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Whether you’re a food allergy expert or new to the scene, it is important to know the ABCs of eating safely and nutritiously while avoiding allergy-causing food. Below is some general advice for people living with food allergies.

A is for Always read the label

Food manufacturers can change ingredients without notice. Always read food labels to help you to catch any changes.

According to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act, most pre-packaged foods require a new, mandatory nutrition label and a list of ingredients. Unfortunately, there are some ingredients and substances in food products that do not have to be declared on the label. For example, a label can simply list “flavouring, seasoning, spices, or vinegar” as an ingredient without specifying what exactly is in that ingredient. The problem is, any of these ingredients may have been made with an allergy-causing protein. Therefore, Anaphylaxis Canada, Health Canada, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are proposing changes to the Food and Drug Regulations which would require specific allergenic substances to be shown on labels.

B is for Beware of “may contain” warnings

Don’t take chances with products that have a “may contain” warning on their label. Leave these products out! Experts agree these foods should not be consumed and should be avoided completely.

C is for Call the manufacturer

If you have questions about a specific product, call the manufacturer. Many companies have toll-free numbers on their packaging for consumers to contact them with their questions. If a customer representative is unable to answer your questions, ask to speak to someone in Quality Assurance. If you are still not satisfied, then that company may not be a reliable one.

Wondering what you should ask manufacturers? Anaphylaxis Canada has created a very useful question sheet for you to use. It can be found at http://www.anaphylaxis.org/pdf/ProductSafety.pdf.

D is for Dietitians

If you have any concerns about nutrition and allergies, ask your family doctor for a referral to a registered dietitian. A dietitian is a nutrition expert who is able to determine if your diet is nutritionally complete and monitor your health status. In addition, dietitians can help plan delicious and nutritious meals and provide advice on eating out, travelling, cooking, and food shopping, as well as resources that may be helpful to you. Dietitians are your link to specialized and reliable nutrition information.

E is for EpiPen®

If your doctor prescribed you an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen®), always carry it with you. Know the signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction and know how to use an EpiPen® when necessary. Always seek medical attention after using the EpiPen®. Great information on the EpiPen® can be found at http://www.epipen.com.

F is for Find out other names

Health Canada has made available a series of pamphlets dedicated to educating consumers about the nine top foods that cause food allergies in our population. Within these pamphlets are other names for allergy-causing foods that may appear on a food label. For example, milk may appear on a food label as casein, lactalbumin, or whey. Visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/allergen_con_info_e.html to view these pamphlets.

Anaphylaxis Canada also produces Allergen Information Cards that also have other names for allergy-causing foods. They can be purchased at http://www.anaphylaxis.org/content/livingwith/product_catalogue.asp#two.

G is for Going public

Inform friends and family of your dietary restrictions in order to minimize the risk of accidentally ingesting an allergy-causing food. Letting loved ones know can certainly help to ensure that your mealtime together is enjoyable and safe. In the case of children, make sure that you and your children’s caretakers know how to handle an allergic reaction. Purchase an EpiPen® trainer to teach family, friends, colleagues, and teachers how to use the EpiPen® in case of an emergency.

H is for Hidden sources

Unfortunately, living allergen-free is not as easy as just avoiding milk, eggs, peanuts, and so on. Allergenic foods are found in a variety of different products that are often hidden in complicated ingredient lists. See “F is for Find out other names” for more information.

Hidden sources of allergy-causing foods may also come about through cross-contamination. Cross-contamination is the transfer of a substance from one surface, utensil, container, or food to another. For example, spreading a piece of bread with peanut butter and then cutting another piece of bread with that same knife may lead to contamination. Even a tiny amount of an allergen can cause a reaction. Talk with food preparers when eating out for this potential risk.

I is for Invest in Medic Alert identification

Anaphylaxis Canada recommends that potentially anaphylactic people wear Medic Alert identification. For children, this will provide information to caretakers about their allergies. In adults, a coma could prevent self-administration of epinephrine and a Medic Alert bracelet could provide much needed information about a person’s specific allergies.

J is for Join registries

Become a member of associations like Anaphylaxis Canada and the Allergy & Asthma Information Association (AAIA), and sign up for food recalls from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). These types of resources can provide updates on food labelling, product alerts, and the latest research findings.

Visit reliable Web sites like:

• The Canadian Celiac Association (www.celiac.ca)
• The Specialty Food Shop (www.specialtyfoodshop.com).
• Health Canada (www.hc-sc.gc.ca)
• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (www.inspection.gc.ca) to sign up for updates on food recalls
• Dietitians of Canada (www.dietitians.ca) to find a dietitian in your area
• Anaphylaxis Canada (www.anaphylaxis.ca)
• Allergy & Asthma Information Association (www.aaia.ca)

Take home message

Living with food allergies comes with its challenges, but with the right information and support, it is possible to live a delicious and nutritious life! Just start with your ABCs. In addition, see your allergist and health professional regularly to ensure all of your needs are being met.

Helping Kids Get a Head Start for Back 2 School

Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids collects funds and school supplies for children in need

 – As the lazy days of summer turn into brisk fall mornings, kids and parents alike will be getting ready for the much anticipated “back to school” frenzy.  Topping parents list of to dos is to get their children haircuts, new clothing and school supplies.  Sadly, many parents can’t afford the much-needed supplies for their children that many kids take for granted.  Beaners recognizes this problem and has teamed up with the local United Way Chapter to provide disadvantaged children with a helping hand to start the school year off right.

With the help of the United Way, Beaners will collect and distribute un-opened school supplies for the month of August.  The United Way will help by getting these school supplies into the little hands that need them.  Beaners will also be donating $1.00 from each haircut during the week of August 21- August 28, to help raise additional funds for disadvantaged children.

“Back to School” is an exciting time for so many children, and we want to ensure that it’s a fun and exciting time for all children,” says Debbie Bertie, President, Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids. Each of our stores will be outfitted with drop boxes where parents and children can bring in their donations of un-opened school supplies. Not only will this effort be helping disadvantaged families, but it will also teach kids about the importance of helping others.”

Giving and Getting Back too!

In addition to children helping others they will also have the chance to win a prize themselves. From August 21-28 when kids come in for a haircut they will have the chance to enter a colouring contest.  The prize is a $140 family gift basket chalked full of goodies to get the entire family ready for back to school including:

• A free hair cut, shampoo and conditioner from Beaners
• A Head Snuggler (www.headsnuggler.com) travel accessory
• Picky? Not me Mom! Cookbook with great lunch and snack ideas (www.karlaheintz.com)
• Bugalug hair accessories (www.bugalugbaby.com)
• 2 stainless steel Otterbottles for kids lunch bags (www.otterbottle.ca)
• A gift certificate from Little Soles for a new pair of shoes (www.littlesoles.ca).

“At Beaners we want to ensure that both parent and child have the best haircut experience they can.” continues Bertie. “This back to school season kids will receive the trendiest hair cut in an environment that is fun, comfortable and exciting for kids and relaxing for parents while simultaneously bringing happiness to other children in different situations than their own.”

Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids and the United Way Collect School Supplies for the less fortunate

• To help the many families out there who can’t afford back to school supplies United Way and Beaners Fun Cuts for kids will help collect and distribute un-opened schools supplies for the month of August

• To drop off school supplies please visit any Beaners in Canada

• To find a store near you go to www.beanersfuncuts.com.

• In addition, from August 21-28 each store will be donating $1.00 per hair cut per child to help raise even more funds for disadvantaged children

• Help us get much needed supplies into the little hands that need them the most!

• Items needed the most include:
  • Backpacks
  • Binders
  • Calculators
  • Dividers
  • Duotangs
  • Erasers
  • Exercize books
  • Glue Sticks
  • Lined Paper
  • Non-toxic markets
  • Pencil cases
  • Pencil sharpeners
  • Pencils and pencil crayons
  • Pens
  • Rulers
  • Scribblers

About Beaners Fun Cuts

Beaners is a Canadian owned specialty hair salon for children, which opened its’ doors in 1987, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There are 14 locations across the country in four provinces. For more information or to find a location visit www.beanersfuncuts.com.

For more tips or hair care ideas contact:

Laura Stratton, Strattco PR, 905-841-6797, lauraleastratton@strattco.com            

31 people away from winning a fantastic BACK TO SCHOOL snack bag set from the fabulous Christine Taylor Quilts.  This is a wonderful way to help save the environment by staying away from ziploc bags as well as giving your kids some unique lunch pizazz!  Great for work too.  I know that these would cause quite a stir in the staff room at my workplace……www.christinetaylorquilts.com

Check them out!!!

650 members on Facebook is all it takes for a chance to win a set of sandwich bags from www.christinetaylorquilts.com  These are perfect for school lunches!

Check out the link and see if you can win!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Ontario-Canada/Christine-Taylor-Quilts/242114713320

As the hot summer sun beats down, for many parents and children thoughts turn to the cooling relief of swimming pools and lakes. While a refreshing dip may be just the ticket, now is a good time to consider safety issues when it comes to children and water, both at home and further afield.

Each year, more than 100 children and youth in Canada drown and many more have close calls. It seems that a new drowning tragedy is reported almost every week. The most common situations for drowning are boating, recreational, and bathtub drowning. Children under five are more likely to drown or nearly drown than any other age group, followed by children aged five to nine years old. Among toddlers, drowning accounts for more than 20% of injury-related deaths and is the second major cause of death through injury.

“You always need to supervise your child when he or she is in or near water. Drowning can happen in seconds, in the time it takes you to answer a phone,” says Laveena Sethia, an injury prevention information specialist with Safe Kids Canada, the national injury prevention program of the Hospital for Sick Children.

This means you must stay close enough to touch your child when in the bath tub, home swimming pool, public pool, or lake. Supervision is the best way to prevent drowning.

Backyard swimming pools

Parents should make sure there is a fence that completely surrounds the backyard swimming pool on all four sides. The fence needs to be 1.2 metres (4 feet) high and have a self-latching gate. Check with your municipality to make sure that your pool follows local by-laws for backyard swimming pools.

Some people have a fence on three sides and consider the house to be the fourth side. But in this case, “you’re protecting the neighbourhood kids and not your own,” says Sethia, since a child can exit the house through sliding doors and directly enter the pool unsupervised. If any door in the house leads directly to the pool, make sure the door closes by itself and has a lock high up on the door that a child cannot reach and open.

Keep these pool safety tips in mind:

• Always have an adult watching children in the pool, preferably one who knows cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and lifesaving techniques.
• Enroll children in swimming and water safety lessons when they are at least 4 years old. Water safety programs for adults and younger children are also available.
• Taking swimming lessons does not ensure that a child will not drown. You still need to watch your child closely in and around water.
• Children can drown in seconds; don’t turn away to answer the phone or concentrate on something else. Don’t assume that a child in trouble will be able to make noise to alert you.
• Make sure lifesaving and first aid equipment is close to the pool. Keep emergency phone numbers nearby.
• Children under the age of 3 or children who cannot swim must wear personal flotation devices (PFDs). Be sure that the PFD is a Canadian-approved device and that all parts of the PFD are in good condition. Users of inflatable PFDs should follow manufacturer’s instructions so they can help their children use them correctly. Remember that air-filled toys, water wings, and air mattresses are not a substitute for a PFD.
• Always check the pool first if a child is missing.

Lakes and rivers

Because lakes and rivers aren’t fenced in, it’s even more important to watch children closely when at the cottage or the beach. Remember these safety tips:

• Give your children your full attention. Make sure children know that they must always tell an adult before they go swimming.
• Children under the age of 3 or children who cannot swim should always be wearing a PFD in or around water.
• Put children on the buddy system so that if one is in trouble, the other can call for help.
• Make sure children swim close to shore. They should be able to see you at all times.
• Teach young children how to swim or play within arm’s reach.
• Swim at supervised waterfronts and beaches.
• Choose a safe place to swim. Check for hazards on the beach and in the water, including water pollution levels.
• Watch for boats and jet skis while swimming.

Boating

By law, boaters must have appropriately sized PFDs for each person aboard the boat, though they do not have to be worn. Pay special attention to your children’s PFDs, advises the Canadian Safe Boating Council. These should be selected by size and weight, and have collars to keep their heads up in the water, a handle on the collar to lift them, and a safety strap so the PFD does not slide up over their head. Test the PFD first in a pool to make sure it works and fits properly.

PFDs are not made for children under age 1 (or 9 kg). For children under 1, Safe Kids recommends finding an alternate land route to the destination, finding a sitter for the child, or simply not making water trips until the child is older.

Here are some boating tips:

• Don’t rock the boat. Move slowly when you enter the boat because it could tip over, or tip you out, if you are not careful.
• Children should always wear a PFD when boating.
• Children should keep their arms, legs, and head inside the boat at all times.
• A designated adult should be able to see the child at all times to make sure the child does not fall into the water, which may be too deep or rocky.
• If sleeping on board the boat, make sure young children cannot open a door or window and get outside unsupervised. A two-year-old girl in British Columbia drowned recently after opening a screen door on a houseboat and sliding into the water.

Presented by The Conscious Family Team of York Region
This free prenatal session offered by The Conscious Family Team of York Region
will help expectant parents navigate the early questions and choices about
making conscious decisions about their pregnancy and birth experience.
Some topics that will be addressed;
ü  Optimizing the health of the body, mind and spirit of mom and dad throughout
pregnancy, through cleansing, emotional release and nutrition
ü  Understanding childbirth as a rite of passage
ü  Building your pregnancy and birth team
ü  Prenatal Class Options
ü  Pain coping options
 
Contact Denise @ 905-836-4342 or denisemartin@rogers.com register
 
Date:  Monday September 13, 2010
Time:  7:00 - 8:30
Location:  Prenatal Plus Pregnancy & Parenting Centre @130 Davis Dr., Newmarket
 
Conscious Family Team
Parenting with Purpose, Presence and Peace

HypnoBirthing® - The Mongan Method - is a unique method of relaxed, natural
childbirth education, enhanced by self-hypnosis techniques. HypnoBirthing®
provides the missing link that allows women to use their natural instincts to
bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birthing. Emphasis is placed on
pregnancy and childbirth, as well as on pre-birth parenting and the
consciousness of the pre-born baby. As a birthing method, HypnoBirthing® is as
new as tomorrow and as old as ancient times.Fall Series:  October Wed October 6, 13, 20, 27 and November 3, 2010
Time: 7:00 pm @ 9:30
Location:  The Invisible City Homeopathy and Psychotherapy Clinic- 474 Botsford
St., Newmarket

Investment: $150.00 includes Hypnobirthing® Workbook and CD
Upon $50.00 registration fee you will receive in advance the workbook and CD
 
The HypnoBirthing® Premise
For most of their lives, women have been inundated with the negative stories of
other women’s birth experiences. Everyone, from their mothers, sisters, aunts,
cousins, friends, and even strangers, wants to tell them the horrors of giving
birth. They have been conditioned to believe that excruciating pain is
associated with labour; and because of this, women today hold an unprecedented
fear of giving birth.  This extreme fear causes their bodies to become tense,
and that tension prohibits their bodies from easily performing a normal
physiological function.  The result is exactly what they feared most–long,
painful birthing or unnecessary intervention.Through a very simple program of self-hypnosis and education, healthy, low-risk
women, as well as women who need medical assistance because of special
circumstances, learn to dismiss fear-based stories, misinformation, and birthing
myths; and they are helped to see birth as normal. They learn to trust that
their bodies know how to bring their babies into the world in the calm and
gentle way that Nature intended.

What You Will Learn in HypnoBirthing® Classes
 
Unit 1: Building A Positive Expectancy
 
Unit 2: Falling in Love with Your Baby/Preparing Mind & BodyUnit 3: Getting Ready to Welcome your Baby
 
Unit 4: An overview of Birthing : A Labor of Love
 
Unit 5: Birth : Breathing Love - Bringing Life
 

Contact Denise @ www.4theloveofthefamily.com

905-836-4342 to register or for more information @ www.hypnobirthing.com

We believe that every woman has within her the power to call upon her natural
instincts to bring about the best possible birthing for her baby and herself”
-Marie F. Mongan

A Conscious Pregnancy

Presented by The Conscious Family Team of York Region

This free prenatal session offered by The Conscious Family Team of York Region will help expectant parents navigate the early questions and choices about making conscious decisions about their pregnancy and birth experience.

Some topics that will be addressed;
Optimizing the health of the body, mind and spirit of mom and dad throughout pregnancy, through cleansing, emotional release and nutrition
Understanding childbirth as a rite of passage
Building your pregnancy and birth team
Prenatal Class Options
Pain coping options

Conscious Family Team
Parenting with Purpose, Presence and Peace

Blog: www.consciousfamilyyorkregion.blogspot.com

It Takes A Village – A Show On Raising A Family In Today’s World
www.youtube.com/user/consciousfamilyteam

There are so many fun and exciting things planned to do around York Region to celebrate this great country’s birthday!  From festivals, parades, entertainment and fireworks, there is something for everyone!

Check out the websites below for your area and get ready to have some fun!

Richmond Hill:  [http://www.richmondhill.ca/subpage.asp?pageid=canada_day_celebrationsink name](http://)

Newmarket:  [www.newmarket.ca](http://)

Georgina:  [http://www.town.georgina.on.ca/](http://)

Markham/Thornhill:  [http://www.markham.ca/Markham/Departments/NewsCentre/Evnts/Canada_Day.htm](http://)

Vaughan:  [http://www.city.vaughan.on.ca/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=25&extmode=view&extid=399](http://)

King:  [http://www.king.ca/Pages/default.aspx](http://)

Aurora:  [http://www.town.aurora.on.ca/aurora/canada](http://)

East Gwillimbury: [http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/site3.aspx](http://)

Whitchurch-Stoufville:  [http://www.townofws.com/](http://)

Bittersweet Photography only has a couple spots left for the mini-session weekend on August 14-15th! These
include a 45 minute session, 10 high resolution digital images (fully edited with
print release), an 8×10 print, two 5×7 prints, and a set of 8
wallet prints - PLUS 25 custom cards! Contact me to book your spot…Details here:

http://www.bittersweet-pho…tography.com/?p=2478

See More

Mini Session Weekend Event! (in Toronto AND Newmarket)

www.bittersweet-photography.com

Newmarket’s Newborn and Child Photographer, Nicole Herdman. Fresh and fun newborn, baby, child, maternity, family, senior, and engagement photography.