Allergy-Friendly Holiday Cookies
Flour, eggs and milk are essential ingredients for baking cookies but that can present a challenge for food allergic cookie monsters. No matter your allergy, and especially if you have "multiples," it's time to meet your match. This guide was published on 12/2016. Editorial note: See our 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Allergy-Friendly Holiday Cookie Guides for more recipes!
Prepare For An Allergy Emergency In 3 Steps
Dr. Christina Ciacco is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Chicago and a faculty member in the Section of Allergy/Immunology. The news of a food allergy-related death shocks us to our core. First and foremost, our hearts break open for those families. The news of anyone losing their life too soon, most recently Oakley Debbs, painfully reminds us of our worst fear. Soon after, we naturally seek to know how it happened in order to ensure it never happens again. Our research shows that the majority of food allergic related deaths have occurred because either the auto-injector was not present or it was not used early enough. These tragic events are invariably accidents but accidents do happen in life and you need to be prepared. A person with a mild allergy should be just as vigilant. According to Dr. Christina Ciacco with the University of Chicago, past reactions are not an indicator of future reactions. So even if prior reactions have been mild, future reactions have the equal potential to be severe. Don't let your guard down. We honor Oakley by promoting awareness. Here is what you need to know.
Spokin’s Favorite Things For Holiday Gifts
Introducing Spokin’s Favorite Things Holiday Gift Guide! We stocked the list with allergy-friendly treats for the foodies, skin and makeup items for the beauty products lover plus teal themed products for everyone else on your list. Explore the full list of items, some with special offers, and happy holidays!
Editorial note: See more of our favorite things in our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide!
Foodie | Fun + Games | Beauty | Jewelry | Cozy | Home + Office | Kitchen | Active | Tech
Managing Multiple Food Allergies
Managing one food allergy can be daunting but managing "multiples" and living a robust life is downright admirable. Jennifer Keller, an active and dedicated mother of 3 young children, generously shares some of her best advice and top picks. Her youngest, Elliott, is allergic to dairy, egg, peanuts and several, but not all, tree nuts. She navigates it all with grace and optimism. A self-proclaimed non-cook, Jennifer manages to safely feed her son and her family's soul.
How to Read a Food Label
Dr. Ruchi Gupta is an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Expert Food Allergy Travel Advice
Shawna Huffman Owen has helped food allergic families navigate travel to destinations around the globe. Although she doesn't personally manage food allergies in her home, almost 50% of her family clients do.
As an owner of Huffman Travel, Shawna is an expert travel advisor that specializes in international family travel. Shawna shares with Spokin how she designs safe travel for food allergic families and lets us all in on some of her best travel tips.
New York City Food Allergy-Friendly City Guide
New York's density and diversity pack a lot in and offers something for everyone, making it one of the most food allergy-friendly cities you can visit. These businesses aren't all allergen-free, but they are experienced with food allergies and have an educated staff, which is why they made our list. You can make it there.
What are food allergies?
Get back to the basics with everything you need to know about the top 9 food allergies.
The Peanut Patch
Behind the scenes shot of Cooper filming about the Peanut Patch for CBS with Mary Kay Kleist Welcome to the third issue of Treatments and Therapies. The two previous issues explored OIT and SLIT, and in this issue, we feature the treatment commonly referred to as The Peanut Patch. DBV Technologies developed The Peanut Patch under their Viaskin® Products line, and it is currently only available to patients enrolled in a clinical trial. We had the opportunity to speak with Brenda Coletto, a Spokin user, whose son Cooper was enrolled in two peanut patch clinical trials. Brenda filled us in on their experience and shared an update on Cooper. Be sure to check out the CBS 2 Chicago feature on Cooper and Brenda
Oral Immunotherapy (OIT)
Welcome to the first in our series featuring food allergy treatments and therapies. Our goal is to keep you informed of treatment options, explain how they work, and and share insights from Spokin users who have first-hand experiences. Spokin recently sat down with Dr. Paul Detjen, one of our top recommended allergists administering Oral Immunotherapy, commonly referred to as OIT, and two parents whose children are undergoing OIT at his practice. Today we are sharing a front row seat to the therapy, the process, and the patient experience.
