New Recommendations for Avoiding Food Allergies

Big changes are happening with the recommendations on how to avoid food allergies in babies and children! Here’s what is new:

• Avoiding certain foods during the first 1-3 years doesn’t seem to help avoid food allergies – and might actually make them worse.
• Plus, while food allergies are on the rise, so are other (“autoimmune”) disorders where the body mistakenly attacks healthy parts.
• The list of the foods thought to be most likely to cause allergies is changing.
• That means allergies and autoimmune disorders probably are caused by things in our environment.
• Instead of limiting a baby or toddler’s diet, focus on giving antioxidant-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and nuts to build a healthy immune system.
• Breastfeeding decreases food allergy risk.
• Food intolerances occur far more often than food allergies and food allergy tests are very complicated to interpret. Work only with a physician and dietitian very familiar with food allergies.
• You can’t predict who will develop a food allergy.

To learn what to do to try to avoid a food allergies visit our website.

This article is part one of a three-part series this week to highligh Food Allergy Awareness Week 2010.

About our expert Rachel Riddiford, MS, RD, LD.

Rachel has been an employee of Dayton Children's since 2004. She is currently the Manager of Clinical Dietetics and works as an eating disorder specialist in the Nutrition Clinic. Rachel completed her BS in Dietetics at Western Michigan University, Master's degree at University of Dayton, and dietetic internship at Indiana University/Purdue University. She has also completed an American Dietetic Association Pediatric and Adolescent Weight Management Certificate.

Spring Food Safety

Spring is here and summer is upon us, which is the time for cookouts and picnics with friends and family. During warmer weather, it is important to protect our family and ourselves from foodborne illnesses (FBI), which are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast, and parasites in our food. Symptoms of FBI are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, head ache, and fever. Some bacteria, such as botulism, can cause symptoms that can be severe and life threatening, such as problems swallowing and breathing. To keep FBI away from your picnic, here are some tips from our pediatric experts:

• Wash hands with soap and water for 15 seconds before and after preparing food and eating.
• Cook meat to proper temperature
• Turkey Thigh-180°F
• Turkey Breast-170°F
• Beef Roast/Prime Rib well done-170°F
• Hamburgers-160°F
• Pork Roast well done-170°F
• Ham 140°F
• Chicken breast-170°F
• Chicken drumstick/thigh/wing-180°F
• Sausage uncooked-160°F
• Sausage cooked-165°F
• Venison-160°F
• Fish-145°F
• Egg dishes-160°F
• Seafood-145°F
• Leftovers-165°F
• Hot foods should stay above 140 °F and cold foods below 40°F. Use ice to keep foods cold and food warmers to keep foods hot.
• Avoid keeping foods out of the temperature danger zone (40-140°F) for greater than 2 hours or 1 hour if temperature is above 90°F.
• Never thaw meats at room temperature. Thawing food in the temperature danger zone creates an environment for bacterial growth. The outside thaws before the inside, which increases the outside portion to temperatures above 40°F while the inside portion remains frozen.
• Meats should be thawed before cooking, unless food package states otherwise. This ensures that the meat cooks evenly.
• Avoid cross contamination. Use separate cutting boards for raw meats and vegetables.
• To avoid insects from coming into contact with your food, keep your meats and other dishes covered.

Enjoy the summer and keep your foods safe!

About our Expert: Shannon Burkett, RD, LD, dietician at Dayton Children's

Shannon is a gradute of Purdue University with a BA in elementary education and a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago with a DPD Dietetics and Nutrition. She completed a dietetic internship at Miami Valley Hospital and worked at WIC and long term care before coming to Dayton Children's. Shannon has worked with the Hematology and Oncology population at Dayton Children's for two years. She also has certificate in childhood and adolescent weight management through the American Dietetic Association. Her favorite hobby is cooking. She loves trying new recipes and creating meals from scratch. She says, "There is just something that is so rewarding about eating a delicious healthy meal that I have created, without using prepacked, processed foods. It’s both good for my body and my family's health!"

Green Cleaning: Avoiding Asthma and Allergy Triggers

When you have a child with asthma, spring cleaning is taken to a whole new level. You want to eliminate asthma triggers such as pollen, dust mites, mold and pet dander, but you need to be aware of how the cleaning itself can also be a trigger.

Belinda Huffman, pulmonary health and diagnostic coordinator at Dayton Children’s, has a lot of experience helping children with asthma and their families minimize exposure to triggers in the environment. Because asthma is the number-one diagnosis at Dayton Children’s, Huffman and other members of the pulmonary care team offer unparalleled expertise in caring for children with asthma and other respiratory disorders.

Belinda gives these four "green" cleaning tips to reduce asthma triggers:

1. Use your nose. Select cleaning products without strong or harsh scents. See guidelines below for choosing "healthier" cleaning products. Always follow instructions on cleaning products and keep lids and caps tightly sealed when not in use. Ingredients from solids and liquids give off vapors that we inhale and may enter our body tissues. Try to use as few cleaning products as possible. It’s not always necessary to have different products for the kitchen and bathroom.
2. Read labels. Avoid products marked "Danger" or "Poison." Reduce your use of products marked "Caution" or "Warning." Reduce your use of products containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These include aerosol sprays, cleaners, disinfectants, moth repellents and air fresheners.
3. Look for "green" products. Some have been certified by an independent institution such as GreenSeal. Just because something as a "natural-sounding" name doesn’t mean it is free of chemicals you want to avoid.
4. Make your own. You can make your own cleaning products from simple and inexpensive ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, salt, soap and water. There are many books and online resources to help you make your own cleaning products.

For more infomation about green cleaning and living with asthma visit our Kohl's a Minute for Kids microsite!