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Articles
Research Reports
Lots of New Products this month!
Special Offers and giveaways
This month's 'free-from' tasting
New Recipes
Conference Diary
Book Reviews
Articles
Food, Travel and Culture
Before food restrictions became part of Loretta Jay’s family’s life, she researched vacation destinations and planned daytrips. Now much of her pre-travel homework consists of learning the types of food and mode of cooking indigenous to a region. Even though she and her family don’t eat in restaurants, she still wants her family to experience the culture of the land they are visiting – including the food. She explains how she does it.
Breathing Lessons
Alex Gazzola discovers how breathing can affect allergies and sensitivities.
Free-from Food Awards
An update on the Foods Matter Free-from Food Awards in May.
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Research Reports
Reports via the laptop
of John Scott and elsewhere
Candida, Fluoridation, Cloths for pain relief
Drug reactions increasing – but denied by doctor
Drug-free dental anaesthesia
Planning hay-fever-free holidays
‘Frankenscience’ – ketchup and chewing gum
Children:
Organic milk is good – but breast is best!
Gluten-free angel cake-cum-strawberry gateau
Reports on all of these research items and good deal more are to be found in this issue of Foods Matter magazine.
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New Products
Plamil goes nut free
Good news for nut allergics. As of January 2008 all Plamil products will be manufactured in a completely nut-free environment.
In response to customer demand, Plamil decided last year to discontinue all products containing nuts and lupin flour. So, at the start of the year, the factory and all machinery underwent a massive clean down and passed extensive and intensive independent testing for nut and lupin traces. So, nut
allergics, you can now buy with confidence!
To see what you can buy, look in your local health food store or supermarket, call 01303 850588 or check www.plamilfoods.co.uk
Redwood wins ethical award
Another company to be congratulated! For the
second year running the Redwood Wholefood
Company was the top scoring vegetarian food
company in Ethical Company Organisation’s ethical company index, which looks at the company’s records with regard to the environment, animal
welfare and human rights and food integrity.
More at 01536 400557 www.redwoodfoods.co.uk
Gluten-free ice cream cones
For the ice cream season, Gluten Free Foods can offer Glutano wafers, and Barkat cones and waffle cones.
The wafers and regular cones both use maize and potato flour, soya lecithin and salt and are traditional, end-of-pier cones – pretty flavourless and a bit cardboardy – but popular with children merely looking for an ice cream transporter. They cost £3.95 for a 120g pack which includes around 12 cones.
The Barkat waffle cones are a lot more interesting, although slightly too sweet for some tastes. They are made from potato, rice and soya flour, sugar, lecithin and vegetable oil. They are deliciously crisp and quite caramelly in flavour – and went down very well with the adults. The waffle cones cost £3.45 for a 150g pack of around 10 cones.
All are available in supermarkets, health stores or direct from Gluten Free Foods. 020 8953 4444
www.glutenfree-foods.co.uk
The National Trust, GFree adn Lazy Day
Things are definitely looking up for food intolerant visitors to National Trust properties. This summer, when they pop into the café for coffee or lunch, they will no longer have to gaze longingly at the home-made goodies being consumed by other
visitors – they will have a whole range of delicious GFree gluten-free flans, pies, pastries and cakes (many of which are also dairy free) to nosh their way through!
GFree sent us a full box to taste – Sweet Red Pepper and Pesto Tart, Mushroom Quiche, Homity Pie, Chilli Bean Pie, Moroccan Creamy Coconut and Chickpea Pie, Sundried Tomato and Spinach Pasty, Chocolate Nut Brownie, Orange and Almond cake... We tried them out on our ice cream tasters and, so delicious were they that the whole lot vanished before we got a chance to photograph them!
So – for more information you need to call 01404 47904 or check www.gfree.co.uk
And if you are in Scotland, Scottish National Trust cafés are also stocking very tasty biscuits from a new company – Lazy Day Foods – set up by two food scientists with food allergic families.
They make biscuits and tray bakes
all of which are gluten, wheat, dairy
and egg free – and very tasty –
particularly those chocolate
dipped ginger biccies!
For more information and
stockists call 01786 821 227 or
check www.lazydayfoods.com
American Muffins
The American Muffin Company have been making delicious, traditional American muffins since 1998; have just introduced two new ranges – gluten-free muffins and egg-free muffins – although not, as yet, a gluten-free and egg-free muffin!
The egg-free muffins merely substitute a raising agent for the eggs, the gluten-free ones use corn and potato flour rather than wheat – and all of them (and there are a wide selection of flavours in both full size and mini muffins) taste really good – just like American muffins!
They cost around £1.99 for six mini muffins and are available from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
www.americanmuffin.com
Tofutti’s melting
dairy-free mozzarella
Tofutti have reformulated their soya-based mozzarella (previously sold in slices) and are now marketing it both in a block and ready grated. The new ‘cheese’, like the original, is made from partially hydrogenated soybean oil, tofu
and soy protein, carrageenan,
maltodextrin, vinegar, corn
starch, calcium and potassium phosphate, potato flakes, salt, adipic acid, soy lecithin and natural flavours and colours.
However, unlike the slices, it melts a treat – as you can see – so is perfect for cheese on toast, pizzas and pasta. It also tastes great – both melted and from the pack. Not quite up to a real Italian mozzarella di buffalo – but just as good as any of the rather cheaper cow’s milk versions normally used for such dishes.
The new mozzarella is available in health food stores and via GoodnessDirect and costs £1.99 for 200 grams.
More information from: www.trianobrands.co.uk or on 020 8861 4443.
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Special offers & giveaways
Orgran gluten-free goody bags
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Tasting
Dairy-free 'ice cream'
This year’s ice cream tasters were a bit older than last year’s – but we did keep the focus on youth with a group of students and their families.
It proved to be a very enjoyable tasting with all the products having their supporters. The new Swedish Glacé range were popular across the board, the chocolate being a particular favourite with two of the teenage girls - although the third, Ruth Steinman, chose the Tofutti Mango and Passion fruit as her top scorer.
The rather sophisticated BoojaBooja flavours went down particularly well with the adults - the ginger and chocolate flavours sending the ginger and dark-chocolate enthusiasts into paroxysms of delight.
Soya intolerants will be very glad about the arrival on the scene not only of the BoojaBooja cashew based ices but the B’Nice rice based ones which are rather more conventional in terms of flavours and textures. The chocolate was very popular with most tasters although Marketing Laura favoured the vanilla, and Editor Michelle the strawberry – a flavour that is so hard to bring off in ice cream.
However, both Swedish Glacé and Tofutti are to be congratulated for producing conventional ice cream look-a-likes (their choc ice and Cornetto-type cone) which allow dairy intolerant
children to chomp on a cone or lick a choc ice which looks exactly the same – and does not taste that
different – from an ‘ordinary’ one.
The full tasting table with ingredients, comments and prices appears in this issue of Foods Matter.
For our excellent subscription offers click here.
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New Recipes
Cherry Tomato and Potato Soup
Wheat, gluten, corn, soya, dairy, egg & nut free
Loretta's Caribbean Codfish
Wheat, gluten, corn, soya, dairy, egg & nut free
Elizabeth Evans' Tried and Tested Gravy
Wheat, gluten, corn, soya, dairy, egg & nut free
Lamb Chops with Olives and Courgettes
Wheat, gluten, corn, soya, nightshade, dairy, egg & nut free
Caitlin's Biccies
Wheat, gluten, corn, soya, dairy, egg and nut free
The recipes for all of these dishes are to be found in this issue of Foods Matter.
For our excellent subscription offers click here.
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Conference Diary
To review upcoming allergy or 'free-from' related conferences and events click here.
Book Reviews
None this month.....
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