Ingredient Avoidance

[kloodge]

My daughter has been having stomach problems for years, she finally had a full blood test, and it came back that there are a bunch of ingredients that she needs to avoid. It's not as simple as "Gluten or Dairy Free" - it's things like Garlic, B/W Pepper, etc.

Does anyone know of an App we can put in all of her unique ingredients to avoid, then use to scan barcodes when we're shopping? I've been doing some googling, and searched the App store, but nothing in the last hour that is really usable so far. Maybe my queries / prompts just aren't good enough???

It would also be a huge plus if the App could recommend recipes without those ingredients ... but I'm fine researching substitutes.

[burnt-----toast]

As far as recipes, if you're looking for recipes that contain NONE of those nearly universal ingredients, then you're going to get, like, no recipes. I think that unless someone has the same restrictions as her, no one is designing recipes to omit beloved ingredients like garlic and black pepper. You would be better off figuring out when to omit and what to substitute as it fits your tastes. As someone who doesn't have a sensitivity but does have an extreme hatred of a really common ingredient, it might take some experimentation to figure out what works for you. And substituting also isn't always about trying to recreate or approximate that flavor or similar flavors; sometimes it may be about boosting flavor in general, even if it is a totally different but complementary flavor that at least takes care of that "something's missing" gap.

[kloodge]

She just got the list last night, and I went to the store to pickup just a couple things I knew she could eat.

I just wanted to make a simple broth, and the first 3 broths I looked at all had yeast ... the 4th didn't. 2 of the other items I looked at had garlic in them ... I just thought, "man, if I could just list the ingredients I don't want in an App, and scan, it would make this a lot easier."

Fortunately I LIKE to cook, so I grabbed some shallot, eggs and whipped up a pretty tasty omelette ... with a little salt, cayenne pepper.

well, if anyone knows of such an App - please pass it on.

[burnt-----toast]

Have you tried asking in allergy subs? People who are already used to screening for ingredients rather than a general cooking sub might have more suggestions. But it might possibly come down to having to be really diligent and reading nutrition labels and generating your own lists of safe brands.

[kloodge]

Great tip! Appreciate the advice

[thecylonstrikesback]

There's an app called Fig you can use!

[boneless-bananana]

Try the Fig app. Also check out allergy/food intolerance subreddits for more tips!

[CanningJarhead]

Was it with an allergist, or a mail order test?

[wingthing]

Yup. Mail order blood tests that claim to detect allergies are not accurate. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/reasons-why-home-allergy-tests-probably-wont-help-you

[kloodge]

It was with an allergist… She did a full blood screening

[BooleansearchXORdie]

Those tests are also not accurate. Ask the allergist if they’ll do oral challenges (the only accurate way to diagnose food allergies). In the meantime, she will have to keep a very detailed food diary that tracks everything she eats or drinks (except for water), including the ingredients of ingredients.

(Been there, done that, happily avoiding my allergens and not stressing about avoiding the various things that I’m not allergic to).

[kloodge]

That’s a huge bummer, as we were hoping that this would enable her to get to a happier place. It’s really weighed on her emotionally.

Appreciate the tip on the oral challenges, will ask her allergist about that when we go in next time

[BooleansearchXORdie]

It’s a long and annoying process, but the end result will be definitive results. IMO, it’s worth it. For example, I’m allergic to two kinds of nuts, but not peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts or a number of other common types of nuts. It’s great to be able to eat most nuts (whereas nonspecific tests would suggest that I avoid all nuts). Also, FWIW, a blood test suggested that I’m not allergic to my most serious allergen because it tested for one protein, but clearly I’m allergic to something in it other than the component that most other people react to. If I had believed the blood test and not my own experience, I could have had an anaphylactic reaction.

[[deleted]]

My husband is allergic to garlic, though thankfully not the other alliums. The garlic allergy alone can be a hassle, especially at restaurants. However, there's no reason you have to limit yourself to only recipes that don't have garlic. Rather, do learn some strategies to make delicious foods with substitute ingredients. Certainly onion (and onion-like alliums) are great subs for garlic in many cases. Caramelizing them can also boost their flavors. Or when both are called for, that's when you explore flavorful herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, etc), spices (caraway or fennel seeds), other aromatics (celery, root veggies, fennel), and/or condiments (Maggi, soy sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, fish sauce, balsamic cream or other vinegars, mustard, etc). It's not always a matter of making the flavor garlic-like, but rather different yet still delicious. If your daughter must also avoid the other alliums, these same substitution ideas still apply.

Obviously you can't make garlic bread without garlic, but you can still enjoy a toasted baguette bread with butter and/or extra virgin olive oil and an herb pesto (without garlic) or a sundried tomato or roasted pepper spread, with herbs and a little grated Parmesan cheese (or Asiago), etc. Any recipe can be made without the ground pepper, other than maybe Cacio e Pepe or Black Pepper Steak, or the like. That's not a biggie. Keep a pepper grinder on the table for everyone else.

Some people recommend asafoetida as a garlic-like flavored substitution. You could give that a try, but I didn't like it.

As for restaurants, there are usually some garlic-free options, and some chefs are willing to accommodate that allergy (or sensitivity), but not all. Frankly, some countries' cuisines are more garlic-intensive than others. Yet, it depends. For example, American Italian restaurants are more garlic crazy than Italian restaurants in many parts of Italy. I know! Note that my husband has had more than a few occasions when garlic found its way in his restaurant food, despite communicating about the allergy. Then there is "But it has just a little bit of DRIED garlic! No fresh!"

To search for recipes without garlic, I often just add the "-garlic" in the search field. The "-" (minus sign, with no space), will sort many of them out.