Yay! It's National Celiac Disease Month!

[celiac3270]

May 03, 2005 09:00 AM US Eastern Timezone

Manage Food Allergies with Safe Substitutes, Says Savory Palate, Inc.; May is National Food Allergy Month and National Celiac Disease Month

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2005--It is an intriguing paradox that some of our top food allergens -- e.g., wheat, dairy and eggs -- are also America's most common food ingredients, making them extremely hard to avoid.

Yet, 11 million Americans do just that by using safe substitutes for their food allergens. Another 3 million people with an autoimmune form of gluten intolerance called celiac disease use safe replacements for wheat -- the major source of gluten.

"What these people have learned," says Carol Fenster, Ph.D., an expert in allergy-free cooking, "is that replacements for wheat, milk, and eggs may already be in your pantry or as close as your local grocery or natural food store."

For example, people who avoid wheat can bake with flours made from rice, beans, corn, sorghum or potatoes. This allows them to safely enjoy typical American dishes like bread, pizza, brownies and other baked goods.

"Milk is one of the easiest items to replace in our diet," says Fenster, who authored Special Diet Solutions and founded her allergy-free publishing company, Savory Palate, Inc. when she discovered her own food sensitivities. "There are many milk substitutes made from rice, soy or nuts. Look for those that are fortified with essential nutrients," she advises.

Eggs, a critical ingredient in baked goods, can be replaced with soft silken tofu that's been creamed to make it smooth. Flax meal simmered in hot water also makes an excellent egg substitute. Baked goods will be a little heavier without eggs, but still delicious.

Fenster says: "Reading labels and recognizing words that indicate allergens is also very important. For example, savvy shoppers recognize durum or semolina as wheat, casein or whey as dairy, and albumin as egg." If in doubt about a particular food, she says, contact the manufacturer to avoid risking harmful reactions that cause 30,000 emergency room visits per year.

During May, which is National Food Allergy Month and National Celiac Disease Month, Fenster's company is launching three new booklets on cooking without wheat, dairy and eggs. These booklets, downloadable from www.SavoryPalate.com for $6.95 each, explain the "why" behind allergy-free cooking and supplement Savory Palate's five allergy-free cookbooks.

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[plantime]

WooHoo!! National Allergy and Celiac Disease Month!! Now if only all of the tv channels would broadcast it during every commercial break!

[angel-jd1]

Wow sounds like we celiacs need to get things together!!! I have always known it to be in October!! That is why most of the walks and such are held twards that time and I know CSA sponsors October as awareness month. I know a lot of you do not care for CSA, but all organizations need to work together on things like this. Any thoughts as to how we can get this into one month??

-Jessica

[celiac3270]

Maybe we have two months honoring us

What can we do about it? We can either bask in the glory of being nationally recognized even though nobody knows what celiac disease is........ or we can send e-mails out to all the newspapers we can think of asking them to run an article on Celiac disease, being that it's National Celiac Disease month and provide some information for them to research it. I may do the latter if I get around to it.

[angel-jd1]

A more united front is going to help us more than "every month is national celiac awareness month" that just sounds hokey As far as I know October is the month.

-Jessica

[celiac3270]

I see your point...I don't know when the month is--just posting an article.