Label Reading 101

This week’s guest blogger is Lisa. Lisa is a mother of two kids suffering with allergies and recently was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Her post this week discusses how she added “expert label reader” to her duties.

When my son Jonathan was diagnosed with life threatening food allergies four years ago, I was overwhelmed. He was only 11 months old and just beginning to try new foods. I became frightened to give him anything new for fear of an adverse reaction. It was at this moment I realized my true calling: expert label reader.

I realize that I’m lucky Jonathan was diagnosed after the federal government instituted mandatory labeling for the 8 main offending food allergens. I’m also lucky he only has common allergens (seafood, egg and peanut). Scratch that, I was lucky. Over the past summer, my 14-year-old daughter Rachael was diagnosed with food allergies too. “No problem!” I thought. Been there, done that, right? Rachael’s allergies are completely different than Jonathan’s and most of her allergies are not prominently labeled. A new challenge awaited the expert label reader!

After assuming an even more watchful eye on product labels for the past several months, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Unfortunately, I’ve found that determining whether gluten is in a product is much more difficult to decipher. It has been difficult to find items everyone in the family can enjoy. Having one food pantry per person just won’t work in our home! Luckily, there are companies making gluten-free products and label their ingredients clearly and properly. I have been a devoted Enjoy Life Foods fan since Jonathan was diagnosed. Now three members of my family feast on Enjoy Life brand products. A few favorites are the chocolate chips and the Cocoa Loco snack bars (we’re huge chocolate lovers!). My expert label reading hat is off to Enjoy Life for filling my family’s snack needs!

While it can still be frustrating to find safe and delicious foods when allergies and intolerances are present, I’ve found being persistent really pays off. A few of my expert label reading habits: read those labels closely, look up ingredient lists on manufacturer’s websites and contact the companies directly by phone. And if you have any doubt about the ingredients, just put the item back on the shelf!

~Lisa