Q.  How do I properly identify if a product is free of the foods or ingredient(s) I need to avoid?

A.  A proper medical diagnosis of what foods or ingredients must be avoided is paramount.  Once received:

1.    Learning the correct terminology and alternative names for each food that you need to avoid will be crucial.   

2.   Understand what the label markings mean & what the label does not tell you.   Food terms are often vaguely written on labels.  “Natural flavorings”, hydrolyzed vegetable protein”, & food starch” still do not tell you the specific source of these foods.  Remember, some items that appear safe at a glance contain an unobvious source of an allergen. 

3.   Recognize that products, packaging, & production procedures can change at any time, (regardless whether the last time you bought the product was okay). 

4.   Read labels when changing brands or packaging of products.  Different brands or packaging of the same product may contain or have the risk of cross contamination with different ingredients.   Products made for or by one country may have different ingredients or cross contamination risks then if made in/for another country.  Also, keep in mind that the terminology for food ingredients may vary in other countries.  This can make proper identification of allergens more challenging. 

There are several good online sources & printed product listings (see Appendix).  The golden rule of thumb is “ALWAYS read the label & when in doubt, call the manufacturer”. 

Q.  Why is shopping for hidden foods such a headache?

A.  Several reasons:

1.      Manufacturing of food is a complex structured business. 

a.       Many subdivisions & subsidiaries may manufacture or package food for the parent company named on the label. 

b.      Different size packages of the same product may be produced or packaged in different locations.

c.       Different size packages of the same product may have different ingredients to enhance appearance & food appeal.  For example, small tuna fish cans may employ dairy to keep the flakes from separating, yet large cans of tuna fish may not.

d.      FDA compliant production & packaging procedures vary from plant to plant.  The product ingredients themselves may be safe but the packaging or procedures utilize foods or ingredients you need to avoid.  This type of information is not required to be listed on labeling.   For example, wheat or cornstarch are commonly used as anti-caking agents to keep the product from clumping together, or dusted on the food preparation belts carrying the product.  Dairy products may be used to line the cartons of juices.  

e.    Ingredients used to make the product, procedures, or packaging may change overnight if suppliers (& their practices) change.

f.    Cleaning/sanitation practices vary from company to company in total accordance with US FDA guidelines.  Regardless of a company’s meticulousness for cleaning their machinery between manufacturing of different products, there may still be risks of airborne exposure or contact contamination while packaging.  Most companies produce multiple food products on one piece of machinery &/ or in the same facility.   Many companies feel uncomfortable to declare a product “allergen-free” unless it can be confirmed that the allergen of concern is not used anywhere in the plant or can determine where the ingredient source(s) are derived from.

g.     Label laws differ depending on the country of origin, & the size of the company (small companies are exempt from many of these labeling laws).   USA label laws, considered strict in comparison to other countries, are only now mandating large manufacturers to clearly mark (in layman's terms) the top allergens (wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, shellfish, & seafood) in their labels.   Companies are not required to list ingredients from other sources that comprise less than 3 percent of that product.  And small companies are currently exempt from this mandate.  On January 1, 2006 mandatory labeling of the top eight allergens will be enforced on products that are manufactured in the United States.  To read more information on this law, visit http://www.foodallergy.org/press_releases/falcpasign.html

Q.  How do I find the phone numbers to contact manufacturers about products?

A.  If it is a product Miss Roben’s carries, just click directly on the manufacturer’s name, or in the "click for contact information" link located in the orange box at the bottom of the home page.  Another way is to check the product label.  In the USA, label laws require the manufacturer to list the city & state where the product is manufactured.  If the number is not listed on the label, call information to find out the area code for that city & then call (that area code) plus 555-1212 or 800-555-1212 (if they have a listed toll-free number).  You can also utilize free phone searches online at sites such as www.yellowpages.com .  If the product was made outside the USA & this information is not listed, or you cannot obtain the phone number, contact the place where you purchased the product & ask if they can locate the number for you.   There are also many online sources for many manufacturer phone numbers (see Appendix).

When calling a manufacturer, get all the specifics.  Be sure to state that you need to know:

a.  What are the ingredients used in the product, including sources of all ingredients (e.g. maltodextrin, natural flavorings, coloring, etc)? 

b.  Is there ANY risk of cross contamination in production, handling, or packaging in the raw ingredients or finished product?

If you are uncertain the information you are getting is reliable, talk to a higher level of technical support or food chemist. If in doubt (e.g. the company representative doesn’t make you feel confident or they cannot disclose enough details) don’t use the product.  To summarize, the question “Is (fill in the product) okay?” really depends on many different factors & can change at any time.  Unfortunately, you will need to constantly read labels, investigate and ask decisive questions.  If possible, network with others that need to avoid specific foods.  Email support groups & local support groups allow you to connect quickly with many other individuals in the same boat & update others on recent product information. 

Q.  What do the kosher label markings mean? 

A.  Many organizations certify facilities for kosher status.   Some common ones are:  The Organized Kashrus Laboratories, ”Star-K” Kosher Certification, The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, & Kosher Supervision of America. 

There are two parts of a Kosher marking. The first tells which organization inspected the product.  There will typically either be a “U”, “OU”, or “K” inside a circle.  All imply kosher status.  Markings just outside the circled letter further delineate what the kosher status is.  If you see the letters OU, K, or U circled with NO outside markings it is Parve or Pareve (both spellings imply the same thing) meaning there is no milk or meat ingredient contamination issues with the product.

Different letters next to the circled O, OU, or K imply different levels of kosher status. 

1.      A “D” or “DE” means the products either contain dairy ingredients or have been processed on equipment that also processes dairy ingredients or contamination (hence a potential risk of cross contamination).  Kosher inspectors follow very strict dietary & procedural guidelines for allowing kosher symbols to be posted on a label.  By kosher status, even if the production lines are washed between runs to minimize risks, the potential for cross contamination is considered still present.  

2.      An “M” means the products either contain meat or poultry ingredients or have been processed on meat/poultry equipment (risk of cross contamination). 

3.      A “P” means the products are kosher for Passover, but NOT necessarily Parve.

 Paraphrased from FAAN.org:

For more detailed explanations, see Appendix links below.  

 Q.   Do I need to be concerned about the ingredients in personal hygiene items (e.g. lotions, shampoos, detergents, soaps, toothpaste, suntan lotions, cosmetics, etc)?

A.  Depending on your food concern (e.g. allergy versus intolerance, & level of sensitivity) you may need to consider these if they have a way of entering into the body through pores, mouth, etc (check product listings for details).   The best suggestion is to ask your medical doctor or nutritionist.

Q.  How do I shop for groceries?

A.  Review the list of common foods & ingredients containing the foods you must avoid.  This will help take the guesswork out of label reading. Keep a food/ingredient list handy; you never know when you will need to read a food label.  With the advent of technology today, many use a PDA to carry this information conveniently.

Q.  I am overwhelmed. Am I the only one that feels so confused? How do I get started?

A.  No.  You are not alone.  The food industry relies heavily on many foods that allergic or intolerant persons need to avoid in their food & product manufacturing (like wheat, dairy, or corn), so it may seem like everything you pick up is a no-no. It is daunting to begin a diet where you need to avoid one of these ingredients, much less two or more.  Give yourself a chance to become familiarized with terms & ingredient sources.  Like any new skill, it takes time to acquire.  As you develop a pantry of potential substitutes & products to choose from, it will become much easier. Try to network with others like yourself that are going through the same issues (the internet is great for this).  We have all been there.

Managing to Implement New Dietary Restrictions

Q.  How do I manage at home?

A.  Cross-contamination” can occur between foods in food preparation (grills, frying oil, condiment jars (sharing knives between the jars, cooking utensils, toasters, etc), & production practices.  Some find it easier to use two separate sets of condiments & utensils for food preparation.  At the very least, use utensils that can be thoroughly cleaned (like plastic instead of wood cutting surfaces) & be alert to other ways that cross contamination can occur.  It is also important to clearly label items.  This is especially important if you are preparing large quantities of food in advance for storage.  It is always possible that you will develop a new allergy and this will allow you to quickly identify the ingredients in food products.  A labeling system can also help eliminate confusion if someone else will be preparing or serving a meal for the allergic individual.  If there are multiple members of your household that suffer from different allergies, a color coding system may also be able to help reduce the risk of an accidental exposure. 

Q.  What about eating out?

A.  Restaurants vary on practices much like food manufacturers, be prepared to ask many questions.  Chain food restaurants (e.g. McDonald’s, Burger King, Red Lobster, Fridays, etc) may or may not utilize the same food preparation practices.  If the food is prepared or prepped off-site, the chain may not know the answers to your questions.  If a restaurant prepares their food from scratch, explain your food concerns to the manager & see if he or she can comply with your food needs.

Q.  Okay, what’s LEFT to eat? 

A.  A lot!!  The more you look, the more you’ll find.  The web has provided a haven of free resources & recipes, many of which are updated regularly.  See the sources listed in Appendix.

Q. What are some tips to make removing foods from a kid’s diet easier?

A.  A frequent suggestion is simple avoidance, if possible.  Avoid those favorite foods you need to substitute for a few weeks instead of trying to find an immediate substitute.   Inherent in this is the hope that you or your child will forget the specific nuances of that food enough so a good substitute suffices.  You may also want to check websites & email support groups (links in Appendix below).

Baking & Substitutions

FLOURS

Q.  I need to be on a wheat-free or gluten-free diet.  What is the difference between flours? 

A.  Below are some of the more popular, easy-to-find flours that are available.  They are grouped in characteristic categories for reasons that will be later discussed.

Some similar starchy flours:

Arrowroot Flour:  Very fine starchy flour obtained from a West Indian root.  It is a very dry flour with no grittiness. It is white in color & may have a slight pungent odor.  It has a texture similar to cornstarch & is often used in exchange for cornstarch for those allergic to corn.  It is used as a thickener for fruit sauces & gravies that do not require high heat in place of cornstarch in recipes. It imparts a glossy sheen to sauces & fruit glazes, thickens at lower temperature than cornstarch & flour (therefore, is good for those sauces you do not want to boil to thicken).  Unlike cornstarch, it does not have to be cooked to remove rawness.  This flour will keeps indefinitely in cool and dry location.

Cornstarch Flour:  Very fine, dry, starchy, airy refined flour obtained from corn.  It is very white in color & has a slight corn odor.  It is used as a thickener in sauces or gravies or it can be used in baking. 

Potato Starch:  (also known as potato starch flour) Very fine, dry, starchy flour made from the starch of white potatoes.  It is white in color with no distinctive aroma.  It has a bland taste & is excellent for baking because it provides a light, airy texture to baked goods.  It stores well & is a good thickening agent for cream soup.  Potato starch is NOT the same as potato flour.

Tapioca Starch: (also known as tapioca flour) Very fine powder with soft, airy, starchy texture.  It is white in color & has no aroma.  It is made from the Cassava plant.  It adds chewiness & elasticity (springiness) to baked goods.  It lightens baked goods & can cause them to brown quickly.   Tapioca can be used to replace cornstarch or arrowroot.

Mung Bean Flour: (Also known as green bean flour).  Very fine, white, starchy flour with bland to no taste. Mung bean flour can be used as equal substitute for other starchy flours.

Some more popular rice or rice-like flours:

Brown Rice Flour:  Flour with a fine particle size, slightly gritty, & light brown in color.  It has a musty, mustard-like odor.  It is milled from unpolished rice, contains the bran & is higher in nutrient value, bran or nutty taste, has oils that shorten shelf.   Flour retains some of the rice bran (& therefore nutrients) & oils.  Can be ground into many different varieties of coarse or fine flour.  It is somewhat gritty to taste & slightly nutty, off-white to light tan in color, mild flavor & higher in nutrients.  Store flour in a cool and dry location,  preferably the refrigerator freezer.  Be sure to pack tightly in an air tight freezer safe container.  This will prolong shelf life significantly.

Sweet Rice Flour:  Flour with a very fine particle size, airy, & not as gritty as white rice.  It has a sweet, mustard like odor & white in color.   It is starchier than the other rice flours.  It is derived from short grain glutinous (sticky) white rice.  It is starchier & smoother in texture.  It helps bind baked goods & is an excellent thickener for sauces that are refrigerated or frozen because it keeps liquids from separating.

White Rice Flour:  A fine, mildly gritty in texture flour with a white to off-white color & no apparent aroma.  The grittier the milling/grind, the more liquid needed.  It has a bland taste.  It is milled from polished rice; broken hulls of rice kernels, with bran & germ layers remove. 

Sorghum Flour:  Fine, mildly gritty white flour with relatively no apparent aroma, & bland taste.  Sorghum is botanically close to corn so corn allergic/intolerant persons may want to use with caution.  Sorghum is a Texas grown grain that has similar baking characteristics to white rice flour (read: plausible substitute for white rice flour).

Q:  How do I increase the calcium content of foods or get the needed calcium in my child’s diet?

A:  Calcium is an essential nutrient needed for healthy bones but can be obtained in many other ways than cow’s milk.  Many products now come enriched or fortified with non-dairy calcium like juices.  Green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, collard, mustard, & turnip greens, & beans are good sources of calcium that are also moderate in protein & very low in fat.  There are also powdered supplements that will not denature in high heat & can be placed into baked goods.  Check with your physician, dietician, or nutritionist for the proper recommended daily allowances.

Some online sources for calcium & diet:

http://www.healthwwweb.com/diet/calcium.html

http://content.health.msn.com/content/asset/adam_nutrition_calcium_in_diet

Calcium Calculator http://www.calciuminfo.com/calculator/calc.htm

Calcium content for variety of bean flours.  Nutritional Guide for Bean Flours: www.doubleologic.com/asd/beansnut.html

Q.  Is there a difference in waters I use for baking?  What does carbonated

water do in bread? 

A.     Unless specified in the recipe, either type of water should work.  Carbonated water helps encourage air bubbles in the dough, & therefore leavening.  There is a difference between hard & soft water.  If the water is too hard it can retard yeast formation; too soft & the batter will be very sticky.  If you are in doubt, use bottled water.

Equipment & Preparation Questions

Q. Do I need to have a separate toaster, bread machine and knife, etc?

A.  You will need to take precautions in order to keep potential cross contamination out of your kitchen.   Some find it is altogether easier to have the entire family follow the diet. At minimal, it means watching carefully.   It may mean some extra investment in equipment or modifying preparation of foods and/or storage.  For example, if wheat or gluten needs to be avoided, you should use separate toasters & bread machines.  Or, you may want to use the oven to toast bread instead.  If a knife is inserted into an unsafe condiment & then re-inserted into a “safe” one, it now has cross-contaminated the “safe” condiment.   Plastic cutting boards are recommended, since they can be thoroughly washed after each use.  Take care that the soap you are using to clean the surfaces & dishes is safe, too.

Q.   Should I use 2 smaller pans to bake my bread instead of one large one?

A.  Because gluten-free breads are so fragile, & prone to collapse, some find separating the batter into two smaller pans provides for a better end product (better texture & more even baking) & therefore better chance of success.  However, many bread mixes & recipes work in one large pan just fine.

Q.  Can I use a hand held mixer?

A.  That depends on the size & weight of the mix/recipe.  Hand-held mixers for cakes & small, thin batters may be adequate.  However, you will find it may not adequately blend stiffer dough like breads or cookie mixes.  And, it will not incorporate as much air into the dough as a good stand-up mixer.  If you find the batter climbing up the beaters, it could be because the mixer power is inadequate for the stiffer dough.

Q.  Can I use a food processor to mix my dough?

A.  Unless the mix or recipe directions explicitly state a food processor can be used successfully, it would be best to avoid using one.

Q.  Which batter/beaters do I use?

A.  If you are making wheat-free or gluten-free baked goods, the dough hook serves no purpose & your dough or batter will not be thoroughly blended.  You want to use the batter beaters, which have more surface area.  The batter beaters will incorporate air into your dough (to assist leavening) & ensure the batter or dough is thoroughly blended.

Q.  How do I keep the batter from creeping up the beaters?

A.  Batter typically creeps up the beaters when the mixer is not powerful enough.   The mechanics of the beater should independently drive the batter back down.  It also sometimes still happens with very stiff or sticky dough.  If power is not the problem, stop the mixer, push the dough back down, & continue blending. You should find with time, as the mixer continues blending, & all the liquids are added, this stops occurring.  If it still is a problem, lightly oil the stems of the beaters to discourage the dough from creeping up.

Q.  How long do I need to mix?

A.  The real answer is, unless specified otherwise, as long as it takes to get the desired dough texture.   Although I go against conventional wisdom in saying this, I find it personally impossible to over beat gluten-free bread dough.  In fact, longer mixing helps the bread dough incorporate more air & therefore leavening into the mix.

Q.  Would I get better bread making results baking the bread in a bread machine?

A.  No. Unless the recipe is specifically recommended for the bread machine, it should work equally well in either the oven or bread machine.

Q.  Which bread machine should I buy?

A.  See answer under “Breads”

What is so special about a stand-up Kitchen Aid mixer? Does it really make a difference? The answer is a resounding YES!  The Kitchen Aid has a unique rotary motion. Even the lowest end, stand-up Kitchen Aid seems to blend batter/dough better than most mixers.  Since dough texture is a critical guide for determining how much liquids to add & whether it is well blended, the better the equipment, the better chance for success.   More times than not, the problem with the mix or recipe was an error in mixing which affected the user’s judgment how much liquid or substitute to add. Remember that regardless of what the recipe or mix says, you still may need to adjust your liquids.

Which Kitchen Aid should I get? The lowest end stand-up Kitchen Aid will work wonders & last for years. Current ones in the discount stores sell for about $180-$200.

Q. Do I need to grease/flour my pans?

A. Follow the recipe or mix directions. If none are given, grease the pans.

Q.  What are some of the more common measuring equivalents & abbreviations?

1 teaspoon = 1 tsp = 1 t

1 tablespoon = 1 TBSP = 1 T = 3 teaspoons

2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup

4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup

1 cup = 1 c

2 cups = 1 pint

2 pints = 1 quart