Yogen Früz Comes to Rochester - and Lots of Other Places

Yogen Früz may be the largest chain of yogurt franchises in the world, with over 1100 stores in 20 countries. And they're expanding like mad.

From their press release:

The Yogen Früz menu is comprised of its signature "Blend It" frozen yogurt offering a combination of low-fat, non-fat or no-sugar-added frozen yogurt with an extensive variety of flash-frozen fresh fruit custom blended for each customer. Yogen Früz also offers their Tart "Top It" soft serve frozen yogurt, a refreshing yogurt with the customers' choice of a wide range of delicious fresh fruit and dry toppings. Other menu selections include yogurt and non-dairy smoothies, as well as a variety of healthy additions and beverages. This contemporary menu design and packaging subtly reinforce the healthy snack brand positioning and point of difference.

A unique ingredient to all Yogen Früz low-fat and non-fat yogurt products as well as the dairy smoothies is that all are packed with Probiotic cultures. Probiotic cultures have been shown to promote a healthy digestive system, improve mineral absorption, fortify the immune system, manage lactose intolerance and even help lower cholesterol. Yogen Früz has more than 17 million live Probiotic cultures per gram compared to as few as 69,000 for other brands, making their great tasting healthy snack alternatives even healthier. In a further market innovation, Yogen Früz maintains an industry leadership position by proudly placing key nutritional information on its menu for everyone to see (calorie and fat content).

Where will you see these new stores?

Yogen Früz plans to open stores in Hawaii, Orange County, Los Angeles, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Chicago, Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami and Upstate New York.

Did you catch that Upstate New York bit? For a rare change, Upstate New York means Rochester. Why do I care? I live here. I've been watching the revived yogurt craze from a distance, wistfully. And now I get to take part.

The first Yogen Früz store in the area will open in Eastview Mall on November 28. Plans are for 15 additional stores to be built in the area.

Fifteen? Fifteen new yogurt stores in Rochester? And 100 in upstate over the next five years? That's what the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

Yogen Früz must think that it's the best and most addictive yogurt in the universe to support that many stores. Admittedly, the chain started in Canada and so they must know the part about the six-month long winters. I'm still flabbergasted.

Check back in five years to see how they do.

Interactive Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Meal Planning Website

Just announced via press release, an interactive website that promises those with our special diet needs not just menus that they can use, but complete grocery lists and shopping plans.

Preparing allergy-friendly meals that are healthy and well balanced is quick and simple thanks to MealPlansWithout.com from Seattle entrepreneur NJ Shelsby. The interactive website takes the stress out of planning, shopping, and cooking wheat free, gluten free and dairy free dinners. With flexibility to fit everyone's unique needs, users can plan meals for the week in 15 minutes, shop once a week, and cook great tasting specialty dinners in about 30 minutes.

"NJ has created one of the most useful websites around," says Angela Pifer, Creator and Owner, Nutrition Northwest, Corp. "I regularly refer my patients to her website for easy to follow healthy recipes. They always return from their experience with glowing reviews."

Meal plan options include:

• Allergy-Friendly - Free of common allergens, such as wheat, dairy, corn, and soy. Most recipes are also gluten free.
• Lighter Fare - Less filling, focuses on veggies, seafood & chicken.
• Healthy Balance - Based on the American Heart Association's® Heart-Healthy Diet guidelines, incorporating lots of whole grains and portion sizing.

Users logging in to MealPlansWithout.com are presented with five completely customizable suggestions for the week. Nights may be switched around, dishes replaced with personal favorites, and portion sizes changed. After tailor fitting the menu to meet each user’s schedule and needs, recipes and shopping lists are automatically updated.

Merging recipe directions into one easy-to-follow set of instructions ensures that a healthy dinner makes it onto the table as quickly as possible. Most dinners are designed to be prepared in 30 minutes or less.

Of course there's a catch. MealPlansWithout.com costs money.

For only $24.95 a month, you get a meal plan every week featuring naturally healthy meals comprised of fresh vegetables and herbs, whole foods, and unrefined grains like millet and quinoa.

There are also allergy-friendly options with recipes that are wheat free and dairy free. Use the plans “as-is” or change them easily to fit your family: move dinners around, pick other dishes from our recipe database, or change serving sizes.

Still, the convenience and guidance might be worth the cost to you. Let me know what you think.

A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Dinner

Those with celiac disease often become lactose intolerant because the disease affects the inner lining of the intestine where lactase is made. Gluten-free dinners usually are good for both groups, therefore, although they might take just a bit of extra attention and planning.

Wendy Cohen takes these issues into account with her article on planning a a full gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner at celiac.com. She's an RN who:

helps others as a Celiac Disease/Gluten Intolerance Educator. I work one on one with people on meal planning, shopping, cooking and dining out gluten-free. I will also work with children who have behavioral issues related to gluten or other food sensitivities. My book "Gluten-Free PORTLAND" is a comprehensive resource guide to the gluten-free diet and is available on my website www.glutenfreechoice.com. My other website is: www.WellBladder.com.

Here are a selection of tips from that article. Go to the link given above for the complete set of advice along with recipes for gluten-free pie crust.

• Most commercially produced turkeys contain gluten in the broth used to inject them full of flavorings, salt, and fat. It is important to avoid eating gluten with your conscientiously prepared meal by choosing a gluten-free turkey as your centerpiece. Check the label and it should say no MSG and no gluten on the front or under the nutrition label on the back.

• Gluten-free stuffing is easy, just buy or make the best gluten-free bread, cube it and dry in a low temperature oven. ... You can also make a wild rice/brown rice and dried cranberry pilaf style stuffing, which can be cooked separately, or used to stuff the bird.

• Use sweet rice flour to replace the traditional wheat flour in thickening gravy. If it's not quite thick enough you can add a little tapioca or potato starch.

• For pumpkin pie, all you really need to do is make a killer pie crust and make sure your filling is dairy free if necessary. You can substitute Earth Balance for regular margarine—it's gluten-free and dairy-free, or if you tolerate dairy products, use butter. Or, you can use oil to make pie crust. ... To replace milk in your pumpkin custard for the pie, there are many options to choose from: rice, soy, almond, hazelnut, or hemp, but for extra richness, try coconut milk—it has a very mild taste and won't overwhelm the pumpkin flavor.

The Vegan Store

An astounding assortment of vegan products of all sorts - not just foods but clothing, cosmetics, gifts, books, and more - can be found at Pangea's Vegan Store.

Since 1995, Pangea Vegan Products has been the premier source of hard-to-find alternatives for vegans and vegetarians. Whether you're a hard-core animal rights activist or a potential new vegetarian, you're sure to find tons of great cruelty-free, animal-friendly choices here. Thanks for stopping by -- shop vegan, buy vegan!

Their dairy alternatives page has a variety of vegan cheeses and even a vegan heavy cream substitute, something I get asked about often and used to be impossible to find.

The Los Angeles Times just featured the store in its pre-holiday gift buying hints, by Lindsey Barrett.

Our favorite item at the Vegan Store (and believe us, we've tried a lot of them) is, without a doubt, the Premium Belgian Chocolates box. This little piece of dairy-free heaven contains a pound of fondant creams, hazelnut truffles, crisped rice pralines and dark chocolate medallions — and we guarantee you, your vegan friends will thank you!



The premium box (shown here) will set you back $31.95 (although Pangea recommends shipping on ice, an added charge); smaller boxes are available starting at $13.95. And if fancy concoctions with the word "fondant" in them don't ring your bell, the Vegan Store also offers truffles, caramels and chocolate-covered cherries.

Shipping is apparently available worldwide but with some conditions:

What about orders outside the USA and Canada? These orders are shipped by the US Postal Service and will take longer to arrive. The shipping cost is based on the package weight and destination. We will email you with shipping costs, and we need approval back from you before we can process and ship out your order. Please note that we are unable to track orders shipped outside the United States. Therefore, although we do keep records of these orders and guarantee that they will be shipped by US Airmail, we cannot accept responsibility for the safe delivery of such orders.

Muscle Milk

Muscle Milk is a high protein drink that comes in powdered and ready-to-drink forms. Even though the ready-to-drink forms and some of its other products are lactose-free, it's called muscle milk because it relies upon a selection of proteins also found in milk, including alpha and beta micellar caseins, alpha-lactalbumin, and lactoferrin.

They issued a press release with details of a reformulation.

Muscle Milk Light Offers Trans-Fat-Free, Sugar-Free, and Lactose-Free Nutrition in a New 100-Calorie Shake


The industry’s premier protein-enhanced beverage slims down! Muscle Milk Light gets even lighter with 100-Calorie Shakes in a new sugar-free, lower in fat formula than original Muscle Milk Light. The new Muscle Milk Light 100-Calorie Shakes provide an excellent source of protein and nutrition making it ideal for convenient on-the-go nutrition.

...

Muscle Milk Light is designed to promote lean muscle growth, fast recovery from exercise and healthy, sustained energy. Lactose-Free, Muscle Milk Light 100-Calorie shakes are available in Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, Mocha Latte, Strawberries ‘n Crème, and Vanilla Crème flavors, and retail for $7.99 per 4 pack at grocery and specialty retailers nationwide.

You can check out their complete range of products at their website.

Lactose-Free Victoria’s Double Pound Cake

Chef Lindsey Williams, the author of NEO SOUL: Taking Soul Food to a Whole 'Nutha Level, lost over 200 pounds after deciding to start eating healthily. He's also taken steps to adapt heirloom recipes from Victoria Rowell for the lactose intolerant.

I've found this recipe on several sites, all of them making a big point of using Lactaid brand lactose-free milk, so I'm presuming it's a promotional recipe that free to disseminate.

Victoria Double Pound Cake
Makes 36 servings

Preparation Time: 15 min.
Bake time: 1 hr to 1 hr 10 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted margarine
• 1/3 cup canola Oil
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup LACTAID® Fat Free Milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. lemon extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat margarine and oil until well blended in a large bowl. Gradually, add sugar and beat until blended.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add LACTAID® Fat Free Milk, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and blend.
5. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
6. Pour into two 9x5-inch loaf pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool on rack 5 minutes, then un-mold and cool on racks for 2 hours.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Serving size: 1/2-inch slice

Total Calories - 160
Calories from Fat - 70
Total Fat - 8g
Saturated Fat - 1.5g
Cholesterol - 25mg
Sodium - 65mg
Total Carbohydrate - 22g
Dietary Fiber - 0g
Sugars - 15g
Protein - 2g
Calcium - 25mg

Exchanges per serving: 1 1/2 Starch, 1 Fat

Gradual Doses of Protein Can Reduce Allergies

Another study has been released with the intriguing finding that exposing children to extremely tiny amounts of milk protein and then gradually increasing the amounts given can result in a better toleration of the protein.

The study, "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of milk oral immunotherapy for cow's milk allergy," by Justin M. Skripak et al. appeared in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 28 October 2008 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2008.09.030

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (2008, October 31). Drinking Milk To Ease Milk Allergy? Oral Immunotherapy Study Shows Promise -- But Do Not Try This At Home. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 5, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/10/081030192851.htm

Giving children with milk allergies increasingly higher doses of milk over time may ease, and even help them completely overcome, their allergic reactions, according to the results of a study led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and conducted jointly with Duke University.

Despite the small number of patients in the trial – 19 – the findings are illuminating and encouraging, investigators say, because this is the first-ever double-blinded and placebo-controlled study of milk immunotherapy.

...

Researchers followed allergic reactions over four months among 19 children with severe and persistent milk allergy, 6 to 17 years of age. Of the 19 patients, 12 received progressively higher doses of milk protein, and seven received placebo. At the beginning of the study, the children were able to tolerate on average only 40 mg (.04 ounces or a quarter of a teaspoon) of milk.

At the end of the four-month study, both groups were given milk powder as a "challenge" to see what dose would cause reaction after the treatment. The children who had been receiving increasingly higher doses of milk protein over a few months were able to tolerate a median dose of 5, 140 mg (over 5 ounces) of milk without having any allergic reaction or with mild symptoms, such as mouth itching and minor abdominal discomfort. Those who had been getting the placebo remained unable to tolerate doses higher than the 40 mg of milk powder without having an allergic reaction. In the group receiving milk protein, the lowest tolerance dose was 2, 540 mg (2.5 ounces) and the highest was 8,140 mg (8 ounces). Lab tests showed the children who regularly drank or ate milk had more antibodies to milk in their blood, yet were able to better tolerate milk than those who took the placebo. Researchers say, tolerance in children treated with milk continued to build over time, and recommend that these children continue to consume milk daily.

Galaxy Rice Cheese Is Lactose-Free

Sometimes I wonder about reporters. Yes, as I say repeatedly, they have to learn a new field every day in order to write articles about it and that's extremely tough to do and get perfect. But when the information is right in front of their eyes, there's no excuse for getting it 100% wrong.

The InsideBayArea.com website reprinted an article by Ellen Kanner of the McClatchy Newspapers on rice-based foods. In it, she said:

Galaxy rice cheese ($3.99, 8 ounces), made with rice flour and rice bran oil, has true cheddar taste but a texture closer to a T-shirt.

If it doesn't have dairy cheese's unctuousness, neither does it have its dietary impact — 70 calories and 4 fat grams vs. 110/9 for dairy cheese. Galaxy rice cheese, it should be noted, is not lactose-free.

How much effort would it have taken to go to the Galaxy website?

Our Rice Brand is an excellent source of calcium without cholesterol, trans fat or lactose. These rice-based products offer delicious cheese flavor in slices, shreds, blocks and more.

Galaxy Rice Brand products have the milk protein casein, which makes them melt and otherwise act like real cow's milk cheese products. That's perfectly safe for those with lactose intolerance. It's those with milk protein allergies who can't have it.

In other words, Kanner mixed up the two main groups of dairy-free consumers and warned off the wrong one. This is a huge mistake.

I know you can't doublecheck everything you read, but a bit of basic research on what newspaper articles say can save you a lot of heartache later on.

Parents Need to be Cautious About CFGF Diet

There is still no new news on the medical front about the effectiveness of using a casein-free, gluten-free (CFGF) diet to help children with autism. The big report that is scheduled to be released by the University of Rochester Medical School has not yet appeared.

The CFGF diet, though, continues to receive more than its share of attention in the popular press, mostly due to the widely publicized efforts of actress Jenny McCarthy, who has published books on helping her children with the diet. See my post Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet for Autistic Children Still Controversial for more details.

Doctors are having to respond to parents' questions and demands because of this, no matter how little they may think of the diet from a medical perspective. Tralee Pearce wrote a fascinating article on this issue for the Toronto Globe and Mail.

A few years ago, when Vancouver autism specialist Vikram Dua faced a parent's query about a trendy alternative therapy for a child, he wasn't the best listener.

"I used to rail against it or argue with parents," he recalls of the discussions about restricted diets or the use of supplements.

The result: He tended not to see those families again. "And it didn't help the kids very much."

Now, Dr. Dua is less combative. He explains that of the more than 1,000 treatments out there, one or two might, indeed, work. He just doesn't know which ones work and for which kids.

...

In her practice, [Wendy Roberts, a developmental pediatrician who specializes in autism at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and at Bloorview Kids Rehab] warns parents that she's never seen diet make a difference in a child who is not among the 20 per cent of autistic children with stomach and digestion issues. And she says the link between these issues and brain function remains unknown.

If parents do want to forge ahead, she advises a very gradual approach, with a huge amount of documentation to chart any changes. And, like most doctors in the field, Dr. Roberts says, she will also emphasize continuing with behavioural therapy.

Some doctors embrace alternative medicine more than others, of course. And these doctors are encouraging the GFCF diet. Even here, though, the good ones use a very careful and cautious approach, with lots of caveats.

Chatham, Ont., pediatrician Wendy Edwards, who has experienced some success with a gluten- and dairy-free diet for her 8-year-old son, says parents considering the diet seek her out or are referred by other doctors who are open to the idea. "Doctors are starting to realize this is becoming huge and you can't just brush it off any more."

But she finds herself managing the expectations of parents thrilled to have found an ally. She is careful to tell parents that their child may not improve on the diet. And like her more conservative peers, she is a firm opponent of chelation therapy (a metal-detoxification process) and oxygen chambers.

And Dr. Edwards warns that temporary improvement doesn't mean a cure. The next developmental stage may trigger a new round of symptoms.

I strongly advise any parents who are considering the GFCF diet to work very closely with their doctors, to chart symptoms and behaviors before as well as after the start of the diet, to be as objective as possible and not see any change as a potential cure, and to expect that time will be needed before any positive effect can be said to be lasting, assuming any appear.

Kishk: A Nondairy "Cheese"

Have you ever heard of kishk? I haven't. But food travel writers stumble upon regional delicacies that in the old days never traveled beyond their regions. With the net, we're all one huge region of interchangeable foods and recipes. That's one for us.

Sandor Ellix Katz wrote Sandorkraut Reports from Terra Madre on HuffingtonPost.com. Terra Madre is "a four-day gathering of 7,000 farmers, fermenters, other food transformers, cooks, and food researchers, teachers, and writers from 154 countries."




Quick bio:

Sandor Ellix Katz, a self-taught fermentation experimentalist, wrote Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods in order to spread the fermentation wisdom he had learned, and demystify home fermentation. Katz has taught hundreds of hands-on fermentation workshops around the U.S. and Australia. He is also the author of The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements from Chelsea Green, 2006. For more information visit, www.chelseagreen.com.

Now, what is kishk?

Beyond milk, I even encountered a gorgeous example of a dairy-free "cheese," Keckek el Fouqara from Lebanon. In Wild Fermentation I included a recipe for kishk, a Lebanese ferment I had read about and learned to make, combining bulgar wheat with yogurt to ferment. But of course no cultural tradition is singular. Keckek el Fouqara is known as "poor man's kishk," and it is an adaptation of the kishk method by those without access to milk. The bulgar is mixed with water and salt and formed into small balls to ferment; the balls are then stored in spiced olive oil for a rich taste sensation far cheesier in flavor than any other vegan cheese I've tried.

Let me know if you try the recipe.

Probiotics Can Help - Sometimes

Probiotics, helpful bacteria added to foods or taken in pill form, are one of the hottest trends in the food world. Of course, like most things in this world that sound good in concept, the reality of the helpfulness of probiotics depend on a million factors.

Eliza Zied, a registered dietitian, is a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and co-author of Feed Your Family Right! and So What Can I Eat?! She wrote an article on probiotics for MSNBC.com trying to separate out hype from reality.

While you don't need probiotics in your diet to be healthy, people with mild digestive concerns, who are taking antibiotics or those who are lactose intolerant might benefit from certain probiotics, studies suggest.

Probiotics can be helpful for specific conditions such as diarrhea, lactose intolerance or Crohn's disease. ...

While studies have shown that doses between approximately 100 million and 1 billion colony forming units (CFUs) are effective for enhancing immune function, decreasing intestinal infections, and improving digestion and bowel function, the amount of probiotics you’ll need to consume to see a real effect will vary among strains. You need to consume a probiotic food every day to get the desired effect and it may take a week or two to experience specific results — such as a decrease in gas or bloating, or a higher tolerance to dairy foods. If after a few weeks you don’t feel results, try another similar product to see if it works any better.

However, probiotics don’t work the same in everyone. Probiotics may be more effective in older people than in younger ones since more mature bellies may have fewer good bacteria. There’s also some evidence that genetic factors — that is, how much good and bad bacteria you have in your gut — can affect your reaction to probiotics.

Only Half of Suspected Food Allergies Real

A fascinating and unusually readable article on food allergies was recently published in the German journal Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. "Food Allergy in Adults: An Over- or Underrated Problem?" by C. S. Seitz, P. Pfeuffer, P. Raith, E. Bröcker, and A. Trautmann, Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105(42): 715-23
DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2008.0715.

An English translation of the article can be found on the journal's website.

They tested 419 patients sent to a clinic because their symptoms indicated a food allergy. However, after extensive testing, only 214 tested positive for an IgE-mediated true allergy.

Background:
10% to 20% of the population sees itself as suffering from food allergy, yet genuine, immune-mediated food allergy is suspected by patients and their physicians far more often than it is actually shown to be present. The unfounded suspicion of an IgE-mediated food allergy can substantially impair a patient's quality of life through needless dietary restriction and the accompanying anxiety. On the other hand, an IgE-mediated food allergy that has gone undiagnosed or that has not been taken seriously can manifest suddenly with anaphylaxis, which may be life-threatening. The present study, carried out on a large cohort of patients, underscores the importance of differentiating IgE-mediated food allergy from other, non-allergic types of food reaction.

Methods:
419 patients that had been referred to our outpatient allergy clinic for suspected food allergies underwent a standardized allergologic diagnostic evaluation, including thorough allergologic history-taking, IgE serology, and challenge tests when indicated.

Results:
214 patients (51.1%) were found to have an IgE-mediated food allergy. Almost half of these patients (24.3% of the overall group) had previously experienced food-induced anaphylaxis. In 205 patients (48.9%), however, an IgE-mediated food allergy was ruled out as far as possible.

Conclusion:
Only a comprehensive allergologic evaluation performed by an experienced allergologist in accordance with current guidelines can protect patients from the negative consequences of excessive concern about a non-existent food allergy (e.g., needless dietary restriction) or, on the other hand, the negative consequences of inadequate attention to a genuine food allergy (anaphylaxis). A proper evaluation consists of detailed allergologic history-taking, skin tests, and challenge tests when indicated.

Other interesting findings not included in the abstract were that a full 97.6% of symptoms manifested within four (4) hours and that positive skin-prick tests had little predictive ability, but negative ones did.

10 of Britain's Best Vegetarian Restaurants

The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom has picked 10 vegetarian restaurants as its award winners for 2008. The Times of London has more info on each restaurant in an article on its website, but here's the listing.

Joint winner: Dandelion & Burdock, Sowerby Bridge
Joint winner: The Waiting Room, Stockton on Tees

The Red Lion, Suffolk, Winner of Best Pub Award
Canteen, Cardiff
Demuths, Bath
Relish, Hebden Bridge
The George, Brighton
The 78, Glasgow
InSpiral Lounge, London
The Bean Inn, Cornwall

Recipes from "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Cooking"

Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano are husband and wife as well as co-authors of"The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Living as well as the recently published The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Cooking



An article by Cheryl Rade in the Eugene, OR, Register-Guard said:

After graduating from culinary school at the University of Akron, Bennett became a baker, but rapidly tired of using eggs and other dairy products in the preparation of baked goods. Shortly thereafter, she opened a natural foods restaurant and felt immediately at home.

"I could finally cook just vegetarian food," she says. "It was fun."

Bennett went on to work in health food stores (including Sundance Natural Foods in Eugene) and later, with the prompting of her husband, began a vegan chef Web site in 1999 (veganchef.com).

That article features several complete recipes from the book, including Red Lentil Bolognese, Teriyaki Tofu Rice Noodles, Teriyaki Stir-Frying and Dipping Sauce, Mini Spinach-Mushroom Quiches, and Mochaccino-Chip Cookies.

Zeroing In On Gluten

An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Zeroing in on Gluten, offers a good basic overview on the subject of celiac disease, the better and more modern name for gluten intolerance.

An estimated 3 million Americans have celiac disease. The medical community doesn't define celiac disease as an allergy but an autoimmune disorder in which nutrients aren't properly absorbed in the small intestine. The culprit is gluten, a variety of grain-based sticky protein found in a vast array of natural and manufactured ingredients and food products -- including wheat, barley and rye flours that provide the tender, elastic texture in that slice of bread.

It is estimated that the condition affects one in every 130 people worldwide, and it is undiagnosed in about 90 percent of Americans who have it.

Normally, nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, which is lined with tiny fingerlike projections called villi. Villi add to the intestine's surface area, increasing its ability to absorb nutrients. But in celiac disease, gluten appears to flatten the villi and damage them, reducing the body's ability to take in nutrients properly. Inflammation of the intestine results.

Celiacs don't only suffer discomfort or serious pain when they consume gluten. The condition can lead to a wide range of symptoms and ailments, says Dr. Lori Mahajan, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.

"When infants and children develop celiac disease, it's typically when solid foods are introduced," she says. "They can exhibit abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, bloating and gassiness. They can test positive for anemia. In older kids, there may be delayed puberty, or elevated liver enzymes, which can be misdiagnosed as hepatitis. Type 1 diabetes can occur."

...

In adults, common symptoms can include abdominal distention -- a "bloated" feeling -- and intestinal discomfort ranging from bouts of flatulence to chronic severe pain. Weight loss can accompany the disease because of the body's inability to absorb nutrients, and fatigue and exhaustion often result.

"If the villi have fallen off the intestinal walls, you can't easily absorb carbohydrates," Mahajan says. Milk sugars become a problem for the patient who becomes lactose intolerant, which can be misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, she says.

Lactitol - Another Nondairy "Lact"

I'm getting a rash of "lact" queries following my posts on Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate and Not all "Lact" Words Are the Same.

Lactitol is a sugar alcohol. It's similar to other sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and maltitol. Those all may sound familiar because they are used as sugar substitutes. It's not just that sugar alcohols are mostly less sweet than sugar or have fewer calories. They don't react in the body the same way that sugar - sucrose - does and so they can be used by diabetics.

The problem with sugar alcohols is that they cause digestive complaints in many people. These may include abdominal pain, gas, and mild to severe diarrhea. Do these also sound familiar? Right. They're exactly the symptoms of lactose intolerance. They're even caused by one of the same mechanisms, the drawing of water into the intestinal tract where it is normally removed.

It's true that lactitol is made from lactose in a process called catalytic hydrogenation. Even so, the amount of lactose present in a sample of lactitol will be extremely tiny at most.

There might by a problem for the most severely allergic because a few micrograms of protein might remain in a sizable serving of lactitol.

The European Food Safety Authority has ruled:

Based on the data submitted, and assuming a lactose content in lactitol of less than 0.2% and a daily intake of lactitol of 10-20g, intolerance reactions due to lactose are unlikely since the intake of lactose would be up to 0.04g which is lower than the dose of 10g generally tolerated in lactose mal-digesters.

The applicant bases the evidence that lactitol preparations do not trigger cow’s milk allergic reactions on analytical data regarding the residual content of the two major milk proteins in lactitol preparations (up to 3.2mg/kg for casein and 9.7mg/kg for lactoglobulin). A double blind placebo controlled food challenge in five cow’s milk allergic children did not show an allergic reaction to lactitol.

Taking into account the data submitted, the Panel considers that it is unlikely that lactitol will cause adverse reactions in lactose intolerant individuals.

Further, taking into account the data submitted, the Panel considers that it is not very likely that lactitol will trigger adverse reactions in cow’s milk allergic individuals under the conditions of use specified by the applicant.

Since a kilogram is 1000 grams and a daily intake of lactitol is given as 10 grams, the amount of protein in an average daily serving of lactitol is therefore 32 micrograms of casein and 97 micrograms for lactoglobulin. These are tiny amounts except for the few individuals for whom even nanograms, 1/1000 the amount of a microgram, are of concern.

Sugar alcohols present a variety of problems and issues that are hard to sort out for any particular individual. You may see digestive complaints whether you are lactose intolerant or not, and you may be perfectly fine either way. Those far out at the end of the bell curve of reactions should probably avoid lactitol, but you'll have to test yourself to see whether any of the other sugar alcohols may affect you.

Call for More Dairy-Free Restaurant Food

Lawrence Kay, the founder of food development consultancy Foodworks in the U.K., warned that:

the number of people living with a food allergy or intolerance will reach 12m by 2010, and chefs will need to adapt their menus accordingly if they don’t want to exclude such a big share of their market.

Quoted in an article by Becky Paskin on BigHospitality.co.uk, Kay had some simple recommendations for restaurants and pubs.

"We should be thinking of offering bread and lactose alternatives, and while I doubt that we will ever be able to guarantee that we can cater for coeliac sufferers we can provide for those simply wishing to reduce their intake," Kay commented. "We put butter and milk in mash potato to make it creamy – put olive oil in and there’s hardly any people who have an intolerance to it."

The dairy-free market in the UK has seen massive growth over the past few years, and is now worth £23m. Sales of gluten free food rose to over £47m.

Spanish Ice Cream - for Dogs

thinkSPAIN.com, an English-language website about Spain, ran this article recently:

A company in Málaga is gearing up for the pre-Christmas launch of its first product - ice-cream for dogs.

Available in a variety of flavours, including vanilla, cream and ham, the product is the first of its type especially developed with dogs in mind.

Technical director, Miguel López, explained that, owing to the facts that dogs, especially adults, find it difficult to digest lactose, this has been mixed with the enzyme, lactase, which reduces lactose intolerance levels (which are 200 times higher in dogs than in humans) by 99%, thus making it "totally suitable for animals."

Mr López also explained that the artificial sweetener, maltitol, has been used instead of sugar to keep the calories down.

Price at around €3 euros for a half-litre

Notice anything odd about this article? The name of the company isn't mentioned. It's not in the part of the article I didn't quote. I can't find it on a Google search with any set of key words. I hope some Spanish reader discovers it and posts a comment to share it with the world.

If you live in the U.S., BTW, you're already able to buy ice cream for your dog. I wrote about Frosty Paws, maker of Ice Cream Sandwiches for Dogs way back in 2006.

Doesn't way back in 2006 seem like a weird thing to read?

Here's How Tiny the Milk Alternative Market Is

It's great being able to walk into a supermarket or health food establishment and find shelves and sections of fairy-free and other specialty food products these days. It sure wasn't like that 30 years when I first learned I was lactose intolerant.

It's kinda hard to appreciative how good we have it today. Few of the alternatives have really great taste. Variety is limited. Most stores don't stock all the flavors. Many companies sell regionally rather than nationally. Those in live in rural areas surely have less availability than those living in large cities.

Our good fortune is relative. And precarious. Although you can't usually tell from the packages of food, the companies that are in the milk alternative industry are mostly somewhere between tiny and on-the-brink. With a recession coming on, or here, or a looming possibility, some of your favorite companies might go under.

I was reminded of this by a stock analyst's report on Lifeway Foods. I've posted about the company several times, most recently in Grab Your Own Frozen Kefir Boutique Franchise.



The analyst is dubious about the company's stock price. I have absolutely no knowledge of whether this is a good evaluation or not. I was more struck about the fuzzy chart that appears about halfway down the page, TABLE I: DAIRY AND HEALTH/FUNCTIONAL FOOD PUBLIC COMPARABLES.

If you blow it up large enough to read, you can see it contains some of the major names in the field, including Hain, Dean, and Tofutti. Dean is the largest company mentioned, and its market cap - the total value of all its stock - is about $3 billion, and that includes many conventional milk companies and products. For comparison, Kraft, the maker of Cool Whip, has a market cap of $60 billion. Nestle's makes Coffeemate and its market cap is about $150 billion.

Tofutti, which has been in the business for 30 years, with good years and bad, and makes nothing but milk alternative products, has a market cap of $12 million. That's $0.012 billion. Kraft could buy Tofutti out of the change in the vending machines at its headquarters.

I hope Tofutti lasts another 30 years, at least. But I wouldn't be a bit surprised to read that any specialty foods company is having serious problems in today's economies. We're a tiny niche market. Those are hurt first and worst.

Don't start to panic yet. But see what alternatives to the alternatives might exist for you, just in case.

Never Read Just the Headline

From NewsOxy.com:

Headline:

Children Food Allergies Soar to 18 Percent

First line of article:

Children food allergies are up 18 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The two numbers say totally different things, and the headline is so wrong that it makes for a perfect example.

What are children's food allergies up to? The article states that:

The CDC estimates that four out of every 100 children suffer from food allergies.

Four out of every 100. That's 4%. Not 18%, not even a quarter of 18%.

If there has been an 18% rise, that means food allergies went from 3.4% to 4.0%. That may be a serious rise, but it still reflects a condition limited to a small percentage of the population.

It's bugs the hell out of me that reporters and editors can't understand enough elementary school math to know when numbers are wrong. And when their ignorance frightens people I call them out on it.

Shame on you all.