When trying to eat safe with food allergies, the rule is simple. Literally, simplicity. Good fresh foods cooked with fresh ingredients. Yum!
A recent post on twitter sharing tips for allergen-friendly meals made me realize a lot of folks might not understand the importance of simple meals. By simple, I don't mean bland nor boring nor unappetizing. I mean meals that are focused on real food as opposed to preservatives, jars of sauces/spices, frozen dinners, or packed-meals.
For example, for lunch today I had a delicious meal that had 7 ingredients. Salmon seasoned with cayenne, garlic, salt, and pepper and a touch of olive oil with asparagus sauted in olive oil and butter with garlic, salt, and pepper.
When we start getting into pre-packed foods, or any food where the ingredients list is full of chemical names, controlling for food allergies becomes more difficult. One reason for this is it becomes more difficult to know what these things are or what might be used to make them (Do you know how they make yellow color #3 or any other mystery ingredient??). When in doubt, throw it out of your meal.
Some of these ingredients are not food.