Friday, April 12, 2013

Egg


Egg allergies are more common in young children.  This is the second most common food allergy in children.  Children can grow out of this allergy (often by age 5), but it quite serious while it is present. Egg allergies can persist into adulthood. There are four proteins in the egg white and one protein in the yolk.  An egg allergy can be to any or all of these proteins.  If it is specific to one protein in the egg yolk, then egg whites may be ok.  Similarly, some people can have yolks, but not egg white.  With small children, few people mess around and experiment.  They just take eggs out of the diet.  There go eggs, custards, many baked goods, eggnog, several pastas and pretty much anything with egg.  Some breads and pretzels have an egg wash coating them.  Vaccines also have to be considered carefully as egg protein is used in many vaccines, including the flu vaccine.  In addition to an egg allergy, some people have a histamine response to egg white.  This can result in gut discomfort, but can also reach an reaction that is similar to anaphylaxsis. 

There are several good ‘egg replacers’ so that you can continue to bake without eggs.  We use a banana in our (gluten-free) pancake mix.  Apple sauce works in some cake recipes.  There is also Ener-G egg replacer.  It is made from several starches, but is also gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, etc.  There is also xantham gum.  It’s a little expensive, but you also only use a teaspoon at a time, so a little goes a long way.  I looked up xantham gum.  It’s made from that slime you see growing on old broccoli in your fridge.  Not exactly an appetizing thought, but it looks like a benign white powder and its gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free etc. 

The Kids with Food Allergies site has a list of hidden sources of eggs.


PLEASE DO NOT CONSIDER THIS MEDICAL ADVICE.  CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ANY ALLERGY CONCERNS, NOT WITH A FRIENDLY BLOGGER.

 

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