• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

Michelle's blog

Food allergy and food intolerance, freefrom foods, electrosensitivity, this and that...

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music

The hazards of feeding super sensitive children…

09/08/2014 //  by Michelle Berridale Johnson//  Leave a Comment

ZacNicola, who runs the Feeding My Intolerant Child blog was due to join our judging panel for Category 7 of the Freefrom Eating Out Awards last week but, at the last moment she had to pull out because her allergic little boy, Zac, was ill. I quote:

It seems my Mum accidentally gave him his sister’s bread and butter while I was out! She was babysitting. He stopped eating it half way through but it was too late by then! Thankfully he is not ‘ana’ (anaphylactic) – just super sensitive with a slightly delayed reaction so it wasn’t until several hours later that the reaction really started. Funny thing is that is the first ‘accident’ we have had in years. The problem only arose because the gluten free ciabatta rolls you can get now look so ‘close’ to the real thing. My Mother saw one wrapped in foil and assumed it was his left over from earlier in the day. 

I replied to the effect that we had been very sorry not to see her and were  glad that her son was OK – and asking if I could quote her email as I thought that it was an interesting comment on where ‘freefrom’ was going theses days – and the extra hazards that progress was throwing up for food allergics. That law of untended consequences again…  Bless her, she has just replied as follows:

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for the reply. You are right, my Mum did feel terrible (I had said that I am sure that her mum had been devastated!)  and it just reminds you of the dangers of what happens once stuff is no longer in the original packaging. No way of checking!

Just to give you more detail. We were at my parents’ house. The day before my Mum had bought my daughter a fresh ciabatta roll from the Sainsbury’s bakery. I had taken some of Zac’s DS brand ciabatta rolls along too. Sophia, had only eaten half of her roll – with just a scrape of butter. So I wrapped it in foil and popped it in the fridge. The next day my Mum was making lunch for Zac while I was out. She went to grab his roll from the cupboard but then spotted the foil wrapped one in the fridge. She opened it and thought they looked the same and assumed it was his. So well done DS, for the fact that their bread now looks just like a fresh baked ‘normal’ ciabatta. The improvements in GF bread are by accident bringing more hazards, as they look and taste more and more like the ‘real thing!’ So lesson of the day, still find a way to label and keep your food separate – because once the packaging is off it can be very hard to tell the difference.

One other interesting thing. Zac had only had about half of it when he stopped eating. I got home to see half on his plate. He usually devours his lunch. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn’t like it. The ‘stripes’ tasted funny. I thought that was odd. That was when I turned it over and realised he had Sophia’s. So his ‘self-preservation’ instincts are still quite strong. He is very good normally and would never touch anything that wasn’t ‘Zac food’, but because he trusts my Mum he got off to a good start, but something stopped him quite quickly.

So another lesson, when your little one is appearing to be fussy – listen to them. They know if something isn’t right. I am glad I did listen and check, as I am sure that he would have been much more poorly had I put pressure on him to eat the whole thing.

Category: Allergies, Dairy-free, Food, FreeFrom Awards, FreeFrom Food, Gluten-freeTag: anaphylaxis, DS gluten free ciabatta roll, food fussy children should be listened to, gluten-free ciabatta, hazards of feeding intolerant children, keeping freefrom food separate, My Intolerant Child blog, Sainsbury's ciabatta

Previous Post: « Foodcycle and the FreeFrom Food Awards
Next Post: Accommodating the ageing body part 2 – trigger finger!! »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Colliding with a new reality – the hazards of low vision
  • Call for adult allergy sufferers
  • The vegan/allergy labelling issue
  • A gluten free Christmas just could be delicious – not a penance!
  • A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

Search this blog

ARCHIVES

Blogroll

  • Allergy Insight
  • Better brains, naturally
  • For Ever FreeFrom
  • Free From (gluten)
  • Freefrom Food Awards
  • Gluten-free Mrs D
  • Natural Health Worldwide
  • Pure Health Clinic
  • Skins Matter
  • The Helminthic Therapy Wiki
  • Truly Gluten Free
  • What Allergy?

TOPICS

A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

There has been a predictable outcry in the allergy world this week’s in response to Rachel Johnson’s piece in Thursday’s Evening Standard on ‘dietary requirements’ and food fads. Being charitable, I am assuming that she has never suffered from or lived with someone with a food allergy. However, I do have some sympathy with her …

Bioplastics – a solution or part of the problem?

Everyday Plastic is a social enterprise group using accessible learning and publicity campaigns to reduce the amount of plastics used daily in our society. It was founded by its current director Daniel Webb who, having moved to Margate in Kent in 2016, was horrified to discover that there were no plastic recycling options on offer.  …

FreeFrom Christmas Awards – the Winners

Since they were launched two years ago the FreeFrom Christmas Awards have been a great success. And how lucky are ‘freefrom-ers’ these days!  From Advent calendars to gifts, party food to Christmas dinner, there is no longer any need for them to miss out. Indeed, the whole family can happily eat freefrom and never know …

Do not extradite Julian Assange to the US

Julian Assange is being sought by the current US administration for publishing US government documents which exposed war crimes and human rights abuses. The politically motivated charges represent an unprecedented attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know – seeking to criminalise basic journalistic activity. Assange is facing a 175-year sentence for publishing …

What to believe – applying critical thought

For the average citizen evaluating the claims made for cure all – or even improve all – health products and procedures has always been difficult. Not only is it an area in which we have minimal expertise but most of us have a vested interest in finding a miracle intervention that will solve our health …

Could wireless monitoring devices be killing racehorses?

Regular readers may remember that back in August last year I alerted you to a posting on Arthur Firstenberg’s Cellphone Task Force site about phone masts and bird flu. Could there be a connection between the fact that the two wildlife sites in Holland and Northern France which had suffered catastrophic bird flu deaths were …

Site Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Michelle's Blog · Michelle Berridale Johnson · Site design by DigitalJen·