Welcome to Yes/No/Maybe, where we categorize 3 food items by how they fit into our sons’ allergy profile. (Read our allergy statement for more info — it’s not all of the top 8, or a 100% vegan diet, but it’s a little of both with a side of gluten-free.) Generally we’ll focus on the ones that caught us by surprise, or the ones we’ve had to explain to people a lot.
YES: Marshmallows (most commercial varieties)
This one surprised us because we’ve made desserts that use a marshmallow-esque meringue, which of course largely consists of egg whites. But it turns out every marshmallow brand we’ve come across has been egg-free. Now, since this is basically candy we’re talking about, there aren’t really a lot of hard and fast rules about what ingredients it has to contain. If it’s a squishy cluster of sugar, it qualifies. So you should always check. Bust most often, gelatin is used as the stabilizing agent.
The gelatin does mean they aren’t vegan, but there are probably vegan brands out there. Since we aren’t fully committed to a vegan lifestyle, beyond avoiding eggs & dairy, we don’t feel qualified to endorse brands based on their vegan bona fides. But a marshmallow is basically just a bunch of sugar stuck together, and there are plenty of ways to make that happen, so we’re sure there are brands out there for those who avoid animal products completely.
So does that mean Rice Krispie treats are on the menu? Well…
NO: Rice Krispies
This was a less pleasant surprise. Fortunately we read the box carefully, otherwise we could’ve run into a problem.As you’ll know from reading almost any of our recipes, rice is absolutely not a problem for our kids. So what’s the issue?
Malt flavoring. Anywhere you see the word “malt”, you can usually assume “barley malt”. Barley is one of the allergens we need to avoid, and it would present similar problems for those on a gluten-free diet.
Note that maltodextrin, another common food additive, is unrelated. It’s a sweetening and/or binding agent that can be derived from many sources, including both wheat and corn. This means it may or may not be classified as gluten-free depending on its source; however, even when derived from wheat, it usually only causes a reaction in those with an extreme allergy/intolerance.
MAYBE: French Fries
This is one we assumed would fall squarely into the “Yes” category. It’s just potatoes chopped up and fried in oil, then salted — right? In theory, yes; but in practice, you always need to ask. There are many restaurants that coat their fries in some form of wheat flour to add texture, or use a seasoning mix that contains wheat. And many others buy frozen fries from a vendor who does one of the above. That’s especially common at restaurants that don’t specialize in fries, but just offer them somewhere on the menu. And that’s not even getting into the possibility of cross-contamination in the fryer.
However, in case you were wondering, it usually doesn’t matter whether they’re fried in peanut oil. Obviously, consult your doctor, but in most cases the oil is refined enough not to contain the actual allergen from the peanuts. If you’re not sensitive enough to have to worry about the above, or about cross-contamination in the fryer, it definitely makes things easier; there are some big fast-food chains, including Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A, whose fries do not contain gluten. That being said, some locations are bound to be more careful than others, so… it’s always an adventure.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for future editions, when we’ll talk about Cheerios, oatmeal, Chinese food, and more.
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