Avoiding food allergies during Thanksgiving

And.....the fun begins of trying to avoid food allergies with holiday parties.

Son #2 is allergic to tree nuts, and I am allergic to seafood. So we are always on the lookout for cross contamination as restaurants, family parties and work parties. As careful as we try to be, we both had an accidental exposure last month, which makes me really nervous. Because the next allergic reaction to either of us will be anaphylaxis. 

This week, a family member gave us a loaf of delicious looking pumpkin bread, and when Hubby cut a slice -  I saw walnuts. I quickly turned to Son #2 and said, "Don't touch it!!!" 

Then I wrapped it up tightly, moved it to the back of the counter and sanitized the counter top. Sigh. Here we go again....

We have told family members several times about our food allergies, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. I'm not sure why - maybe because they don't have to deal with it, so they forget.

For us, it is life threatening.

This year, I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner, and I will NOT have pecan pie in my house. I will buy any other kind of pie, but I will not bring nuts into my house.

In fact, I will be supplying the pie myself so I know that there are no nuts. 

Other friends and family can bring things like green salad, rolls and mashed potatoes. I don't have to worry about those foods.

If you have food allergies - let everyone know. You need to protect yourself.

Don't be afraid to ask what's in a certain food. I will pick up the serving utensil and dig into a dish and examine it. I will also ask if it contains seafood or nuts.

If there is something nearby that has nuts or seafood, I will ask that we serve ourselves dinner first so we can make sure people don't switch serving utensils - which can result in cross contamination. 

When I host a dinner, I will also put small signs in front of each dish so people can know the ingredients.

Speak up and protect yourself! The holidays are a wonderful time - but not if you are in the ER with anaphylaxis!