No outside food policies

Our local rec complex has a policy that no outside food be brought in.  I understand the motivation for it, even though I don't agree with it, and know that it's caused a lot of divisiveness within the community, especially when it comes to supplying stuff for hockey tournaments.  We're getting everything organized for our pre-novice hockey tournament in March, and the policy came up at the parents' meeting.  I hadn't really thought about it before then, but this is certainly something I'm going to have to deal with (and probably not just at our rec complex, now that I think about it).

We've had a few reactions from food others have prepared, things that they've assured us are "safe."  I'm sorry, but that's something I'd prefer to verify for myself, and am to the point that unless I've read the ingredients list myself, William just doesn't get to have it because it's not worth the risk.  I did say to my husband, who's on the board for the complex, that I have no intention of following the policy for William when we're there ... it may cause some consternation, but as far as I'm concerned, my child's safety comes first.  I'm going to be polite and discrete about it, but I'll make sure he has what he needs, just as I've done at every other hockey game and tournament we've been to this year.  And I'm thinking that I'll have a conversation with the manager, who I don't think will have a problem with it, considering why I'm asking.

Must plan more better

Okay, so the bad grammar is deliberate, showing just how flustered and frustrated I was last night.  But, bad grammar aside, I really do need to plan better, especially mealtimes for William.  Eating at home is one thing, but those few occasions where eating outside the home is a necessity, I really do need to take a look at my planning strategies and improve them.

Yesterday was William's first Tae Kwon Do class for the winter session.  It's right a 6:00, which is a bit of a pain because I need to make sure he's eaten before we go.  Yesterday I got tied up at work, didn't manage to leave when I'd planned to leave, and was faced with the sudden conundrum:  what am I going to feed William?  In the past, we'd have bowed to the pressure of the golden arches (a.k.a. McDonalds) and gone through the drive-through on the way across town.  Since William's now had three back-to-back reactions to their fries, that wasn't an answer.  My original plan had been to take the boys to one of the family restaurants I know is okay, but we didn't have time for that.

We ended up eating at Tim Hortons, which wasn't something I'd really wanted to do, but was the only safe and fast alternative.  I can see, though, that it'll not be on our list too often.  Dealing with a new cashier who spoke English as a second (or third?) language can be frustrating enough.  Dealing with one when you're trying to ensure that your allergic child doesn't get exposed to the substance(s) he's allergic to is something else entirely.  I'm sure she thought I was a bit awful, but calling over a manager who spoke better English to ensure my child was going to be okay was a necessary evil.  And somehow I think a little embarrassment is the lesser of the two evils when the other evil is a potential anaphylactic reaction.  

Argh ... read the labels!

We can't seem to survive an event outside the home without some sort of a reaction problem, and yesterday was no different.  We had a family birthday party to go to, so I made sure William had eaten before we went.  Cake's usually not a huge problem, so I wasn't overly worried about that, and he was more interested in playing with the toys than eating.

That was until he saw that dad had Cheezies.  As he ate one, I asked if D had read the label.  Oh, no ... he didn't.  Cheezies (in their various brands and iterations) are a big problem, as almost all (except the Cheese Puffs variety) have sulphites.  So while I dug around for a pre-emptive dose of Benadryl, D and his brother went searching for the bag.  Yep ... sulphites.  

At home, it's not really a problem because I only let a few things (which we *know* William can't have) into the house that have them.  Out, it's different, and D's not really used to, at least yet, having to read labels and be conscious of ingredients.  I think that's the difference between growing up in a house with allergies and growing up not having to deal with them.  Plus, sulphites are odd (especially since they're not technically an allergy), so different things and different levels can cause a reaction.

On the plus side, William wasn't too much the worse for wear.  He did have a tummy ache last night and this morning, but seems to be okay now.  Here's hoping, though, that we all remember to read the labels the next time that we're out.  *sigh*

Fast food woes

I came to the realization, over the Christmas break, that fast food is no longer an option for us.  William has had four significant (although not anaphylactic) reactions to fast food over the last several weeks, all of these to frozen French fries.  Checking the companies' websites has revealed nothing, I suspect that the culprit is sulphites in the citric acid (sulphites are used in the process of producing citric acid), so we'll be keeping a better eye on citric acid-containing foods, too, to see if these are causing a problem as well, or if it's just specific kinds/brands of citric acid.  At this point, who knows?

Also, there seems to be some research to back this up, specifically this paper, along with several others. In the meantime, it's rather unlikely we'll be eating any fast food until I can get this sorted out.  On the plus side, it means we're eating far, far healthier than we had been.