FAILSAFE #24

Newsletter of the Food Intolerance Network of Australia

February-March 2001

FAILSAFE supports families using the low-chemical elimination diet recommended by the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital - free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers - for health, behaviour and learning problems.

Failsafe is now available free by email. Just send your email address to sdengate@ozemail.com.au

THIS MONTH

• Boston report on chemicals and children

• In brief: drinking water, NSAIDS, mad cow update

• travel special

• recipe - rice pudding

Hello everyone

This is an unusual newsletter - I am writing from Italy on my way around the world, reading plenty of ingredient labels while on route (see special travel report). Details of my talks in the UK and USA will be posted on the website. I'll be back in Australia and at my regular email address by the end of May. In the meantime, thanks to Deborah Halliwell who is checking emails for me.

- Sue Dengate

REPORT FROM BOSTON DOCTORS - Chemicals and children's problems

A new report by a group of physicians says that millions of children in the U.S. exhibit learning disabilities, reduced IQ and destructive, aggressive behavior because of exposures to toxic chemicals. Titled IN HARM'S WAY, the report was written by physician Ted Schettler and colleagues and was published by Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility in partnership with the Clean Water Fund. IN HARM'S WAY links toxic exposures during early childhood, or even before birth, to lifelong disabilities including attention disorders, reduced IQ and poorly-controlled aggression. IN HARM'S WAY reviews scientific and medical information on a range of toxins to which most or all American children are exposed, and draws links to the rising number of children diagnosed each year with abnormal brain development or function. The report is a call to action for everyone interested in children's welfare and the future of our society. To avert brain damage in growing numbers of children, we have to reclaim our government from corporate special interests, the report concludes.

Developmental disabilities such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and uncontrollable aggression currently affect an estimated 12 million children under age 18 in the U.S. almost one child in five. Furthermore, the incidence of some of these disabilities appears to have increased dramatically in recent decades. For example, nationwide, the number of children classified with learning disabilities and placed in special education programs increased 191% between 1977 and 1994. The number of children taking the drug Ritalin to combat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has approximately doubled every 4 to 7 years since 1971. Experts estimate that autism rates have risen from around 4 per 10,000 in the early 1980s to between 12 and 20 per 10,000 in the 1990s.

Experts may argue about the exact number of children suffering from individual disorders, but the undisputed reality is that huge numbers of children currently suffer with serious developmental disabilities and they are exposed to many toxic chemicals that are known to produce such disabilities.

IN HARM'S WAY walks us through a sampling of neurotoxic substances to which many or all American children are exposed -- metals (lead, mercury, manganese); nicotine; pesticides; persistent organochlorine compounds (e.g., dioxin and PCBs); solvents, including alcohol; fluoride; and food additives -- and reviews existing human and animal data on developmental effects of these chemicals. These effects can vary dramatically depending on the exact timing of exposures. Tiny exposures that would have no noticeable effect at most stages of development can produce devastating permanent damage if they occur during a "window of vulnerability" when certain organs are developing rapidly.

More information: Ted Schettler and others, IN HARM'S WAY: TOXIC THREATS TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT (Cambridge, Mass.: Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility [GBPSR], May 2000). http://www.igc.org/psr/ or paper copy from GBPSR phone 617-497-7440.

Summary on http://www.rachel.org

In brief

• Rainwater. Most of the rainwater in Europe contains such high levels of pesticides that it is legally unfit to drink, according to a new study in Switzerland. The chemicals appear to have evaporated from fields and become part of the clouds, rather than filtering through the soil into groundwater as previously thought. Meanwhile, Swedish researchers have linked pesticides to non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma, one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in the Western world (more than a 70% increase in the USA since 1973, see previous newsletter).  - New Scientist, 3/4/99

• Miscarriage risk of NSAIDs. Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) which are high in salicylates are known to be associated with potentially fatal gastric bleeding. Now a new danger has  emerged. In a study of over 30,000 women, Dutch researchers found that women who had miscarriages in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy were 7 times for likely to have taken NSAIDs in the last week of their pregnancy than women who had normal births. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen are commonly used as painkillers. - London Times 2/2/01

• Happiness. The best things in life really are free according to a study that found that money is not the key to happiness. Feeling independent, competent and confident came ahead of wealth says a recent study. Dr K Sheldon who led the study at the university of Missouri in Columbia said "owning a Porsche will provide feelings of pleasure but only for a short time." - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

• Mad cow goes to Europe. Sales of beef in France, Germany, Spain and Italy have dropped by up to 50% since BSE cases, formerly thought to be restricted to Britain, have been identified in local herds. German Chancellor Schroder intends to reorient agricultural policy by shifting aid from 'industrial agrofactories' to organic farms while German agriculture minister Renate Kunast aims to increase the proportion of organically farmed land from 2.6% to 20% within the next 10 years. Time, 10/2/01

• Mad cow may go global. Beef in South-East Asia comes from cows fed on tonnes of BSE-infected protein. New figures show that animal feed from Britain, which was probably infected with mad cow disease, was exported into 80 countries. Indonesia and Thailand received the most, the USA and Australia the least. US officials deny the existence of BSE in their country although Swiss testers suggest that USA testing is inadequate. |'What about the next surprise that staggers out of our crowded barns?' asked New Scientist when Britain recorded 6 new cases of vCJD in a week (and immediately before the new foot-and-mouth epidemic). New Scientist, 10/2/01

• Mad cow vaccine risk. Over the last eight years, the US Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly asked pharmaceutical companies to avoid materials from cattle raised in countries where there is a risk of mad cow disease. But regulators discovered last year that five companies were still using those ingredients (GlaxoSmithKlein, Aventis, American Home Products, BioPort, North American Vaccines - now Baxter).No one has acquired CJD in this way yet and the risk is considered slight. That it took the FDA seven years to discover this use of suspect materials raises questions about their ability to ensure that all medicines are free of infectious proteins. - Herald Tribune 972701, p6.

• MacDonalds' expansion. Burger giant McDonalds has just acquired a 33 per cent stake in Pret A Manger, a supersuccessful collection of 104 quality sandwich shops in England which promise "handmade natural food, avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the ´prepared´ and ´fast´ food on the market today". Pret´s creator, Julian Metcalf, explains: "The minute you buy food that lasts 14 days, it doesn't taste right. What we have left we give away because the next day its not as good, that's basic". Have McDonalds finally realised that many consumers prefer fresh additive-free food?

Your questions:

Check out the newly updated Questions and Answers section in the website with detailed answers to your questions:

Q. We are travelling overseas next year. Do you have any hints for Failsafe travel?

A. See special report below.

SPECIAL REPORT: LOW CHEMICAL TRAVEL (part 1)

Last November the Dengate family of four, including teenagers aged 18 and15, left Australia for a six month round the world trip. This is an account of the first half of the journey.

PRE-TRIP

Check vaccines for preservatives. Our choices were thiomersal (see last newsletter) and formaldehyde, both have their problems. Having vaccinations one at a time may reduce the load.

AIRLINE FOOD

It is not possible to order failsafe food on planes. Even special meals are unreliable. We packed a big packet of sandwiches (or rice cakes) and other snacks to eat in the airport and during the flight and ate only the food, which seemed to be OK, eg chicken, no sauce. Bread and many other foods on flights originating in Australia probably contain preservatives.

BALI, INDONESIA

The traditional simple peasant diet of Indonesia, based mainly on rice, fresh vegetables and the occasional chicken, is mostly failsafe. For those who are gluten-free it is a dream. The difference between food in Bali and Australia quickly becomes obvious. "Fresh" means caught, picked or baked this morning instead of thawed, taken out of cold store, or full of preservatives. Eggs taste good, you can see fish arrive in the fishing boats on the beach every morning, and fresh vegetables picked in the early morning appear on restaurant tables by lunchtime. Varieties of fruit such as bananas, pineapples and papayas are different: traditional, smaller, sweeter, picked ripe, and to be eaten within a few days. Everything tastes better than its Australian equivalent.

For the first few days we ate only in our hotel, knowing from past experience of their high hygiene standards (and reasonable cost, about $A1or 50 US cents per person per meal). Within a few days we were puzzled to discover that we could tolerate many more salicylate-containing foods than at home. Tolerance levels vary depending on stress, total chemical load, hormones and illness. Were we tolerating more because we were on a low-stress holiday, breathing fresh sea air or because the food is naturally lower in both man-made chemicals and salicylates? The answer would seem to be a combination of these.

We avoided additives in processed foods. This included coloured jam and fruit juice provided for breakfast. The latter contained colours and preservatives not listed on the label, revealed when Howard earlier visited the juice factory. Typical meals included fresh grilled fish with rice, boiled potatoes or chips, chicken satay or deep fried, cap cay (stir-fried vegetables which were usually cabbage, shallots, carrot, chinese greens). We ate fruit in between meals (bananas, papayas and the Balinese tiny sweet roughleaf pineapple as well as snakeskin fruit, which are so bland they must be low in salicylates. Gluten-free local snacks made from cooked sticky rice and/or coconut are available from local shops or tokos.

MISTAKES We stuck to fresh additive-free food except for one plate of vanilla icecream. The next morning Rebecca woke like a bear with a sore head and remained in full oppositional mode until 4 pm - a wasted day.

FUMES AND AIR POLLUTION It is the custom to use mothballs as air fresheners in drawers, cupboards and bathrooms. These are highly toxic. Remove with a tissue and avoid touching bare skin. Twenty-five years ago I explored a quiet and uncrowded Bali on a motorbike. Now the roads are jammed with trucks in a haze of black smoke and families with babies on motorbikes, breathing air which must be high in lead. We limited sightseeing because of the traffic. Our driver on one occasion was a former schoolteacher who abandoned teaching because 'if you leave the children alone for five minutes, they fight'. This is the new Bali, city kids exposed to air pollution and fast food. In a remote Indonesian village, an exchange teacher described her class of 50, so attentive 'I could have taught in a whisper'.

MORE INFO Families can spend a relaxing mostly failsafe holiday free of cooking and washing-up in Bali. We stayed at Alit's Beach Bungalows with good restaurant at the unfashionable end of Sanur beach (beautiful gardens, rundown tennis, minigolf, pool, wonderful spa pool, Sanur beach walk); Amerta cottages in Toyabungkah at the foot of active volcano Gunung Batur (stunning lake views, hot springs, volcano climb) but not restaurant (eat at the cafe with the Lonely Planet endorsement); and Ananda Cottages with restaurant in Ubud (walks, monkey forest, Legong dance in palace). Don't drink the water or ice, or eat salads or fruit which you haven't peeled yourself or in a clean trustworthy restaurant - 'Bali belly' is common.

SINGAPORE

Inflight catering on the Singapore Airlines flight from Denpasar started with nibbles containing artificial colours 102 (tartrazine), 110 (sunset yellow) and 133 (brilliant blue) - and airlines complain about the increase in air rage! The main meal was fresh and plain and decaf was available. We always carried extra snacks to cover flights, fresh fruit, plain biscuits, and a six-month supply of raw cashew nuts. In Singapore as in Indonesia, food additives are a problem. Individual names or numbers are not listed, just vague information like 'contains permitted preservatives'. At my talk at the Australian International School, families confirmed that it was difficult to buy additive-free processed foods. This makes it difficult to keep children failsafe, as all children need occasional treats.

NEPAL

Nepal has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world but some of the highest mountains and happiest people. Like most visitors to Nepal, we went trekking in the Himalayas, walking for 5-8 hours nearly every day for 26 days. Highlights included an ancient walled fortress city in the spectacular high mountainous desert near Tibet, and a high snowy mountaineer's base-camp. There were no cars, few motors or radios, very little electricity and processed food only along trekkers' routes. As Rebecca said 'this is like travelling in another time, not another country'.

Nepalese food is simple, rice-based, fresh, and largely unprocessed 'real' food. The national dish of dahlbhat is a combination of rice, dahl or lentil soup with mixed vegetables such as potatoes and chinese greens stir-fried in curry type spices, and a vegetable pickle sometimes accompanied by curd, a type of natural yoghurt made from allowing unpasteurised buffalo milk to stand for 48 hours. The majority of Nepalese who are still peasant farmers eat this meal twice a day with meat and chicken curries when available (usually not).  It is a healthy, low-fat, satisfying, cheap meal and with our newfound tolerance for salicylates, we ate dahlbhat at least once a day, except for Arran who hates curry.

Gluten-free food included rice puddings, curd, fruit salad, eggs, fried potatoes, corn porridge, buckwheat pancakes (faava roti, only available above 3000 metres, you often have to ask for them, with the superb local apricot or apple sugar-free paste but  called jam). I always carried 'churra', pounded rice flakes which can be added to tea or any hot drink for an instant gluten-free breakfast or snack. Other foods included oat porridge, banana or lemon sugar pancakes, chapattis, Tibetan bread - like fried donuts - mixed vegetable omelette (usually shallots, chinese greens, carrots), boiled potatoes, chips or French fries, and the local version of pizza - often a chapatti with yak cheese and sliced local ripe tomato.

We avoided fried rice and instant noodles, which were likely to contain MSG.  For treats there were occasional chocolate cakes, lemon meringue pie and baked cheesecake (curd, eggs, sugar, lemon juice) all made with fresh natural ingredients. Commercial treats, definitely limited because they all contain artificial flavours, included Mars bars, Werthers Original Butter Candy, AlpenLiebe caramels, Callard & Bowser toffees,  McVities Hobnob biscuits. Bananas, mandarins and Red Delicious apples were the fruit in season at various altitudes. The bananas were small, ripe and ready to eat like Balinese bananas. The Red Delicious apples were tree-ripened, and, well, delicious.  And it was a real treat for us to eat tiny organic mandarins with no ill effects.

MISTAKES There were two mistakes during our six weeks in Nepal - skin rashes for Howard and Arran the day after eating pizza in a very westernised restaurant in Kathmandu; and oppositional defiance for Rebecca both times after eating chocolate cake from the Chomrong guest house - unlike others this turned out to contain commercial biscuits.

WEIGHT LOSS Walking for hours in every day for a month while eating healthy low-fat food, surrounded by magnificent scenery and interesting people must be the easiest way in the world to lost weight. The extra 5 kg I'd been trying to lose just fell off and we all emerged super fit.

GLUTEN TOLERANCE When we left Australia I had been gluten intolerant for 3 years following a gastrointestinal infection. This is an increasingly common way of developing gluten intolerance. Despite eating a gluten-free diet, I was so sensitive I would react even to toast crumbs in the butter and had failed my most recent gluten challenge a few months before leaving Australia. While travelling I followed a strict gluten-free diet and ate buffalo curd as often as I could, several times a day if possible, reasoning that unpasteurised curd contains huge amounts more - and many different types -of the 'friendly' probiotic bacteria which are supposed to promote intestinal health in western-style yoghurt. After two months in Asia a gluten challenge showed that I had redeveloped a tolerance to gluten which I have now maintained for two months. Anyone with gluten intolerance will understand what an amazing relief this is - for me the whole trip has been worth it just to be able to eat bread, pasta and oat porridge again.

TRAVELLERS' DIARRHOEA In countries with unsafe water like Nepal, travellers are at great risk of gastrointestinal upsets including loose tools, watery diarrhoea, nausea and/or vomiting. We carried our own water filter (AquaPur, about $200) and followed the instructions under Bali info. Because I have a history of irritable bowel symptoms I was especially careful and at the first sign of problems I switched to boiled rice and black tea. (At one restaurant a dish called 'Doctor's Advice' offered boiled rice, boiled vegetables, black tea and curd.) Perhaps because of this I had almost no problems compared to the others.

CHANGES Twenty five years ago, processed food was virtually unknown in Nepal. The first supermarket was just about to open and Coke had just been introduced. Some processed food is available in Kathmandu and on major trekking routes. Processed foods most likely to be eaten by locals are instant noodles with MSG and coloured sweets for children. I saw some irritable, restless, sleepless children this time, which would have been unthinkable 25 years ago. I also met a shopkeeper who ate instant noodles and complained of frequent migraines. Like her counterparts in Australia she had not considered food additives as a cause yet MSG is strongly associated with headaches.  Trekkers are also at risk especially those drinking large quantities of Tang orange drink (tartrazine colour, 102) or instant noodles (MSG).

ALTITUDE AND ADDITIVES It is common for trekkers to blame high altitude for headaches, irritability, sleeplessness and stomach upsets yet these are all common reactions to tartrazine and other additives. It is even possible that altitude increased vulnerability to additive reactions in some people -Howard and I both suffered severe restless legs after eating airline food on one flight. These symptoms abruptly improved when the descent began. Commercial flights are pressurised to about 2500 metres.

MORE INFO There were people aged from 4  to 80 years on the trail, some in family groups up to 3 generations, or up to three families trekking together to provide friends for the children. Many had been trekking before. Very young children can get bored and the danger from illness is greater. Teenagers prefer a challenge such as reaching a base camp. If you take precautions against contaminated food and water, trekking can be a healthy, mostly failsafe way to spend a holiday.  See Lonely Planet Guide 'Trekking in Nepal'. We trekked to Jomsom, Kagbeni, Muktinath and Annapurna Base Camp. Other highlights: great temple views and banana curd in Sunny restaurant, Bhaktipur; great lake views and fruit salad curd in the Pumpernickel cafe in Pokhara.

INDIA

January in Northern India, two weeks before the Bhuj earthquake, was bitterly cold. On the long bus and train trips from Nepal to Delhi we saw villages in fog, landscape in fog and the Taj Mahal in fog. The food in India is similar to Nepal but with greater variety. It is often very delicious. A standard meal (thali) includes several vegetable curries, curd, rice and pickles. Roadside snacks commonly include a chickpea curry. There are also the marvellous wheat breads of Northern India, including chapattis and naan, and from Southern India, rice pancakes like uppams. Becky loved the Indian sweets, based on boiled milk and sugar. Tourist restaurants provide local versions of western foods as in Nepal. There is a wide variety of fresh and dried fruit and nuts.

MORE INFO India is excellent for gluten-free, additive-free, dairy-free and amine-free meals. If you like curries and can tolerate a certain amount of salicylates (which we can't normally) this is a great place to eat, as long as you can avoid 'Delhi belly'.  See Lonely Planet Guide to India. Our highlights: The rooftop restaurant at the Host Hotel in Agra with excellent views of the Taj and good fruit salad curd. The Magic restaurant in Agra for excellent Indian food. In New Delhi, the Grand Hyatt did a superb brunch (courtesy of Lufthansa and the thick fog that delayed our flight).

EGYPT

'While there are many wonderful things about Egypt, food is not one of them ... that said, it is possible to eat well (not to mention cheaply) in Egypt if you can accept the lack of variety and pack your taste buds off on holiday' - Egypt guide book.  It is true that restaurants are fairly mediocre, but there is a trick to eating in Egypt - when you want to eat find a street cafe which is so crowded with locals that the waiters are literally running. Order what they are eating and you will get some of the best, freshest and cheapest food in the world.

The fertile Nile delta grows memorably delicious fruit especially strawberries and vegetables like sweet ripe red tomatoes which haven't been seen in the West since the old varieties were superceded by supermarket packable types.  Meals are usually served with the wonderful Egyptian bread, a dip such as hummus and salad. We loved the falafels, shwarma (with lamb) and 'fool' (the Egyptian equivalent of baked beans on a French roll). Takeaway rice puddings were a big favourite with Arran and Rebecca. Vegetable and lentil soups were failsafe and delicious.

The standard tourist breakfast is tea or coffee with rolls, cream cheese, jam and maybe an egg. When she tasted a Bedouin meal while camel trekking, Rebecca exclaimed 'this is just like Irish Stew!' (from Fed Up). The best meal award goes to a cafe next door to the fish market for a plate of exceedingly fresh grilled fish with rice, salad, bread and hummus. It was easy to self-cater for lunches from fresh produce markets and bakeries.

MISTAKES The jam is all preserved with sodium benzoate even the - yes! - pear jam. Rebecca managed a tiny serve every day for about ten days until a double serve took her over the top.  Gluten-free in Egypt would be extremely difficult unless you were self-catering.

MORE INFORMATION Lonely Planet guide to Egypt; Highlights - Acker Saa cafe soups, meals and rice puddings in Cairo, Al Mina cafe in Sigala (port of Hurgada on the Red Sea), Sinai desert camel trek from Dahab, temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Luxor and other Pharoanic sights.

THE MAXOLON DISASTER At the end of our time in Egypt Arran suddenly developed severe diarrhoea and nausea. During a ten-hour bus trip, he took the usual travellers'medicines: Lomotil for diarrhoea and Maxolon (metaclopramide) for nausea. As we reached Cairo he began to display a variety of alarming symptoms. Painful muscle spasms of the face and neck, upturned eyes, locked jaw and sudden stiffness of the back and neck became progressively worse. With Arran unable to see, walk or breathe properly, we crawled through traffic to the Anglo American hospital. 'Our intelligent Arran - he looked so retarded - I thought he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I couldn't believe anything that bad could be reversed', Rebecca confessed later. After thorough assessment, sympathetic Egyptian doctors suggested 'side effects of a drug'. Arran recovered within four hours. On the plane to Germany the next day, Rebecca developed similar nausea. Believing Lomotil to be the culprit. We allowed her to be treated with Maxalon on the plane and at the airport. A few days later she was also given Maxolon in a drip we were told was glucose and vitamins. By the time she got home she had developed the same alarming symptoms as Arran. The doctor refused to believe our reports of a drug side effect and prescribed extra medication. When we finally obtained a Maxolon leaflet in English, it was all there - the side effects clearly described with the instructions 'tell your doctor' - but no advice for doctors who refuse to listen.

EUROPE

In Europe we were back in the world of supermarket fruit and vegetables -varieties chosen for transport and lasting not eating qualities ('These aren't real bananas', said Arran). We also noticed just how many more salicylates (concentrated in alcoholic drinks, juices, dried fruits, sauces and flavourings) and amines (in expensive animal foods) are consumed per day in our highly processed, high protein western diet. We had to deliberately cut down on our salicylate and amine intake but could still manage many more treats than at home.

The biggest surprise, though, is the lack of harmful additives in European food. I can recommend a European holiday! It is wonderful to be able to walk into bakeries, icecream shops and gelateria and buy a wide range of foods knowing that they are additive free. Products which would contain annatto colouring (160b) at home are either  colour-free or contain the harmless betacarotene (160a) instead.  The European version of Magnum icecreams (and all the other vanilla icecreams I have seen) are safe.  Even Lays chips which in Australia contain so many harmful antioxidants (319,320) we use them as a challenge, are safe in Europe - unless they are failing to declare their ingredients which I will investigate further.  Unlike Australia, fish fingers do not contain added colour if one can believe the label. Croissants are likely to be made with pure butter. And it is wonderful to walk into a bakery and know that all those delicious treats are additive-free. (Rebecca loves the German 'Berliners').

The only bread in Europe I have found containing calcium propionate (282) was a highly processed white sliced loaf in a supermarket in Pompeii - although, alarmingly, the ingredients listed only calcio propionato - no E number, no indication that it is a preservative and the English translation said only 'calcium'. 

Who decides which additives must be used in our foods, why is it that European children are far more protected from harmful additives than Australian children, and why do Australian consumer associations and food authorities tell consumers that the high level of harmful additives in our foods are necessary? Answers in future newsletter!

MORE INFO Lonely Planet 'Europe on a Shoestring', Rick Steves 'Italy'. Highlights: Hoge Veluwe National Park - ride free white bicycles through beautiful forests to a top art gallery; Hill 62 in Flanders, original WWI trenches; Paris Tour of the Sewers, Italy Cinque Terre overnight walk, farmhouse in Tuscany; skiing in Germany and Austria http://www.kleinwalsertal.de/ ; motorhome rental in Germany, much cheaper than England, Europcar.

Cooks' corner

Rice pudding

Popular in many countries in the world, individual containers of rice pudding are sold at takeaway street stalls in Egypt.

600 ml milk or soymilk

3 tbs shortgrain rice

1 tbspn butter or Nuttelex (optional)

1-2 tbsp white sugar (or brown, or more to taste)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

Place milk, rice and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently until rice is tender, about 35

minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an extra 15-20 minutes. The pudding will thicken towards the end of the cooking time. Serve hot or

cold. Serves 4. - J. Allen

Email support group

There are now members from over fourteen countries in our email discussion group, sharing questions, recipes, support, successes, dramas and laughs.

To join, send your request to sdengate@ozemail.com.au . You will receive an invitation from Listbot Verifier. You must reply to the Listbot invitation to confirm your place on the list. You will then receive every message posted by group members. To contribute, press reply. See unsubscribe instructions at the foot of each message.

This newsletter available free by email from sdengate@ozemail.com.au © Sue Dengate (text). Further reading: The Simplified Elimination Diet from dietitians, Fed Up by Sue Dengate Random House, 1998 and Friendly Food, by Swain and others, Murdoch Books, 1991.

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