The Cost of Food Allergies is $500 million in U.S.

The Big 8 Have a Big Price Tag

Food allergies are expensive.  If you needed more confirmation than your hospital and doctor bills (and lost work days) are pricey, then this study is for you.  It costs Americans $500 million dollars to be allergic to food. 

Total medical costs ranged from $225 million to $307 million, (depending on the type of calculation the researchers performed) and 52% of the medical costs were for doctors' visits alone. 

The researchers used information from several databases to find the total cost of emergency room care, hospitalizations, and visits to the physician's office for allergic reactions.  Those numbers were used to estimate the nationwide cost of treatment.  Researchers then published their results in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Four out of every 100 people have food allergies -- that's 12 milion people with a classic IgE reaction that can cause anything from itching, hives, anaphylaxis (closing of the airways) and death.  An estimated 90% of those allergies are from eight main food sources (called "The Big 8").  These are peanuts, treenuts, wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, fish and shellfish/seafood. 

Another 3 million people suffer from celiac disease - a severe autoimmune disease where even a crumb of wheat or gluten can be damaging.  18 million people (a new study by the University of Maryland School of Medicine) have a slow onset reaction or intolerance to wheat. It appears that the study focused on classic food allergies (IgE responses) and not slow onset reactions (IgG immune responses), and it would be interesting if they would have also included grocery bills and other lifestyle expenses in the mix as well.  But this information is a great help in diagnosing the breadth and depth of a big part of the food allergy puzzle.

The researchers were surprised to find that emergency room visits were not the bulk of the costs.  The large price tag on doctors visits were assumed to be more preventative and managed care. 

Is Buying Local Better? When it comes to Food, Yes.

A 10% Shift Brings Local Communities Millions

There are a few chains that I adore, like Target.  I also like the convenience of Walmart.  It is wonderful to have the products and cost savings that come with mass, global production.  Do I rage against the long-distance commerce machine?  No.  Buying local is not a panacea for every problem and it is not always possible.  But we are consumers who live in communities that need our business and support.  And there are many reasons why (and occasions when) mass, global production is not a wise or cost-effective use of our hard-earned dollars.  Try this statistic on for size:

If the people of an average American city were to shift 10% of their spending from chains to local businesses, it would bring an additional $235 MILLION to the community's economy.
www.elocal.com

Elocal.com has an incredible map that illustrates the costs and benefits of investing in our local economies -- from reducing pollution, to improving food quality, to increasing employment.

There is a simple, often missed wisdom in buying from local sources.  Especially when buying food.  If you have food allergies, buying local can also help us become a healthier Tender Foodie community.

Food Allergies:  The Benefits of Knowing Where Your Food Comes From

When I first started reading labels to ferret out wheat and dairy ingredients, I was pretty shocked to see how many "whole" foods from national food producers were laden with words I could not pronounce.  Many of those preservatives secretly house milk products like whey, and wheat derivatives disguised as anti-caking agents -- even in spices. Food labeling is slowly improving, but it is still tough to discern what potential allergens might lurk on grocery shelves.  On the flip side there may be foods that are perfectly safe, but manufacturers prefer to add "may contain X allergen" on the label, rather than put proper testing in place.  And in their defense, the FDA has yet to let manufacturers know what is "safe".  That's another story.

Buying local can help the food allergy community as well as the local community.  If you know your farmers and local food sources you can:

1. Avoid many of the preservatives needed to add shelf-life to foods that are warehoused for long periods of time and shipped long distances.
2. Know how your food is grown, made, processed, and delivered so you can reduce the possibility of cross-contamination from farm to factory to table.  You can ask questions of the people who actually handle your food. Questions like, "do you use GMO seeds or products?", "does your production facility also produce nuts or wheat?", etc.   
3. Influence you local producers and help them become aware of how many food allergy sufferers there are in their customer community.  Each voice adds to the next.  Smaller, local producers can make some (not all) changes more easily.   If food producers can serve a market that needs and wants organically grown products without cross contamination, they are more likely to work with their vendors to make that happen.  And do it more quickly.
4. Give your local producers power.  Many local farmers and producers of food have a huge amount of pressure from large distributors to produce food more cheaply.  Often this means adding antibiotics, hormones, cheaper feed, and more.  Buying from our local food producers who have the knowledge to raise our food with healthy, not harmful practices, actually encourages those practices, helps those food producers thrive, and influences the overall market.
5. Keep more nutrients in our food.  According to www.elocal.com, a typical carrot is picked up from the farm a week in advance and travels 1838 miles before reaching a store.  Then it sits on the shelf of the store.  Nutrients are most potent when fruits and vegetables are eaten as close to their harvest as possible.  Buying from your local farmers' markets is just better for your bod.

The "Buy Local" movement is often seen as elitist.  But the consumer community forgets how much power we have to influence products, pricing and the healthfulness of our foods.  If just 10% shift to local vendors equals $235 million dollars, think what else we can do to make our community better.

Gluten-Free Food Fair in Grand Rapids, May 21

Quinoa (pronouced "Keen-wah"

Find Some Buds & Learn Some Alternatives . . .

How tough is it to live with a gluten-free diet?  How difficult is it to make sure products are gluten-free, that you are choosing the right grains, that you are getting the most taste and nutrition out of alternative grains?  Its tough.  But as the allegen-free community grows, so does the knowledge that we can share.

Registration and Cost

On Saturday, May 21 some great presenters are getting together to help us all learn. You may register for one conference in advance by emailing registration@glutenfreegr.com with your name and address (at least city, state, zip)  to get on the list before May 18th.  Registration will also be available at the door.

Cost is free to attendees.  Vendors will be sampling some of their products, there are door prize drawings, opportunities to purchase products, and cooking demos by gluten-free greats like Marie Catrib's.  Marie will be demonstrating how to make gluten-free bread.  A not-to-be-missed treat!

You may be able to attend multiple conferences as space becomes available.

More information on the web site:  www.glutenfreegr.com

Who, When & Where

HOST: Celiac Ministries of Anchor Baptist Church (thanks, guys!)

WHEN:  MAY 21 from 10:00am - 5:00pm

WHERE:  The DeltaPlex (map)

Conference Schedule

10:15 am Conference 1: Gluten Free 101
Presenter: Anne Lee, RD Dietitian with Schär
This presentation gives the beginner the basic information about foods and ingredients to enjoy on a gluten free diet and those to avoid. Issues of cross contamination, preparing gluten free meals, and how to manage a mixed gluten free and non-gluten free kitchen. The talk will also include practical tips for dining out, social activities, and decoding labels.

Cooking Demo:  10:15am with Kinnikinnick (Pancakes & Syrup)

Cooking Demo:  11:15am with Marie Catrib's (Bread)

11:30 am Conference 2: Celiac and Diabetes
Presenter: Anne Lee, RD Dietitian with Schär
This discussion will cover the nuts and bolts of carb counting gluten free products. How to use alternative grains as low glycemic gluten free menu options, recipes and tips will also be covered.

Cooking Demo:  12:15pm Gluten-Free Sensations (Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache)

12:45 pm Conference 3: Living Lite
Presenter: Heather Leets, RD Dietitian with Spartan Stores
How can we pack nutrition into the foods that we eat without packing on pounds? This is especially difficult with the high carbs that gluten free flours bring to the diet. The conference will share tips and ideas that will help guide menu planning toward better nutrition.

Cooking Demo:  1:15pm Meijer Dietician, Shari Steinback (Spinach Strawberry Salad; Nu-Val Nutrition Scoring System)

2:00 pm Conference 4: “So . . . What CAN I Eat?”
Presenter: Kathy LeBarre, RD Outpatient Dietitian with Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital
Adjusting to a gluten free diet can be difficult and certainly has a tough learning curve. This
conference will discuss combining that dietary limitation with others, like dairy, soy, and corn.

• Cooking Demo:  2:15pm... 1 2 3 Gluten-Free (Dessert)

3:15 pm Conference 5: Food Allergies and Gluten Free—
A Review of News Headlines and Facts
Presenter: Lucy Gibney, MD Founder of the brand “Lucy’s”
A board certified Emergency Physician, Dr. Lucy founded the brand “Lucy’s” when her infant son was diagnosed with several very severe food allergies. She operates a “dedicated” gluten free bakery that adheres to the strictest ingredient screening program including an in-house testing lab. Her mission is to provide great tasting, high quality, convenient foods for people with special diets, and their friends and family. “Lucy’s” offers four cookie flavors planning to expand in the near future.
Dr. Lucy will discuss health facts and recent news headlines pertaining to celiac disease, gluten intolerance and food allergies.

Cooking Demo:  3:15 Bonefish Grill (Saucy Shrimp Appetizer; Macadamia Nut Brownie)

Cooking  Demo: 4:15 Willy O's (Surprise!)

4:30 pm Conference 6: Beyond Gluten Free—
Other Natural Solutions to Digestive Disorders
Presenter: Dr. Ben Gillis, DC Speaker for the Foundation of Wellness Professionals
Even though compliant with the gluten free diet, some people have digestive issues that remain.
Acid Reflux, Hiatal Hernias, Ulcers, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Colitis, and Crohn's Disease are
just a few of the other digestive disorders that affect more than 61 million Americans each year.
This presentation will teach the audience about their causes and symptoms. Then it will
address natural means of improving or even correcting these problems using natural remedies
including vitamins, exercise, stress reduction and nutritional cleansing of accumulated toxins.

Let's Go Out To Eat! Tender Tapas at San Chez Bistro. (May 17, 2011)

Tuesay, May 17, 2011 from 5:00-7:00pm at San Chez Bistro in Grand Rapids, MI

One of the biggest difficulties for people with food allergies is eating out and being treated well when doing so. The good news is that there are restaurants popping up all over the country who are serving Tender Foodies with passion and responsibility. The even better news is that we have several right here in Grand Rapids. So let's eat out! You can help me review these restaurants, too, by adding your comments to my upcoming review on www.tenderfoodie.com (I'll post a note right here when its up).

RSVP:  on the Facebook Event Page or at info@tenderfoodie.com
PRICE: order from the menu & self-pay
DRESS:  whatever floats your boat

Stop by San Chez Bistro on Tuesday, May 17 anytime between 5:00pm & 7:30pm. We are gathering in the bar area (The Fishbowl). Come for just a cocktail or add a small plate or six. Or grab a table and have dinner! San Chez is one of the pioneers in serving people with food allergies; they might even be the first Tender Friendly restaurant in Grand Rapids.


Check out their food allergy menus here: http://www.sanchezbistro.com/menu.htm

They have nut-, treenut-, lactose-, gluten-, soy-, capsicum- (peppers), garlic-, citric-acid, seed-, seafood- free menus. They also have a Vegan menu (right on). As for gluten-free alcohol, they have Redbridge Beer, as well as Chopin Potato Vodka (Chopin grows their potatoes without chemicals or pesticides).

PLEASE NOTE: make SURE that you are clear and responsible with your servers about your food allergies, so they can serve you well. Speak up!

I'll tell you a secret, it's also my birthday. What a way to celebrate by meeting Tender Foodies & Friends!

To Degree or Not to Degree? My Tour of the Secchia Culinary Institute

Culinary Degree?  That is the Question.

The sound of clinking steel, the uber-visible hats, the TV battles and people calling you "Chef"...  it all has no small amount of sex appeal these days.  But the siren song of culinary school for me is this:  learning about food is creative, intersesting and endless. 

As my secret desire to hob knob with culinary experts bubbles up, so do the holes in my own self-training.  My palate has been lucky to have tasted extraordinary cusine throughout the world - especially in New York City.  I've read, I've watched and I've experiemented with brilliant success and with miserable failures.  A few of my friends who braved my first Easter Brunch; and who endured the deafening commentary of the smoke alarms in my tiny New York City apartment can attest to the miserable failure part.  Needless to say, I have improved. I've learned.  People seem to really like it when I cook for them.

But when it comes to the art and science of food, I would love to go beyond my current foodie status and simply ... learn more. And do so in the presence of people who really know what they are doing.  

On the Institute tour, I discovered something wonderful.  I don't have to get a degree.  I don't have to become a working chef.  I can pick a program and simply take classes without having to be super woman or go into the poor house.  I could take a week or two off for the technical labs.  My training could happen over several years.

I also discovered that the chef professors will work with my food allergies.  Although they require you to taste everything, the school makes real exceptions.  If you are allergic to an ingredient in a dish, or if you have religious reasons against that ingredient, you are exempt from its consumption.

They, like most culinary schools around the world, do not yet provide any formal food allergy training, however.  But I think this might change.  After speaking with Dan Gendler, the owner of San Chez and the upcoming head honcho for the Secchia Culinary Institute, I have some hope.  It might take a while, but I have some hope.

Salad Day

Our tour group had the privilege to walk in on a salad class that day.  It looked like they were learning about different vinaigrettes.  The kitchen was spacious and every chef-in-training had a place to work comfortably.  Apparently, this is not true in many culinary schools where students have to wait in line for a chance to give their newly learned skills a try.  At the Secchia Culinary Institute, everyone has a place at the stove and at the chopping block -- all under the personal and watchful eye of their class professor.   

It was in the salad area, however, that I noticed that, contrary to my earlier perception, our tour group wasn't made up of a variety of age groups considering classes.  The older folk were parents of prospective students.  These prospective students were mostly just out of high school.  "Hmmm," I thought.  "I wonder if I would stand out?"  As one of the parents so kindly put it, "Are you having a mid-life career crisis?"  I hate it when people point out that I'm not one of the kids.  "No", I laughed (I didn't really laugh), "I love my job.  I'm a marketer who writes about food and just want to learn more." 

I'll show you a crisis, lady.  Just say "mid-life" one more time.

 

Retro Remnants,  Up-to-Date Training.

I loved running across some classic looking equipment in the meat area.  I have absolutely no idea what these things do, but they captured my attention and it gave me a sense that the school has a real history to it. 

 

But what impressed me on the tour, was the sense of discipline that the students seem to have.  We not only ran into students learning about salads, we met a few creating cake sculptures in the bake house, taking a break before serving lunch and setting up in the restaurant itself.  It was evident that they weren't just going to school, they were being trained.  Really trained (front to back) in the restaurant business itself.

A sneak peek into the ice sculpture case

I enjoyed seeing this discipline, because it felt like these students will be entering the food world with a deep and wholistic understanding.  An understanding that goes above and beyond whatever job they choose to do.  When they graduate, they will understand how to work with customers -- happy ones and not-so-happy ones.  They will know how to budget for and order food and beverages.  They will have participated in video conferencing with Scotland and other areas of the planet.  They will have learned from chef professors who have trained and worked within a few different cultures.   They will have witnessed customers responding to the food they cook and serve, because they worked in restaurants and catering facilities right through the school.   The Heritage Restaurant is one of them, and I had no idea that it existed before the tour.  The restaurant decor could use a solid facelift,  but what I witnessed in the attitudes of the students as they set up the dining room was an up-to-date knowledge of what service is all about.   Plus, the 180+ degree view provides an atmospheric element that is always in style.

Leading the Way in Food Allergy Training?

I felt satiated with information about the Secchia Culinary Institute after the tour -- and a little excited.  From what I understand, food allergy training has not been incorporated into most culinary educations thus far, including the Secchia Culinary Institute.  But I have a good feeling that Grand Rapids and its Culinary School might be responding to this need -- I'm hoping in the nearer future. 

Why am I so concerned?  If you have food allergies, you know why, because you have experienced this first hand.  A recent study in Great Britian (April, 2011) showed a shocking ignorance and a huge gap in the education of restaurant workers  when it comes to food allergies.

•  Almost 25% of those surveyed labored under the impression that drinking a glass of water could diffuse an allergic reaction when an individual consumed an allergy-triggering food.
  
  
• 23% believed that consuming a small amount of triggering foods, such as tree nuts or shellfish, would not harm the allergic individuals.
  
  
• 21% believed that diners could “pick out” allergy causing foods and still consume the dish without risk.
• Catered foods provide the most risk
• 1/3 had any kind of food allergy training, but 80% of these same respondents felt confident in serving customers with food allergies.

“Staff with high comfort and low knowledge are potentially dangerous, as they may convey an exaggerated sense of competence to their customers, giving them false reassurance.” _the researchers from the public health division of Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Sources: 

The Inquisitr

Science Daily

With the growing numbers of food allergic customers entering restaurants today, food allergy training is an essential addition to any culinary curriculum.  Could The Secchia Culinary Institute lead the way?  I'll keep you posted.

And who knows, perhaps I'll be jumping in at some point next year to learn a few thousand more of the billions of things there is to learn about this wonderful thing called food.