerns that a peanut allergy is the antidote to fun.

In future titles I would suggest a more engaging narrative format to bring the child deeper into the book. Children love to follow a well formed story or theme. Another idea would be to have something, perhaps a peanut, that repeats on each page. Kids enjoy hunting for these items when they are hidden throughout the book.

Though there are many websites, such as Safe4Kids, with content related to food allergy in the classroom, sometimes it also helps to have a printed book with pictures. These books could serve as a useful teaching aid for all children, not just those with allergies, as they learn about food allergy safety.

Product Review: AllergyMama.com

Today marks the debut of NoPeanutsPlease Product Reviews. These reviews will focus on products that make life safer or more comfortable for those with severe allergies. The reviews will have four categories: Impact, Quality, Price, Style.

The first product I am reviewing came to my attention as a result of the interconnections created in May by Ria Sharon, our inaugural Villager of the Month. Ria highlighted other bloggers on her site during food allergy week. One of the featured sites was the Food Allergy Queen, who pointed me in the direction of AllergyMama.com. You could say it took a village ...

Product being reviewed
AllergyMama.com purses and totes

Impact
The first thing I look for is whether this product contributes to comfort or safety. We've often rifled through the recesses of a diaper bag trying to locate allergy medication that we know to be inside. The stylish and colourful AllergyMama.com totes and purses easily carry parental accessories. More importantly, the bags neatly hide allergy medication in a lined, zippered section on the bottom of the bag, thereby improving both safety and comfort.

Quality
The bags are made of a lighter cloth and to a high level of quality. Though I do have concerns about the durability of the cloth over time, and whether it will hold up in Vancouver's winter rain, there have been no issues to date.

Price
Priced at $65 for the purse and $82 for the tote, the bags are reasonably priced. In addition you have the option of ordering a custom bag at no extra charge.

Style
In addition to improving comfort and safety, these bags score points for style. Each bag is unique and the peppy colours, funky beads and catchy names (such as 'Harriet Takes New York') are just downright fun. A diaper bag has never looked this good!

Overall
The smart design of these purses and totes have been a hit with my wife. The zippered compartment is very convenient and the bags are quite stylish. Though the bags will likely not prove as durable as the traditional diaper bag, they truly are a great accessory for the hip urban Mommy.

Sunbutter

After several readers suggested Sunbutter as a peanut butter replacement, I was finally successful in locating a jar. Incidentally we found it at a health food store just a few blocks away. Well, it was worth the wait. My last product review was for Peabutter and as you may recall, I was not a big fan. I was happy to finally get a chance to review Sunbutter.

In reviewing food products I review taste, texture, price, ingredients. It is a little unfair to review peanut butter replacements as I am not reviewing them in isolation. They are being put up against by beloved peanut butter, with which I had to part ways several months ago.

Taste: Sunbutter serves up a strong aroma of roasted nuts as soon as you open the jar. It tastes like a sweeter version of peanut butter. The biggest difference between this and Peabutter is that the taste also finishes nicely. I found Peabutter to have left a bit of a strong pea aftertaste (yes, I know that it is made from peas!) Sunbutter has a rich, nutty taste that lingers on the palate beautifully. I do think it is a touch sweet for my taste, but it is something I could eat daily.

Texture: The texture was more similar to a richer peanut butter and it is creamy enough for those who prefer highly processed peanut butters.

Price: Sunbutter is expensive. In fact price is the only real drawback I could find. We paid CDN $8.49 for a jar which is quite high. In fairness, grocery items can be very pricey at our local health foods store. We'll price it elsewhere as well. (Update: We have found a cheaper supply!)

Ingredients: The ingredients are acceptable. Like most peanut butters there is added sweetness, via cane juice in this case. That being said, the sugar only total 3 grams per 32 gram serving . In addition, Sunbutter is higher in protein, appears to be lower in sugar and higher in dietary fibre as compared to Peabutter. Iron deficiency can be an issue for many kids due to picky eating and Sunbutter helps there as well, providing 8% of the daily value for iron.

Overall: Overall Sunbutter passes the test for those who have to remove peanut butter from their home due to a peanut allergy. I would recommend this as a peanut butter replacement for any taste and I will certainly buy it in the future myself. Now I just need to find a less expensive place to buy it!

Peabutter

I recently posted about Peanut Butter Bans in schools. While regular readers know that I take a moderate stance on peanut bans, in the post linked above I did review the common reasons that parents of non-allergic children give to support why peanuts bans do not make sense. In reviewing whether peanut butter was the only thing many kids like and whether it is truly the most economical source of spreadable protein, I presented Peabutter as an alternative.

This week I tried Peabutter and I am going to feature it in a debut section of product reviews that we'll have on NoPeanuts.

In reviewing food products I will review taste, texture, price, ingredients.

Taste: The taste was okay. At the risk of sounding like a sommelier, the initial taste is quite pleasant and almost nutty. From there though I found the pea aftertaste to be strong ... not surprising I suppose! I did not find this to replace the Adams peanut butter of days gone by.

Texture: The texture was similar to that of the more highly-processed creamy peanut butter products which are very common. It was a little too creamy for my liking but I was an Adams fan ... all natural, nothing but peanuts.

Price: The price of Peabutter was fine ... it was only about 50 cents more than peanut butter.

Ingredients: As for the ingredients, I preferred Adams because it was all natural. Peabutter has icing sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil on its ingredients list. To be fair, these ingredients are also in many generic creamy peanut butters but that was also the reason I did not eat those products. I ate all-natural peanut butter with a single ingredient: peanuts! We typically avoid products that have 'hydrogenated' or 'icing sugar' on the label.

Overall: If your family likes regular creamy peanut butter then Peabutter would probably work. Many people have given this product a good review online but I am not sure it is the right peanut butter substitute for people who enjoy all-natural peanut butters. I would be unlikely to purchase it again.

I will try Sunbutter, though I notice that there is added sugar in that product as well. I'll try it with an open mind as I really think these are great product alternatives for families with children who have peanut allergy. I encourage you to try them to make up your own mind ... I am just passing along my own (perhaps dissenting) opinion.

I think the solution for me purely from a product perspective is almond butter, though I am terrified to eat it! We have one daughter with anaphylaxis to peanut and a 4 month old daughter who has signs of eczema and thus is at risk of a peanut allergy of her own.

Maybe in 10 years I can eat almond butter but not today. I had big hopes for Peabutter!