FAILSAFE #49
Newsletter
of the Food Intolerance Network
July
– September 2006
|
The Food Intolerance Network supports people worldwide using a low-chemical elimination diet free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers (FAILSAFE) for health, behaviour and learning problems. |
To see this FAILSAFE Newsletter in colour on the web: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/newsletters/FAILsaf49.html
The FAILSAFE Newsletter is available free by email. Just send your email
address with “subscribe” in the subject to failsafe_newsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
THIS MONTH
Labelling of antioxidants in fats and oils
Additive-free school canteens
The Get Smarties campaign
Kidney beans every day keep the doctor away
Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour –
the DVD
Research: Reversibility of the
effects of additives, Changes in what children eat, Australian children
targeted
In brief: Looking for a school
fundraiser?, Want to comment on failsafe?, Iodine intake
of children , Chronic Fatigue Syndrome stories?, US unions seek limit on butter
flavor additive, Sainsbury’s UK Supermarkets, If
governments won’t do it, people power will
Targeting…Get Smarties Campaign
Readers' stories: [438] - [453]
Product updates: detailed help and information.
Questions: detailed help and information.
Cooks
Corner: Failsafe lemonade, Chicken frittata, Bread and butter pudding
Hello
everyone
Thank you to the many
failsafers who have added their voices to our Get Smarties campaign! As
Also in this issue, some
interesting new products, quick and yummy recipes from readers, and more
stories - our Courage award for a school confrontation, how peanut allergy was
a blessing in disguise, an extraordinary story about fear of the dark, and much
more ...
Happy failsafe eating - Sue Dengate
Labelling of antioxidants in fats and oils
Many Network members
know how frustrating it is trying to find out whether synthetic antioxidants
such as BHA 320 are in their food. Often the labels don’t declare them or are
just plain wrong. The only way at present is to ring the manufacturer, who may
or may not know, and may or may not tell you. We can change this situation:
FSANZ have just released an initial assessment report, triggered by the Food
Intolerance Network, which seeks to have all antioxidants in fats and oils
declared on the label, irrespective of whether they are performing a
technological function in the food in the view of food manufacturers. Please make a submission before 20
September!
You can post/email a
submission. Here is a draft letter you can use: add your own health, behaviour
and learning experiences, or the foods and labelling that that trip you up: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/Antioxidant%20letter.htm
Or you can lodge a
submission directly with FSANZ, even using the draft letter above: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/forms/index.cfm?fuseaction=Submission
(Background material:
Link to FSANZ
document ; Link to Food
Intolerance Network initial request (December 2004)).
Additive-free school canteens
The Food Intolerance
Network has received so many enquiries about developing Additive Free school canteens that Kathleen Daalmeyer
and Jenny Ravlic from the
To subscribe send an
email to added@bigpond.net.au with “Subscribe to SAFE” in the subject
line. Include a brief blurb on who you
are, where you are, and what stage you are at. Thanks to Kathleen and Jenny for
this marvellous new initiative.
The Get Smarties campaign
Many thanks to all of you
who contributed to the Get Smarties campaign asking Nestle
Kidney beans every day keep the doctor away
Fruits and vegetables
are rich sources of beneficial natural antioxidants not to be confused with
nasty synthetic antioxidants like BHA 320. The benefit of antioxidants is that
they can neutralise free radicals known to cause cancer. In 2004, researchers
from the US Department of Agriculture rated 130 common foods for their
antioxidant power. Three of the top five entries were failsafe. Beans and nuts
scored particularly high and of those, red kidney beans are exceptionally good
value. Coming in at number three, and as the only dried beans that don't cause
wind, they contained more than three times the antioxidant power of apples.
Most of the top 20 were beans, nuts or berries.
Rating Food Antioxidant
capacity in TE units
(tocopherol equivalents)
1 pecan nuts not
failsafe
2 mexican red beans 14,920 failsafe
3 red kidney beans 14,412
failsafe
5 pinto beans 12,358
failsafe
11 black beans
8,040 failsafe
17 black-eyed peas
4,342 failsafe
18 red delicious apples 4,257
moderate in salicylates
Research shows that
antioxidants such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C and betacarotene in supplements do
not have the same beneficial properties as whole fruit and vegetables. More information:
Lisa Melton, The Antioxidant Myth, New Scientist,
Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour –
the DVD
Thanks to everyone who
has emailed to say how useful and entertaining Sue’s new DVD has proven. Many people are buying
it for their schools as a resource, daycare centres
lend it to parents, schools use it to teach children and lend it to parents,
parents lend it to educate their doctor, mothers lend it to their less-than
supportive parents-in-law, kids enjoy it more than a book….you can buy it
through the website, or order from any Angus & Robertson’s bookstore, or
Australia Online Bookstore http://www.bookworm.com.au,
Capers Bookstore http://www.capersbookstore.com.au,
some Dymocks Bookstores, Informed Voice Magazine http://www.informedvoice.com.au,
Learning Connections http://www.learningconnections.com.au,
and many more places. An NTSC version (for
|
Research |
Reversibility of the
effects of additives
It has
generally been thought that adverse effects of food additives are reversible.
Now Japanese doctors have reported the case of a five year old girl who
developed multiple chemical sensitivity after an initial severe reaction to
brilliant blue (133) and tartrazine (102) artificial colours in sweets and
repeated exposure to food additives in foods and medication. Doctors commented
that azo dyes in foods and drugs might play important roles as elicitors of
paediatric MCS. Naoko Inomata and others, Multiple chemical sensitivities
following intolerance to azo dye in sweets in a 5-year-old girl, Allergology
International. 2006; 55(2):203-205. Free full text http://ai.jsaweb.jp/fulltext/055020203/055020203_index.html
Changes in what children
eat
It’s
official, what children eat is changing dramatically and at an increasingly
rapid pace. Especially in the
Australian children
targeted
Researchers
concluded that Australian children need protection from the targeted promotion of
unhealthy foods on television after finding that the average Australian child
watches more than 4000 TV advertisements a year for unhealthy foods high in fat
and or sugar. Neville and others, Food advertising on Australian television:
the extent of children's exposure, Health Promot Int, 2005 20(2):105-12, free
full text http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/20/2/105
Diet not working as well as you'd hoped?
One tiny mistake can make a huge difference. For
fine-tuning, see the Checklist of common mistakes. Readers tell us
this list is very useful.
|
In brief |
Looking for
a school fundraiser? The perfect school fundraiser and it’s not chocolate (or any
unhealthy product) www.betterworldhealth.com.au.
And 50% of the profits go to natural health and education initiatives for young
children.
Want to
comment on failsafe? Remedyfind is an international and unbiased site (not sponsored by
any drug companies etc.) that lets individuals rate the effectiveness of the
treatments they have used for specific health conditions. They have asked for more ratings of failsafe
from parents who are using it with their children. The site is free and members
can be as anonymous as they would like.
ADD/ADHD http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=5041>http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=5041
Asthma http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=6831>http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=6831
Autism Spectrum
Disorders
http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=6885>http://www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp?id=6885
Iodine
intake of children A national study of Australian schoolchildren aged 8-10 years has
found that there is an inadequate iodine intake in the Australian population http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=1&newsstoryid=904
Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome stories? Alex is compiling a book of recovery stories to give hope
and ideas to help themselves to people with CFS who are still sick. If you want your story heard, email him at alex.barton@tiscali.co.uk. He’d
love to hear from you.
Sainsbury’s UK
Supermarkets will phase out use of the bread preservative calcium
propionate (282) in their Kids range by year’s end, as part of their re-defined
brand standards which “include significantly tighter restrictions on the
ingredients and additives which are permitted to be used in Sainsbury's food
and drink”. The tide is turning.
If governments won’t do it, people power will - while food regulators
dither, European consumers are saying no-nyet-non-nein
to artificial additives in droves and the market for natural colourings is
booming, more details from http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/2768/Nothing_to_declare.html
|
Now targeting… We team up with Western Australian-based www.additivealert.com.au to target a different additive in each newsletter. |
Get
Smarties Campaign - Nestle
want complaints? We’ll give them complaints! You can
contact Nestle
By email: www.nestle.com.au click on Contact Us, By phone 1800 025 361, By mail: Consumer Services
Department, GPO Box 4320, Sydney NSW 2001.
If
you’ve already helped with Smarties, consider post/emailing a
submission on the labelling of antioxidants. Here is a draft letter you can
use: add your own health, behaviour and learning experiences, or the foods and
labelling that that trip you up: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/Antioxidant%20letter.htm
|
Readers' stories |
We are starting a Courage Award
for the best story in each Newsletter, with the prize being a copy of the DVD “Fed
Up with Children’s Behaviour”. Here is the inaugural winner, showing how one
person can make a big difference:
[438] I have well and truly got their attention now (August
2006)
Maybe as parents we should
take our children into these places, give them the harmful products and walk
out and say see what happens and good luck.
Then they might start listening. I did this to my son's school recently
after they thought I was a mother overreacting to my son taking part in morning
tea that was brought in by other students in the class. The Principal actually commented that
"you need to let your children have a bit of fun in their
lives". So I decided to let him
join in the fun!
They got the shock of their
lives when they saw the reaction they got in my son. His teacher made a comment to me that she was
shocked at the change it caused in him.
He was totally uncontrollable. I
said "yes, I am not a mean mum just a caring one". She then said that she had discussed it with
the Principal and they know that I am trying with him. It's amazing how they change their mind when
you show them. Unfortunately he had to get into trouble to get their
attention. But I think I have well and
truly got their attention now - Tania
from WA
[453] One liners (August 2006)
Our 6 year old son’s
urticaria and rhinitis have improved dramatically by avoiding cats and
dustmites (for allergies) and additives annatto 160b and flavour enhancers
621-635. He is now starting to feel better, sleeping better and behaving better
(previously we were told it was ADHD but I have my doubts now).
It is great to see that
food intolerance and other chemical sensitivities are now getting recognition -
I have spent a lot of time and energy explaining to people why I can't eat
certain foods or why certain smells (paint, new carpet, nail polish) cause
nausea and sometimes cause an asthmatic reaction.
Our dietician has already
cleared one thing up for me - why I often find my throat closing up when eating
peppermints. I had no idea that it would be a salicylate issue.
An added benefit of this
plainer diet is that their tastebuds have become accustomed and now they
actually eat vegies etc more than they ever used to because they don't taste so
bad compared to everything else (previously highly salted and flavoured) on
their plates.
Since failing her amine
challenge three months ago my six year old daughter has had no more amines, and
no more snotty or blocked nose, nasal sprays, nightmares, sore tummy, teeth
grinding, sore legs or nail biting - and her nails are growing for the first
time in her life.
Your DVD opened the eyes of
my family and my son's school teachers! It's really well put together, and my
son was excited to be able to take a DVD to school to show his class all about
his food! - Karena, Tas.
Without your information
about diet, my family would have been torn apart, purely because of the
behaviour of our five year old son. He is now a pleasant person to have around
- most of the time. My husband and I are also much calmer and handle our
children in a far nicer way than we did previously.
I look forward to your
newsletter - keep up the good work and there are more and more of us sounding
the warning bell.
Food additives are a big
issue with consumers and getting bigger all the time. – excerpt from an email
from a failsafer to a food manufacturer – thanks to Helen.
[452] One liners 2 (August 2006)
I let my 7 year old eat as
many dried apricots as he wanted for the sulphites challenge because he’s
definitely not salicylate sensitive - he ate 10 (little) whole apricots
yesterday and said it was a bit hard to breathe even thought he has no known
asthma problem.
Last night my son had 3
night terrors close together, where he screams and his legs cramp and he
twitches. I phoned his day care as he
spoke about eating glue. I found out it
was a thing the school calls 'gloop' to tailor fine motor skills. It is made with flour, water and (yesterday)
green food colouring.
I am another recent convert
- my almost 5 year old was always difficult in terms of behaviour and the term oppositional
defiance describes her well - when we cut out preservatives after seeing you on
TV last year she improved heaps (no more threats of violence). Since then I have borrowed one of your books
and now we don't touch flavours, colours or preservatives, WOW what a
difference - I will most likely do the elimination diet in the near future to
pinpoint other possible issues like salicylates etc.
Positive symptoms I've
noticed since we started our elimination diet include that we all seem to eat
less ... and less frequently. The children seem to be more or less satisfied
with 3 meals and the odd snack. We’ve also gone from three wet beds a night to
none most days so I figure the extra time I spend in preparing food is time I
don't any longer spend in the laundry - a very fair trade!
Thanks for your time, Sue.
I really appreciate the hours you have put into this to make it so much easier
for people like me. I've seen such a huge improvement in my (I suspect ADHD)
son. It's lovely to see him a happy, coping little boy. You and yours have been
a great blessing to our family.
I noticed a dog food
advertisement on TV recently stating "no added flavours or colours"
for the health of your dog - if they do it for DOGS why not people??
[451] Severe eczema and cradlecap in a fully breastfed baby
(August 2006)
My two and a half year old
daughter has had severe eczema and cradle cap since she was a few months old, I
never made the connection between the eczema and food allergy because she
wasn’t even on solids when we first noticed the eczema. She was fully breastfed
and I am embarrassed to admit that it didn’t occur to me that what I ate may be
causing the rash! I had her to the doctor plenty of times over her first two
years and came away with all sorts of creams and lotions, but nothing that
worked. (Mind you the doctor never once suggested food allergy either!)
Anyway six months ago she
had an allergic reaction to peanut butter, we took her to an allergist who
performed skin prick tests and not only is she anaphylactic to peanuts but also
allergic to egg and tomato. We eliminated all nuts and egg and tomato from her
diet and whilst she improved and her cradle cap went, her skin still didn’t
clear up. She still scratched a lot (mostly at night), got allergic shiners
under her eyes, and always seemed to have a slight cough and a clear runny
nose.
I recently got hold of Fed
Up with the idea of doing the elimination diet then slowly introducing things
back in to see what else may be causing her eczema. I am pleased to tell you
that the eczema is now completely cleared up along with all the other symptoms
simply due to avoiding all preservatives.
Before going fully failsafe
we eliminated all those nasties from our diets and what a difference it has
made! I just want to say thank you for what you do and for making it so much
easier for parents like me, who 18 months ago had no idea what 160b or 282 were
and thought I was giving my children healthy food with their yoghurt and cheese
spread etc. I almost look at my daughter’s anaphylactic allergy to peanuts a
blessing in disguise, because if not for that I never would have investigated
food allergies and would still be obliviously feeding my family all sorts of
nasty things.
[450] Mostly failsafe at boarding school (August 2006)
Our eldest started boarding
school this year and it has been both awful and wonderful. Tina is affected
behaviourally by foods. Have you read the 'Animorphs' series of books for kids?
Well there is a little creature called a 'yerk' that takes over people’s brains
and that is how Tina describes it when she is not failsafe. It is scary for
her.
Boarding school has been
hell and she has been miserable, but by term 3 the staff started to take us
seriously that the behaviour, social and academic problems would virtually go
away if we could remove problem foods from her diet. The school counsellor is
very supportive and suggested I cook cakes and biscuits to be kept in the
freezer in the kitchen for her to pack her own morning teas and snacks. They
are buying additive free bread for her and keeping vanilla yoghurt. When they
have a roast they freeze slices of meat (not pork) for her lunches. One day
they ran out and boiled eggs up just for her. She just leaves the main queue
and goes to a different door and they help her. They have also purchased pats
of pure butter instead of margarine. Her diet is not pure failsafe but it's
heaps better and now she is so much happier. If boarding school doesn’t work
out this year, she can do Distance Education next year. – by email, Qld
[contact confoodnet@ozemail.com.au
for the name of the boarding school].
[449] 635: Severe rash due to 635, we didn’t realize until
we saw it on TV (August 2006)
My seven year old son
recently developed a severe rash that covered all parts of his body after he
had tried salt and vinegar chips for the first time. However we did not realise
this until we saw you on Today Tonight and realised he had never had these
chips before. When the rash had almost gone (it was completely covering his
back, stomach and groin) he went to his nannas and had Arnotts chicken crimpy
and crispy bacon biscuits (which we now know contain 635). He came home covered
in a severe rash this time on his legs. He was scratching it so badly that he
made his legs bleed.
I was going crazy trying to
figure out what was causing it until I saw your segment. I am very grateful to
you for solving this problem for me as the medication was getting expensive and
I was getting nowhere with the doctors. On the first visit for the initial rash
I was told he had hives and given two types of medication that didn’t work so we
went back. Then we were told he had eczema and we were given a different
medication. This one was working until he had the chicken crimpys and the rash
came back in a different area.
[448] 282: Identical twins react differently to bread
preservative 282 (August 2006)
Since food intolerance runs in families, I would expect
identical twins to be affected by the same food chemicals, so when this mother
wrote about the reaction of a twin to the bread preservative, I asked whether
the other twin was affected. You can see her answer below. This is an excellent
illustration of how parents are more likely to identify behavioural reactions
to food chemicals and to miss other types of reactions. Yet usually if one
member of the family is affected, others will be affected in different ways.
I am the mother of
identical twin girls aged three and a half. I have discovered that one of my
twin girls reacts violently to the preservative 282 in bread and since my girls
were 18mths old have been purchasing bread through Baker Delight with great
success. Recently for the first time in two years she was eating preservative
bread on holiday and went off her head. Screaming,
tantrums, the whole nine yards so to speak … later … When you asked does my
other girl react differently, I really had to sit down and think about this
one. Yes I suppose she does. It seems to me that her ability to hold her
bladder disappears while being affected by 282, that is, she says she needs to
go pee, then her pants are wet. Off 282 for a few weeks, mentions she needs to
pee in the middle of grocery shopping, I have time to quickly finish off shop
then get trolley through the checkout and then get to toilet. A big difference.
At home now she will need to go, but can keep playing for about 2 – 5 minutes
whereas if she is eating 282 and needs to pee, she will pee on floor on the way
to bathroom. – by email.
[447] ‘Fear of the dark’ really a food reaction (August
2006)
We started the diet nearly
a year ago for my son, a sweet 5 year old who would become an aggressive,
extremely hyperactive and an emotional monster nearly every day. I saw you on A
Current Affair and after taking muesli bars and sultanas (which I had thought
were healthy) out of his diet I noticed most of his aggressive behaviour
disappear.
After that we started the
full diet and not only did our son become an angel, we noticed that our
daughter was a very strong amine reactor, becoming uncontrollably emotional,
depressed and ‘full on’, as well as having frequent nightmares and bedwetting.
Unfortunately since we have moved 2 months ago our son has gone backwards fast,
I now think as a result of amines in meat from new butchers. It is so upsetting
to see all the progress disappear, and he has had HUGE problems at school this
term. I have traveled back to our old butchers to stock up on meat and am
started to see some improvement after one week.
The biggest shock for me
however, was when I recently discovered I was a food reactor!! I was a junk
food addict and would eat about 5kg of chocolate a week. I can’t believe now I
had so many symptoms, and I never even put them together as symptoms, let alone
found the source of the problem! I was getting migraines, I constantly had a
headache behind my eyes, I felt very faint and disoriented, had stomach pains
that felt like needles - usually after eating lollies, and I was always bloated
- something which really upset me.
The weirdest thing to
attribute to food however was my extreme ‘fear of the dark’ as I called it. I
would be terribly scared of the dark, I would think that my mind thought it
could see little people and things out of the corner of my eye, even though I
knew they weren’t there, I would open my eyes every 10 seconds while trying to
get to sleep, just to check if there were monsters or robbers there, and every
time I closed my eyes all I could picture in my head was horrible things that
would scare me. I was a bit worried I was starting to go crazy, then I stopped
eating chocolate and didn’t even notice all these symptoms disappeared.
It wasn’t until I splurged
on a whole chocolate cake over two nights that I discovered what had caused
these problems. After eating the cake I was completely on edge. I couldn’t sit
down for ten seconds without turning around to make sure there were no monsters
or robbers behind me. Eventually I had to sit with my back to the wall so I
wouldn’t think there were things behind me. That was the last time I ate
chocolate, and the thought of ever eating it again scares me! – by email.
[446] The 12 days of salicylates (August 2006)
This is the diary of a salicylate food challenge with a five
year old boy who suffered from two different kinds of effects, behaviour and
rash. Note that effects can be delayed, build up slowly and fluctuate.
Behavioural reactions are likely to occur and resolve more quickly than rash.
Behavioural symptoms can depend on what is happening around the child. Food chemicals can cause irritability
resulting in tantrums when children don’t get their own way and good behaviour
when they do.
Day 1 – No reaction
Day 2 - Tantrum, kicking,
punching (wanted more peppermints)
Day 3 - Punched a peer’s arm at kindy
Day 4 - Itchy rash appeared on inside of elbow
Day 5 - Well behaved
Day 6 - Red blotches and
pimples all over lower half of face, tantrum, screaming and hitting me (didn't
want photo taken)
Day 7 - More blotchy and
spotty, face sore and raw. (End of
challenge foods)
Day 8 - Wet bed
Day 9 - Wet bed, sore
tummy, sore red anus, constipated
Day10 -Wet bed, kindy
complained of very small attention span, loss of concentration.
Day11 - Face clearing, no
wet bed, generally seems to be getting better
Day12 - wet bed again.
[445] I wanted to hurt my son because he was driving me nuts
(August 2006)
I have started my two year
old boy on an additive free diet and I can’t believe the change in him. I had come to a point where I wanted to hurt
my son because he was driving me nuts. I hadn’t a clue what from till a friend
said try this diet and I’m so thankful to that friend for showing me the light
in raising a great son who I now enjoy.
It’s still hard at times as we still need training in what he can and
can’t have but now I know what sends him so silly and don't blame him for being
a pain.
I have always watched what
he was eating and thought he was eating all the right foods. How wrong I was.
When I starting looking at what was in food I was shocked to see that all the
foods he loved were really bad for him.
I have taken him off
additives, we now do lots of baking and making foods from scratch and I watch
the amount of fruit he has and what sort. He is great and loves bananas and
when we go to the shop instead of asking for junk he will say mum can I have a
banana. All I can say is thanks for making my son normal. – by email.
[444] 635: 'Knotting' in the oesophagus due to 635 (August
2006)
Another disturbing symptom
due to 635 that has only accompanied the rash twice is a very strong sensation
of 'knotting' in my oesophagus. It's similar to the feeling of eating a lot of
food too quickly and having to wait for it to travel down. It comes in waves,
like contractions, and I wonder whether it is the peristalsis of my oesophagus
firing unnecessarily. It has woken me from sleep on both occasions and I find
that it responds to taking an antihistamine. - by email.
[443] 635: Spasms of the oesophagus due to 635 (August 2006)
On occasions my tongue
would swell and my eyelids would swell up and I couldn’t figure out what it
was. I’d been to doctors and a naturopath and I was still getting it, and then
I read an article in the Sunday Sun, and it was all my symptoms on 635 and that
the reactions would take 48 hours or so to come out. I thought “that sounds
like me”, so I eliminated them from my diet, and then I ate them again, and
within two or three days the reaction came out, so I stopped it again, and to
be sure, I ate it again, just to see what would happen, and it came out again,
but I also get what I was told was spasms of the oesophagus. I started off
thinking I was getting indigestion, and it would just pull really tight across
my chest. It would last for hours, and I thought I was dying. - verbal report
after presentation.
[442] Thoughts from a 12 year old failsafer (August 2006)
I have been on the diet for
nearly 4 years. It has helped me a lot because when I was eight I was really
naughty such as screaming all the time and hitting people and hitting my head
on the wall. It felt so bad but now I am on the diet I feel so much better - I
don't get headaches or pains in my side and feel sick in the stomach all the
time. When I first found out about the diet and Learning Connections explained
why I was acting and feeling the way I did I was so happy - happy that it
wasn't me that was naughty or bad inside - it was the food I was eating. I
can't eat takeaways now but I don't mind because my mum cooks nuggets and
chips. I used to be sad that I couldn't eat my favourite fruit but I am used to
it now. I haven’t been able to eat lollies that other people can eat but mum
cooks me lollies ... [mum does the smashi lollies ... see www.smashi.com] – from Qld
MORE READERS' STORIES on the website
|
Product updates |
Plain toothpaste has been an issue over
the past few months. Both brands now available contains a benzoate
preservative, otherwise they get a "serious furry mould" within 6
months. The amount is very small (about 0.15%) so if it is not swallowed then
you should not get more than you will be getting by eating, say, some raw
celery. We recommend Soul Pattinsons Plain toothpaste (at their pharmacies in
New vintage persimmon wine has been very popular. Plastic
reusable stoppers mean that no sulphites come with the corks. Our testing shows
no detectable sulphites at all (<10ppm). We can’t guarantee it’s low in salicylates and amines, but it’s much better
tolerated than grape wine. Failsafers say: ‘it’s not like grape wine, but it’s
nice to have a bottle of wine on the table – whisky’s not the same’; ‘it
doesn’t make me feel awful the next morning, like wine normally does’; ‘great
to make a stirfry more tasty’; ‘I like it diluted with soda water’. From the
Waterfall Way Winery,
Woolworths Bakery
Croissant Mini 10pk
(bought at Mirrabooka Square Shopping Centre WA) are failsafe: Wheat Flour,
Water, Butter (milk fat, water, milk solids, colour (160A), Yeast Wheat, Gluten,
Sugar, Soy Flour, Emulsifiers (472E, 481), Mineral Salt (170), Food Acid
(270,260,300), Firming Agent (616), Enzyme, Vitamin (Thiamine) “I’m so used to
baked goods not being failsafe that I thought it was amazing to see this one” –
thanks to Larissa
White Rabbit lollies from Chinese supermarkets, imported
by Vihenthi Co P/L of
Dried fruit from
Woolworths: Lion of Sahara Crispy Fruit is freeze dried mango (contains salicylates) and banana
(contains amines) free from sulphites and other preservatives in the dried
fruit section of Woolworths, BUT make sure that you get the freeze-dried
product, as their ordinary product contains sulphites! The dried bananas are good for amine
challenge or people who have passed their amine challenge. If you would like to
see this company doing dried pears with no added flavour, email sara@fmpmarketing.com.au
Pears in syrup Coles have just introduced their
own brand of pears in syrup. Thanks to Jennifer Berthold
Organic icecream in Coles:
Pure Chill is the
least of all the evils as far as icecreams are concerned, just the simple
ingredients you would use if making it at home and all organic. Available from
Coles http://www.foodaustraliadist.com.au/
(contains dairy and egg) – thanks to Diane
***Warning*** Vanilla
fruche now contains
annatto 160b so is no longer failsafe, thanks to Lesley.
***Warning*** Gran’s fudge now includes antioxidant (320) and
preservative 202 in the margarine, not failsafe. Thanks to Cathy
***Warning*** IGA
homebrand canola oil
now has 319 and 320, not failsafe. – thanks to Jenny
Ravlic
***Warning*** Ritz
Original biscuits and Ritz Sticks now contain 319 as the antioxidant due to a change of
manufacturing plant. You can contact the manufacturers to complain http://www.kraft.com.au/nabisco/
thanks to Jenny Ravlic (Jenny runs failsafe shopping tours with Kathleen
Daalmeyer in
Vitamin and mineral
supplements. Some
dietitians are now recommending Elevit pregnancy supplements (half dose for
children) as these are free from additives and herbs and easy to divide, see http://www.elevit.com.au/im-a-new-mum/faqs.asp.
Thanks to Anne Hurman
Vitasoy BHA-free
ricemilks. Vitasoy
regular ricemilk is BHA free if the best by date is 24/03/07 or later; for the
protein enriched ricemilk and all other Vitasoy products the best by date is
21/01/07, but note that Vitasoy ricemilks
are failsafe but soymilks are not because they contains raw sugar. Thanks to
Nicola Avery and Rebecca.
Soy icecream. Fruccio soy icecream (without
annatto 160b) has been deleted and will no longer be sold in
Butcher in Hornsby NSW: Tender Value Meats,12 Florence St
Hornsby N.S.W Ph 9987 4028 sells organic chicken whole or in pieces and has a
few failsafe customers so will make up sausages for you using whatever
ingredients you can have. “My son’s favourite is the chicken, pear and golden
syrup. It has been fantastic to have someone so supportive and willing to go
out of their way to help and my son doesn’t feel as though he is missing out on
everything”. – thanks to Mia Park
Butcher in Grafton NSW: Dean and Jackie at Red Bull
Butchery,
Butcher at Blacktown NSW: Westpoint Peter’s Meats at will make
sausages with mince and sausage casing, charging only the price of the mince they
use, you just need to ring ahead to let them know what you want, thanks to
Jennifer Berthold (Jennifer has her own failsafe blogsite http://www.scrapratdesigns.netfirms.com/blog/failsafe_blog.htm
Butcher in Townsville: makes beef and chicken gluten free/
preservative free sausages using the ingredients in your failsafe sausages: A
Mays Inn Meats,
Beef direct from the
producer at a fair price. Honestbeef will ship, initially to
the eastern seaboard of
Organic meats including
nitrate free bacon and ham in
Bakery in Strathalbyn, SA:
Pestkas use the Laucke flour mix, so the plain
breads are failsafe. Thanks to Helen Sweet
Rice Bran Oil appears to suit a lot of failsafers
but people who know they are intolerant to brans and wholemeal products should
be cautious due to the following reader feedback: “I have tried the Rice Bran
Oil by Alpha and I thought it was Ok at first.
I had been using it for about two weeks when I noticed that my two kids and
myself were unusually more irritable and angry - it was at my husband's
suggestion (not fully failsafe but very supportive) that it might be the Rice
Bran Oil causing this. He knew we all
reacted badly to a switch over to Baker's Delight Wholemeal Bread (instead of
White) and said that the "Bran" might be causing the same
reaction. At his darling suggestion I
stopped using the Rice Bran Oil and within a couple of days we were right as
rain again.” – thanks to Lisa
**Caution**SO GOOD Soymilk with ‘fresh new taste’ now contains
added ‘natural flavour’ so we asked for reader feedback: “I was able to isolate
my reaction to this product as I still had some of the earlier formulation and
when I used that the symptoms eased or disappeared”. We now recommend Pure Harvest. Thanks to Merryn
Personal care products: Earthsentials base products www.earthsentials.com are free from
fragrances • Beauty & the Bees products www.beebeauty.com
unscented lip balm and shampoo bar also available at Biome or the Soap Kitchen,
see next • Biome Living www.biome.com.au
Shop 4 / 2 Latrobe Tce Paddington Qld, 07 3368 3009 for a range of fragrance
free and environmentally-friendly products including Logona henna Hair Colours
• Soap Kitchen www.soapkitchen.com.au
15 / 572 King Street Newtown NSW, 02 9516 0018 for a range of fragrance free and
environmentally-friendly products including unflavoured Weleda Salt Toothpaste,
Logona Henna Hair Colours, Redgums soaps, Miessence
Aroma Free deodorant • Golden Glow www.goldenglow.com.au
or 1300 36 36 56 Ecover washing & cleaning range and cheapest Miessence
Aroma Free deodorant – thanks to Kyria
Feminine hygiene: alternatives to disposable pads
include the Diva Cup which is made of silicone and reusable www.divacup.com and cloth pads from
WAHMs www.bestforbaby.com.au.Thanks to Cas
Laundry detergent: new Dynamo free is unscented,
thanks to Gail
Check out the Product Updates page on the website for
latest information.
|
Your questions: |
Q: I see there have been food
recalls and publicity in
A: If
a change is made in international specifications for an additive, which usually
takes years through a committee known as JECFA, then the new specification will
be picked up when the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code is amended
and updated.. For instance, the permitted level of lead in sunset yellow (110)
has just been reduced from 10 to 2 mg/kg. Not that any of us are eating such
stuff.
Q: I have found a commercial
bread, at a good price, made of unbleached flour but it contains 282. The ones
I can find without 282 contain bleached flour. What is your opinion - which is
worse ?
A:
282 is worse. The Bread Research Institute in
Q. For at least 2 years now I
have constantly suffered from reflux and could never work out what was the
common ingredient. After seeing the 635 TV segment I found that 635 was a
common element in the foods in our cupboard. As an experiment I stopped eating
foods that contained it and after two days the reflux disappeared. About three
weeks later I suffered another bout of bad reflux and looked at what had
changed. That night I had eaten some BBQ chips that contained, you guessed it,
635. Are there other people for whom 635 has had this effect?
A.
Yes! People react differently to food chemicals so any food chemical can cause
any reaction. While 635 is often associated with itchy rashes, it can also be
associated with any other food intolerance symptoms including reflux and
children’s behaviour. On our DVD, one woman talks about itchy rashes, swelling
of the lips and tongue and extremely painful spasms of the oesophagus due to
635. “I thought I was going to die,“ she says. Although food regulators claim
consumers are protected by food additive labelling, in our experience both
consumers and their health care providers are usually unaware of the effects of
food additives, resulting in years of unnecessary pain and medication.
Q. Is it possible that a fish
oil supplement could have caused an increase in my Aspergers son’s behaviour
problems? It may purely coincidence but it appears that his behaviour seriously
deteriorated when we started giving him the fish oil and it improved (or rather
went back to what it was before the fish oil) a couple of days after we stopped
giving it to him.
A. Fish oil is thought to benefit about 30 per cent of
children with learning or behaviour problems. Others can be badly affected due
to the presence of natural salicylates (in ingredients such as thyme oil, evening
primrose oil and lemon or lime flavouring) and natural amines in fish oils.
Failsafers have reported adverse reactions including behaviour problems,
depression and migraines to a range of fish oil products. See below for reader
reports regarding children's reactions. Some families do a fish oil challenge
for a week or more while keeping a careful food and symptom dairy - at the end
of the time, parents can review the diary and decide whether their child is
better or worse. For more details and reader reports regarding fish oil’s
claims to be salicylate and amine free, and some children's reactions, see the
new factsheet: Fish oils, Vitamins and Vegetables.
Q. With depression etc at
record highs, I’m just wondering if anyone has done a study on tartrazine
(colour 102) and its effects on emotions, more specifically, depression. I have been challenging things from my seven
year old daughter’s diet. Yesterday we had some fruit mentos and afterwards she
was teary, her eyes were purple and red and blotchy. As for me I felt suddenly stressed and angry.
This lasted about 1/2 hour for me and about 1 hour for her.
A.
The link between food chemicals and depression is generally not recognized by
the medical profession, and there is only a little research about it, see the Depression factsheet on our website
and also the Sleep Disturbance factsheet.
Most of the studies on food colours have concerned hyperactivity but food
chemicals including artificial colours and salicylates can affect people in
different ways. Some children may become hyperactive, loud or aggressive after
exposure to artificial colours or salicylates while others may become quiet,
inattentive, tearful or anxious. Effects of food chemicals can change with age,
so that children who react with hyperactivity in primary school may react with
depression in high school. If they are eating food chemicals that affect them
all the time, the condition will appear to be chronic as reported in the Parker
and Watkins 2003 paper described in the depression factsheet. This issue is so
overlooked that medications for depression are coloured with artificial
colours!
Q. My sister says I should
take my kids to Advanced Allergy Elimination (AAE) to get them desensitized.
Can you tell me if that works?
A. There
is no scientific basis for AAE and it can be very expensive. Some people say it
has helped them. Others say it hasn’t.
Q. Is home brand OK for soy drink, wheat bix,
rice bubbles and 2 minute noodles (the ingredients say wheat flour, vegetable
oil (palm) water and salt?
A.
Read the labels carefully. Some home brand products are OK but if you buy a
product that contains any vegetable oil (that includes 2 minute noodles or soy drink), it probably
contains unlisted antioxidants like BHA (320) in the vegetable oil. It is
impossible for us to get accurate information about legally unlisted
antioxidants in vegetable oils in homebrand products so we don’t recommend
them.
Q. We have been through the
RPA elimination diet but my three year old did not fit the mould. She has major reactions to anything orange or
yellow such as corn, pumpkin, apricots, citrus fruits, pineapple, egg, etc Her reactions occur almost instantly at the
slightest amount of any of the above – there is no build up. It is enough to use the same spoon to serve
peas as carrots to give her a reaction.
A. I
can’t find anything in the medical literature about allergy or intolerance to
beta-carotene but you are not the first to report this problem. I would like to
hear from anyone else who thinks they may have a sensitivity to this food
chemical. (email confoodnet@ozemail.com.au)
Q. My son had a severe
outbreak of hives while taking Robitussin ME for a cough. The doctor was
surprised with the reaction to the Robitussin, but as soon as we discontinued
using the product the hives went away.
A.
This is the second report of severe reactions to Robitussin ME we have
received, so it is worth reporting it - the Adverse Events Medications Hotline
ceased to exist from June 2006, due to lack of funding but the Adverse Drug
Reactions Advisory Committee can be contacted with reports of reactions.
Although this is technically not their role, they are apparently very concerned
about the situation and will take note of any reports. ADRAC phone 1800 044
114.
Q. I saw a dietician but she
seemed quite vague about it and I got a lot more information from your site
than she gave me anyway. I really need to see a good dietician so any
recommendations would be appreciated.
A.
We receive a lot of feedback like this. Our list of supportive dietitians is
available on request from confoodnet@ozemail.com.au.
If you are prepared to travel, ask for one of our miracle workers, a small
group of dietitians who are very experienced and talented. If you see someone
who is less than helpful, please give us the name so we can warn others.
Dietitians in hospitals and community health centres are free, some are
helpful, some are not. There are some good free dietitians on our list. To find
a private dietitian, you can go to the dietitians’ website www.daa.asn.au, click on Find an APD, choose
Allergy and Food Sensitivity (under Area of Practice), and your suburb or state
as your search terms, then look for anyone near you - and let us know what you
think of them! The best way to judge a dietitian is to ask them how many years
experience they have in supervising the RPA elimination diet.
Talking point – punishment for effects of food chemicals?
Should children be punished in some way for behaving
badly after inadvertently eating food chemicals known to affect them including artificial colours, salicylates, amines etc?
Send your opinions to suedengate@ozemail.com.au
Factsheets and support material
New on the website: New Factsheets on Amines, Salicylates, Diet and ADHD, Diet, sleep disturbance and insomnia, Eczema, Fish oils, vitamins and vegetables, and MSG, plus updated stories from readers,
particularly on 635 ribonucleotide flavour enhancers. Plus three new Nasty Food Awards from the
dozens submitted. Network Submission to NICNAS (National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment
Scheme) towards their review “Promoting Safer Chemical Use: Towards better
regulation of chemicals in
Support
There are now 88 support contacts
in over 50 locations in
There are now over 2,500 people in our many support groups. We now recommend failsafebasic for beginners. It is the smallest of the big general groups, You can join by sending an email to failsafebasic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com with subscribe in the subject line.
New local
group for failsafers residing in or near Sydney,
NSW Australia, to discuss where to buy suitable food, provide local information
such as dietitians who supervise the diet and doctors who are sympathetic to
our problems, as well as sharing our stories and successes. You can join by
sending an email to finSYDNEY@yahoogroups.com
with “subscribe” in the subject line.
Talks
Sue will be
giving two local talks in September:
Bellingen
NSW Tuesday 12 September
Lismore
NSW Thursday 14 September
123 Magic and failsafe in