The Organic Myth

I'm a bit late getting to this, but I take Business Week magazine out of the library.

The cover story of their Oct. 16, 2006 issue was The Organic Myth by Diane Brady.

In it Brady details the current state of the organic foods market in the United States and in particular the strain that market is under as businesses try to scale up from tiny farms with small outputs to organics being available in every supermarket in the country.

Here are a few excerpts. I've limited them to discussions of organic milk, since it is often used for organic yogurts and people with lactose intolerance are often told to continue to eat yogurt, as a low-lactose and well-tolerated form of dairy product, to continue to get the calcium they need.

Next time you're in the supermarket, stop and take a look at Stonyfield Farm yogurt. With its contented cow and green fields, the yellow container evokes a bucolic existence, telegraphing what we've come to expect from organic food: pure, pesticide-free, locally produced ingredients grown on a small family farm.

So it may come as a surprise that Stonyfield's organic farm is long gone. Its main facility is a state-of-the-art industrial plant just off the airport strip in Londonderry, N.H., where it handles milk from other farms. And consider this: Sometime soon a portion of the milk used to make that organic yogurt may be taken from a chemical-free cow in New Zealand, powdered, and then shipped to the U.S. True, Stonyfield still cleaves to its organic heritage. For Chairman and CEO Gary Hirshberg, though, shipping milk powder 9,000 miles across the planet is the price you pay to conquer the supermarket dairy aisle. "It would be great to get all of our food within a 10-mile radius of our house," he says. "But once you're in organic, you have to source globally."

...

Everyone agrees on the basic definition of organic: food grown without the assistance of man-made chemicals. Four years ago, under pressure from critics fretting that the term "organic" was being misused, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. issued rules. To be certified as organic, companies must eschew most pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, bioengineering, and radiation. But for purists, the philosophy also requires farmers to treat their people and livestock with respect and, ideally, to sell small batches of what they produce locally so as to avoid burning fossil fuels to transport them. The USDA rules don't fully address these concerns.

Hence the organic paradox: The movement's adherents have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, but success has imperiled their ideals. It simply isn't clear that organic food production can be replicated on a mass scale.

...

Farming without insecticides, fertilizers, and other aids is tough. Laborers often weed the fields by hand. Farmers control pests with everything from sticky flypaper to aphid-munching ladybugs. Manure and soil fertility must be carefully managed. Sick animals may take longer to get well without a quick hit of antibiotics, although they're likely to be healthier in the first place. Moreover, the yield per acre or per animal often goes down, at least initially. Estimates for the decline from switching to organic corn range up to 20%.

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For a sense of why Big Business and organics often don't mix, it helps to visit Jack and Anne Lazor of Butterworks Farm. The duo have been producing organic yogurt in northeastern Vermont since 1975. Their 45 milking cows are raised from birth and have names like Peaches and Moonlight. All of the food for the cows -- and most of what the Lazors eat, too -- comes from the farm, and Anne keeps their charges healthy with a mix of homeopathic medicines and nutritional supplements. Butterworks produces a tiny 9,000 quarts of yogurt a week, and no one can pressure them to make more. Says Jack: "I'd be happiest to sell everything within 10 miles of here."

But the Lazors also embody an ideal that's almost impossible for other food producers to fulfill. For one thing, they have enough land to let their modest-sized herd graze for food. Many of the country's 9 million-plus dairy cows (of which fewer than 150,000 are organic) are on farms that will never have access to that kind of pasture. After all, a cow can only walk so far when it has to come back to be milked two or three times a day.

When consumers shell out premiums of 50% or more to buy organic, they are voting for the Butterworks ethic. They believe humans should be prudent custodians not only of their own health but also of the land and animals that share it. They prefer food produced through fair wages and family farms, not poor workers and agribusiness. They are responding to tales of caged chickens and confined cows that never touch a blade of grass; talk of men losing fertility and girls becoming women at age nine because of extra hormones in food. They read about pesticides seeping into the food supply and genetically modified crops creeping across the landscape.

For Big Food, consumers' love affair with everything organic has seemed like a gift from the gods. Food is generally a commoditized, sluggish business, especially in basic supermarket staples. Sales of organic groceries, on the other hand, have been surging by up to 20% in recent years. Organic milk is so profitable -- with wholesale prices more than double that of conventional milk -- that Lyle "Spud" Edwards of Westfield, Vt., was able to halve his herd, to 25 cows, this summer and still make a living, despite a 15% drop in yields since switching to organic four years ago. "There's a lot more paperwork, but it's worth it," says Edwards, who supplies milk to Stonyfield.

...

Dairy producers estimate that demand for organic milk is at least twice the current available supply. To quench this thirst, the U.S. would have to more than double the number of organic cows -- those that eat only organic food -- to 280,000 over the next five years. That's a challenge, since the number of dairy farms has shrunk to 60,000, from 334,000 in 1980, according to the National Milk Producers Federation. And almost half the milk produced in the U.S. comes from farms with more than 500 cows, something organic advocates rarely support.

...

Would consumers be willing to pay twice as much for organic milk if they thought the cows producing it spent most of their outdoor lives in confined dirt lots?

Absolutely not, say critics such as Mark Kastel, director of the Organic Integrity Project at the Cornucopia Institute, an advocacy group promoting small family farms. "Organic consumers think they're supporting a different kind of ethic," says Kastel, who last spring released a high-profile report card labeling 11 producers as ethically challenged.

Kastel's report card included Horizon Organic Dairy, the No. 1 organic milk brand in the U.S., and Aurora Organic Dairy, which makes private-label products for the likes of Costco and Safeway Inc. Both dairies deny they are ethically challenged. But the two do operate massive corporate farms. Horizon has 8,000 cows in the Idaho desert. There, the animals consume such feed as corn, barley, hay, and soybeans, as well as some grass from pastureland. The company is currently reconfiguring its facility to allow more grazing opportunities. And none of this breaks USDA rules. The agency simply says animals must have "access to pasture." How much is not spelled out. "It doesn't say [livestock] have to be out there, happy and feeding, 18 hours a day," says Barbara C. Robinson, who oversees the USDA's National Organic Program.

But what gets people like Kastel fuming is the fact that big dairy farms produce tons of pollution in the form of manure and methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide -- gases blamed for warming the planet. Referring to Horizon's Idaho farm, he adds: "This area is in perpetual drought. You need to pump water constantly to grow pasture. That's not organic."

What do you do as a concerned customer? First, you need to decide what your personal strictures are for organic foods. Are you a diehard supporter of family farms? Are you more concerned that larger farms work to improve their methods? Would you prefer to convert a large percentage of your food buying to organics or are you interested in certain foods that mean the most to you be organic?

If you do want to go all the way, here are a few tips.

*Try limiting your organic shopping to local health food stores rather than supermarkets. Most health or natural food stores need smaller quantities of foods so they can work with local farmers not big enough to supply whole chains.

*Check the websites of the companies for statements on their methods, their products, and their philosophies.

*Look to see whether the company is independent, owned by a larger natural foods company, or owned by a large food conglomerate. Stonybrook Farm, as the article states, is now owned by Group Danone, the maker of Yoplait and also of many other non-organic brands. Horizon Organic, Rachel's Organic, and Organic Cow of Vermont are all part of Dean Foods, which has been "criticized for running large corporate farms," according to Business Week.

*Always check for the USDA Organic label on the package.

Desensitizing Food Allergies Possible in New Study

An allergy happens when a protein causes antibodies to form in the body. The next time the body encounters that protein, the antibodies swing into action. This is good when the protein is on an attacking bacteria. When the protein is part of an otherwise useful and nourishing food, not so good.

So you might think that continual encounters with the protein would be a bad thing. Apparently not.

"Participants who took a daily dose of egg product over the two-year study period were able to build up their bodies' resistance to the point where most of them could eat two scrambled eggs without a reaction," said A. Wesley Burks, from Duke University Medical Center.

That quote is from Scientists look to 'desensitise' kids to food allergens by Stephen Daniells on the FoodNavigator-USA.com site.

The study is on-line ahead of print in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2006.09.016. "Egg oral immunotherapy in nonanaphylactic children with egg allergy" Authors: A. Buchanan, T. Green, S. Jones, A. Scurlock, L. Christie, K. Althage, P. Steele, L. Pons, R. Helm, L. Lee, A.W. Burks

The study was of a very small number of children, so it must be considered preliminary at best. However, the responses were promising.

The new claims from the Duke researchers and their collaborators at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences are based on results from a small study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the two universities, of seven subjects (age range 1-7) who had a history of allergic reactions when they consumed eggs or egg products.

The participants were given small doses of powdered egg orally, mixed in food. "We started the subjects with a very small concentration of egg product - the equivalent of less than one-thousandth of an egg - and then we increased the dose every 30 minutes for eight hours in order to determine the highest dose that each subject could tolerate," explained Burks.

The children returned to the clinic every two weeks, and the researchers increased the doses until an equivalent of one-tenth of an egg was reached. This "maintenance dose" was continued for the rest of the study (24 months).

The researchers report that the children showed both an increase in tolerance to eggs and a decrease in the severity of their allergic reactions. Indeed, by the end of the study, the majority of the kids could tolerate two scrambled eggs with no adverse reactions.

This type of desensitization therapy, called oral immunotherapy (OIT) "works on a cellular level to alter specific the response of white blood cells (lymphocytes) that play a part in the immune response during allergic reactions."

Follow-up studies will be double-blind, giving a higher level of assurance to the results. Another study with higher doses of eggs is planned, and so is one using peanuts.

More Christmas Nondairy

Vitasoy may have made the first splash ( see It's After Halloween So Time for Christmas Nondairy but they aren't the only ones putting out a line of holiday-themed soy drinks.

Coffee-mate, the nondairy coffee creamer from Nestlé,
does an annual "limited-time" Special Edition selection of winter flavors - Gingerbread, Eggnog, Pumpkin Spice and Peppermint Mocha. They contain sodium caseinate, so they're not suitable for those with dairy allergies or for vegans, and they are not pareve. But they contain no lactose, so they're fine for those with lactose intolerance.

The Special Edition flavors come in both liquid and powder form.Read more about them and other Coffee-mate flavors at their web site, www.coffee-mate.com.

More goodies as I spot them.

Use Soy Milk in That Pumpkin Pie Recipe

One of the hardest dairy products to find a nondairy substitute for if you're lactose intolerant or have dairy allergies is evaporated milk. And that holiday favorite, pumpkin pie, often calls for evaporated milk.

However, vegan baking expert Chandra Moskowitz told the Washington Post that boiling down soy milk will act as a substitute.

You have to reduce the plain soy milk by two-thirds, because 1 cup of soy milk would yield only 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk substitute.

She also recommends adding a teaspoon of sweetener.

Dairy Allergies Misdiagnosed by Doctors

How many times do I have to write some variation of this article?

Yet another survey of physicians, this time in Europe, found that "British doctors are misdiagnosing milk allergy symptoms in babies and sometimes recommending inappropriate milk substitutes."

An article by Ian Evans on TimesOnlin.co.uk, Allergy Missed by GPs, talks about the:

Act Against Allergy survey of 500 doctors across Europe, including 100 in this country, [which] found that 78 per cent of British doctors think that their colleagues are confusing milk allergy symptoms with other conditions such as gastroenteritis and colic.

Cows milk protein allergy is the most common cause of food allergy in infants and affects up to 3 per cent of babies, the survey said. It affects at least 10,000 babies in Britain, causing vomiting and diarrhoea.

The survey also found that six out of ten of the 500 doctors surveyed are using inappropriate treatment for babies with milk allergy.

The same problem is often found in general practitioners in the United States.

If you think your child has a possible food allergy, try to remove the food from the diet to see if that offers any relief. And try to get a referral to a pediatric allergist or gastroenterologist for a more specialized examination.

IBS Book: A New IBS Solution

Mark Pimentel, MD, FRCPC is Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Program and Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Pimentel also serves as Assistant Professor in Residence for the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Those are gaudier credentials than most people who write books about IBS, even though many good doctors have written on the subject.

Dr. Pimental has recently published IBS: A New Solution, as shown on his web site www.anewibssolution.com.

He's a firm believer in the "bacterial overgrowth" theory behind IBS.

The final, most recent theory defines IBS as a bacterial disease. Patients with IBS inevitably complain of gas and bloating. While this was once considered a major hallmark of IBS, the failure to understand this component led investigators in the 1980’s to emphasize what was more easily grasped; hence the focus on diarrhea and constipation. Still, even as most members of the scientific community were distracted by the emphasis on bowel function, others investigated the bacterial component of IBS. In the 1990’s, research showed that IBS patients (over a given time) produced 5 times more gas than did people without IBS. Since the only source of those gases was bacterial, the initial presumption was that IBS patients had excessive bacteria in the colon, where bacteria were expected to be. Subsequent studies showed that IBS patients had excessive quantities of gas in the small bowel; these data were the catalyst for studying small bowel bacteria in IBS.

Normally the small intestine contains a very small quantity of bacteria. In published studies, indirect measures of small bowel bacteria suggest that 84% of IBS sufferers have excessive quantities of bacteria typically found in the colon.

Intuitively, higher bacterial levels in the small bowel, where absorption takes place, would ferment the nutrients from the food into gas. Further work in this area has determined that these bacteria could produce both constipation and diarrhea, depending on the types of bacteria that have moved into the small bowel. These results have led to studies showing that antibiotics can almost completely relieve IBS symptoms if successful in eliminating the intestinal bacteria. This is called the “bacterial overgrowth theory of IBS.”

He also talks about the connection between IBS and lactose intolerance on the FAQ page on his site:

Why do I feel worse with milk products, yet even when I’m off dairy products entirely, I still have IBS?

There has been some research from Europe suggesting that part of IBS development may be due to lactose intolerance. Among my own patients, if I were to quantitate lactose intolerance symptoms, approximately 80 percent of them either avoid milk and dairy products altogether or recognize that milk and dairy foods are an issue in terms of creating more bloating for them. Yet, even when they eliminate milk and dairy products from their diets, they still have IBS. The only difference is that, when they drink milk, their bloating symptoms become worse. One part of the reason is that most bacteria rely on sugar as their main nourishment. If bacteria could only have one food, sugar would be the one thing they would want.

...

[E]liminating milk and other dairy products will not, in and of itself, resolve the problem of IBS. In many instances, however, it can help to reduce the symptoms of bloating associated with IBS, because doing so will reduce the amount of sugar the bacteria have to feed on. A better solution, of course, would be to address the bacterial overgrowth directly. See Chapter 6 in the book for dietary suggestions that may help.

The book is available at Amazon.com with a direct link through my Milk-Free Bookstore on the IBS Books page.

Thanks to David Knight for sending me the news about Dr. Pimentel's book and a link to his site.

The "Sugar" in Ingredients Lists Not Lactose

Here's a recent question emailed to me that been asked often enough to warrant a feature here:

I have had the typical symptoms of L.I. after consuming canned peas that were labeled "peas, salt and sugar". I am wondering if the sugar in these peas is milk sugar. Do the labeling directives require that it be indicated if the disaccharide is lactose? I am a label reader and I often wonder if the list of ingredients has been changed to indicate any recent changes in the contents?

The answer to this is simple. The only ingredient that can be called just plain "sugar" on a food label in the United States is sucrose, ordinary table sugar.

Lactose must be referred to as lactose. Any other sweetener, from glucose to honey to corn syrup to aspartame to any and all of the hundreds of others, must be called by its proper name. Never just "sugar."

Lactose can be hidden in other milk products, of course. Whey is mostly lactose, to take the most important example.

But sugar is always sugar and lactose is always lactose and never the twain shall meet.

Respiratory Symptoms Mean Cow's Milk Allergy Lasts Longer in Children

A study presented at the 52nd annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology made the strongest connection yet found between symptoms and lasting allergies. An article by Jennifer Reid Holman, Respiratory Symptoms Strongly Predict More Persistent Cow's Milk Allergy on Medscape reported on the study led by Alessandro Fiochi, MD, from the University of Milan Medical School in Italy.

Experiencing respiratory symptoms with the allergy, however — such as wheezing or runny nose — strongly predicts the likelihood that the allergy will persist considerably longer into childhood.

Holman wrote that:

The study included 153 children with confirmed immunoglobulin E (IgE)–mediated cow's milk allergy. Most of these children exhibited skin reactions to milk, such as eczema and hives. About half had asthma/rhinitis symptoms. Fewer than 25% experienced immediate gastrointestinal effects or anaphylaxis after ingesting cow's milk. Many children experienced 2 of these symptoms.
The median age of these children when they presented for allergy testing was 16 months (range, 1-186 months), and each child was followed with periodic challenges for an average of 31 months.

The researchers gathered data on several potential risk factors, including presenting symptoms, duration of exclusive breast-feeding, age when symptoms started, age when cow's milk was introduced to child's diet, level of milk-specific antibodies (IgE) generated, sensitization to dermatophagoides and eggs, the allergen dose that elicited a positive challenge, and the use of formula after the allergy diagnosis.

More than half of the children experienced a natural and complete remission of their cow's milk allergy during the study (median allergy duration, 18 months). Respiratory symptoms were the single strongest predictor of which children had a long-lasting allergy. Median duration of cow's milk allergy in these children was 41 months.

Presenting with anaphylaxis after ingesting milk was also strongly associated with a longer time to remission. Other significant but less strong predictors were reaction to low doses of the allergen during diagnostic testing and higher levels of specific IgE antibodies to the milk challenges.

The news that higher levels of antibodies predicts a persistent allergy reinforces an earlier study announced at the 25th Congress of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Vienna, Austria, a study that made no news in the U.S. but one I reported on back on June 14, Big News! Test May Tell if Your Infant Will Always Be Allergic to Milk.

Holman's article went on to note that pediatricians often do not recognize that asthma symptoms can be due to food allergies. The venerable allergist Sami Bahna recommended that food allergy always be suspected as a cause.

New Process May Improve Taste of Lactose-Free Milk

Lactose-free milk comes in just about every variety that regular milk does - fat-free, 1% lowfat, 2% lowfat, whole, calcium-fortified, chocolate. You can use lactose-free milk as a straight one-for-one substitute for regular milk in any recipe. It's real milk, straight from the cow.

But there are two differences that affect the taste.

The first is that the lactose, the milk sugar, is split into two simpler sugars, glucose and galactose. By an oddity of chemistry each of the two simple sugars is sweeter than lactose is. Therefore lactose-free milk is slightly sweeter than regular milk.

The second is that lactose-free milk is made using a type of UHT pasteurization instead of regular pasteurization. UHT - Ultra-High Temperature - pasteurization cooks the milk at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time than regular pasteurization. The advantage is that UHT milk lasts longer before going sour than regular milk. Lactose-free milk doesn't sell in the same phenomenal quantities that regular milk does so it needs a longer shelf period. Some people, unfortunately, detect a slightly "cooked" taste in the lactose-free milk because of this.

Food researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) have developed a new food processing technique that provides the same long life without the "cooked" taste, according to the Research Notebook at the Portland Oregonian web site.

Michael C. Qian and his OSU co-workers say that ultrahigh-temperature pasteurization, or UHT, produces milk that stays fresh at room temperature for six months. However, UHT leaves a "cooked" flavor in milk.

The scientists describe how a new food processing technique affects milk taste. Called high hydrostatic pressure processing, it involves putting foods under pressures that crush and kill bacteria while leaving food with a fresh, uncooked taste.

"Milk processed at a pressure of about 85,000 pounds per square inch for five minutes, and lower temperatures than used in commercial pasteurization, causes minimal production of chemical compounds responsible for the cooked flavor," they said. "The processing gives milk a shelf life at refrigerated temperature of at least 45 days."

Their report will be in the Nov. 29 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

When or if this technique makes it to store shelves remains unknown, but it's something to look forward to.

New Allergen Safe Treats Enjoyed by All

From Alisa Fleming at www.GoDairyFree.org.

Conscientious friends, teachers, hosts, and family members can now serve, and indulge in, worry free delights alongside the food allergic. Two innovative, family-run companies have just expanded their allergy friendly offerings of delicious desserts and snacks.

After years of fine-tuning treats and snacks for her food allergic son, Jill Robbins launched Gak’s Snacks, a dedicated bakery that is peanut, tree nut, egg, dairy, and trans fat free. Her amazing Apple Coffee Cakes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Brownie Chip Cookies were more than well received, as evidenced by the reviews on www.GoDairyFree.org. Yet Jill couldn’t stop there. Just in time for the holidays, she has released a new Cranberry Coffee Cake. Gak’s coffee cakes are certified whole grain, vegan, kosher pareve, and USDA organic. Healthy connotations aside, these are truly decadent desserts that everyone, allergic or not, will crave.

Where Gak’s Snacks leaves off with desserts, Nonuttin' Foods picks up with nutritious snacks that are safe for the classroom and kid-approved. In 2004, the Elliott family released their line of peanut, tree nut, egg, dairy, seed, and trans fat free Nonuttin' Granola Bars out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Their Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip, and Raisin flavors have become so popular that direct orders from U.S. customers are rivaling their loyal Canadian market. With such demand, Nonuttin’ Foods returned to product development. At last, they are releasing not one, but five new products. Vanilla Cinnamon Nibblies (a granola-like snack), Real Fruit Cherry Chips (for baking or snacking), 70% Dark Chocolate Chunks, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, and Sulfite Free Dried Apples have joined the ranks of allergen-free Nonuttin’ goodies. The Elliott family maintains a dedicated facility that is also vegan and certified kosher pareve.

Gak’s Snacks Coffee Cakes can be ordered online at www.GaksSnacks.com or by phone at (800) 552-7172. These high quality cakes sell for just $28.95 plus cooler. Their large fresh cookies can be purchased for as little as $5.99 per box of 8. Shipment is available throughout the U.S.

Nonuttin’ Foods are available online at www.Nonuttin.com or by phone at (866) 714-5411. Their new products range from $5.99 to $10.99 CDN per bag, or you can order a box of 16 granola bars for just $19.99 CDN. Shipment throughout Canada and the U.S. is readily available.

To receive discount coupons for both Gak’s Snacks and Nonuttin’ Foods order a copy of the new book “Dairy Free Made Easy: Thousands of Foods, Hundreds of Tips, and Dozens of Recipes for Non-Dairy Living.” This essential guide is only available through www.GoDairyFree.org, as quantities are limited.

According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) scientists estimate that approximately 12 million Americans now suffer from true food allergies. This equates to over 4 percent of the population. Food-induced anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction) is believed to cause roughly 30,000 emergency room visits per year. For more information, visit the FAAN at www.foodallergy.org.

New Treatments for Food Allergies Being Studied

MedicalNewsToday.com hyped up the the latest research presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Philadelphia with a headline of "Allergy And Immunology On The Cusp Of Major Breakthroughs."

When you read the article closely, however, all the big breakthroughs appear to be only for certain types of allergies. The news for those with food, including dairy, allergies isn't quite as good.

Researchers are also looking at novel approaches for treating food allergy, which is a major health problem in industrialized nations. It affects between 6 percent - 8 percent of young children and 4 percent of adults. Current management of food allergy includes the avoidance of specific foods and the medical management of acute reactions.

Only a few foods, such as milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts, and fish and shellfish account for over 90 percent of all food allergic reactions. Attempts at primary prevention have largely not met with much success.

"There are several promising studies being conducted now that likely will result in new treatments for food allergy," said Wesley Burks, M.D., professor and chief, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

One of the new therapies are on the horizon is Anti-IgE, which may be able to prevent severe food allergic reactions and can also be used in combination with other new therapies for treatment. Another is the use of modified allergenic proteins that may be able to "reverse" food allergy.

"Routes, other than subcutaneous, for the delivery of allergy immunotherapy for food allergy are being studied extensively now," said Dr. Burks.

Being studied is not at all the same thing as finding a result. If you hear elsewhere about this conference and the good news it supposedly brings, demand to read the fine print.

Lactose, Eczema, and Allergies

Would a lactose-free baby formula help a baby with eczema? No. The two things have no connection.

Only a dairy protein allergy would be likely to cause eczema. Or would it?

Dr. Vincent Iannelli's most recent Pediatrics column on About.com, Eczema and Food Allergies, raises some doubts:

If you really think that your baby's formula, including a milk based and soy formula, is making his eczema worse, then you might talk to your pediatrician about trying a hypoallergenic formula, such as Nutramigen or Alimentum. Allergy testing, using a blood test like the Immunocap, could be another option.

Keep in mind that many experts do not believe that food allergies are a big trigger for eczema though, so most parents should not go out of their way to restrict their child's diet without talking to their pediatrician first. Of course, if your child's eczema gets worse every time you give your child something to eat or drink, then it likely is a trigger for him and you should avoid it and talk to your pediatrician about food allergies.

And some kids do have both food allergies and eczema, but surprisingly, they don't seem to affect each other.

Iannelli cites "Effective therapy of childhood atopic dermatitis allays food allergy concerns." by MM Thompson and JM Hanifin in The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2005 Aug;53(2 Suppl 2):S214-9.

From the abstract of the study:

BACKGROUND: Roughly one third of children with atopic dermatitis (AD) have IgE-mediated food allergy. Most parents and pediatricians assume foods also cause the eczema, a focus that diverts proper skin therapy and has negative outcomes including nutritional deficiency, costly referrals, and unnecessary testing. This project investigates the relationship between food allergy and AD, both before and after treatment in an established AD population. During an open trial of topical tacrolimus we observed a decrease in parental food allergy concern during good control of their child's eczema. We tested this observation by follow-up interviews and a questionnaire study to compare parental estimates of food allergy concerns after therapy with concerns before beginning the trial. Study subjects were children 11 years old and younger with AD and suspicion of food allergy. AD and food allergy parameters, pre- and post-treatment, were retrospectively assessed by a questionnaire given to the parents.

RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were enrolled: 16 had positive food allergy tests (7 RAST and/or 10 skin prick tests) and 30% had a definite history of immediate IgE reactions to foods. Ninety-five percent of parents felt that food allergy exacerbated their child's AD. Treatment durations were 3 to 45 months. Parental concern of food allergy decreased significantly from 7.7 to 4.0 on a 10 point scale (P < .001). Additionally, estimated food reactions decreased by approximately 80% during 1- and 6-month periods (P = .001).

CONCLUSIONS: In this selected university-based childhood AD population, nearly all parents In this selected university-based childhood AD population, nearly all parents were convinced their child had food allergy and further that the food contributed to the AD. The level of concern about food reactions was significantly decreased and the number of food reactions declined during effective topical therapy. This preliminary assessment of parental perceptions suggests that successful, stable therapy of AD reduces perceived food reactions and allays parental concerns about food allergy. Such therapy may encourage parents to refocus on direct skin care as the primary effort in AD therapy. We conclude that the effect of successful AD treatment on food allergy and food allergy concern are of interest and worthy of further study.

In simpler language, treating eczema makes the symptoms go away without necessarily changing diet.

Finding a good doctor who understands the problem is more than half the battle. Check with your pediatrician and a pedriatric allergist/immunologist if necessary.

Remember, Cheese is Low Lactose

While I'm reminding people out there that nondairy covers a lot of territory, let me also put in a kind word for low-lactose sources of dairy for those who still want milk in their diets.

Like cheese. An article in the New Zealand Herald tells the good folk of Auckland that Jones the Grocer, a famed Australian gourmet food store, is coming to Newmarket.

Kelvin Bartholomeusz, the former fromagier for Jones, is one of us. When asked, "How would you cope if you became lactose intolerant?" he responded:

I am. Cheese contains much lower levels of lactose than milk, and hard cheese has virtually none, as the lactose is held in the water (whey) which, in hard cheese, has wept out of the curds. I eat small amounts of very good cheese. If I couldn't eat cheese or dairy, I'd find life difficult as I base all my travel plans on food shows and where good food is, such as my annual pilgrimage to France.

Should you want to know more about the subtleties of eating cheese, here's more of what he has to say:

When should cheese be eaten?

There's a cheese for every meal, from breakfast to supper. Generally though, subtle-tasting cheese is better before dinner with a nice dry white or good sparkling and the more full-flavoured cheese (cheddar, washed rind, blue) is ideal after dinner with a good red or sticky.

What should be eaten with cheese?

This varies greatly. You need a sharp, dried sour cherry with a blue or a triple cream, a bunch of muscatels is perfect with brie, and quince paste is delightful with cheddar or blue. Only a plain crispbread or baguette should be served with cheese, no flavoured biscuits.

The worst thing to do with cheese?

To eat it cold. It's akin to not letting a good red breathe before drinking it. Generally, cheese must be eaten at room temperature (at least 1-2 hours out of the fridge). The exception is a dry blue such as stilton which should be eaten virtually cold to maintain its dry, crumbly consistency.

Vegan Ice Cream Blog

No, that's not an oxymoron. The ice creams in question are ice "creams," made using nondairy "milks."

Agnes L. is a vegan and likes creating her own ice cream substitutes. She started posting heavily and then petered out, as many bloggers do, but she got named a "blog of note" on Blogger today so the attention may perk her up.

One thing I like to remind people of every once in a while is that nondairy isn't just for people with lactose intolerance. Vegans need nondairy, and so do people with milk protein allergies, and those trying to keep kosher, and those one in a thousand people with unusual ailments like galactosemia, and more. Each of us can learn from all the others.

veganicecream.blogspot.com/

It's After Halloween So Time for Christmas Nondairy

The stores are already bulging with Christmas decorations and last year's leftover wrapping paper on sale. So it's time to bring out the Christmas-themed food. I guess you can have it at Thanksgiving, too. That leaves you all of December to get tired of it.

Ah, enough cynicism of the season.

Vitasoy put two new flavors into the national marketplace in October, which I just saw in a store for the first time.



Or as their press release put it:

Vitasoy USA Inc. has introduced two organic soy drinks in rich flavors to provide consumers beverage options that taste decadent, yet are guilt free. Holly Nog and Peppermint Chocolate Soy Drinks are lactose free, gluten free, contain no cholesterol and just a fraction of the fat of dairy eggnog. But that doesn’t mean they are light on flavor. Lightly spiced, Holly Nog is a creamy, smooth drink with aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg. Peppermint Chocolate is excellent served warm or chilled, combining the luscious sweetness of premium chocolate with the cool lingering refreshment of mint.

Yet these non-dairy beverages barely budge the calorie counter – Holly Nog is just 120 calories per 8-ounce serving, and Peppermint Chocolate 140 calories per 8-ounce serving – versus more than 340 calories per 8-ounce serving for dairy eggnog. Made from 100% organic whole soybeans, these beverages are rich in soy isoflavones and contain 4 grams of soy protein per serving.


Vitasoy’s new organic beverages are targeted to health-conscious consumers, as well as to those who are lactose intolerant or vegan – and those who just find the richness of high-fat beverages overwhelming. Vitasoy New Product Manager Jayne Minigell explains: “Holly Nog was distributed on a limited basis in 2005, and received excellent feedback. Consumers liked the lightness and creamy consistency, and gave us high marks on flavor. They appreciated being able to serve a festive and delicious beverage when entertaining lactose-intolerant relatives and friends. To build on that success, we’ve added Peppermint Chocolate – another premium alternative with extended appeal from fall right through winter.”


Holly Nog and Peppermint Chocolate Organic Soy Drinks were developed to allow retailers to capitalize on the long winter selling season with traditional flavors reformulated for demanding consumers. Healthy ingredients and minimal fat and calories encourage consumers to enjoy these beverages on more than an occasional basis. Aseptic packaging in bright colors makes them easy to merchandise in visible, high-traffic areas to maximize sales and profits.


Vitasoy USA Inc., headquartered in Ayer, Massachusetts, has created delicious, nutritious, organic and all-natural foods to help families improve their health for more than 25 years. Vitasoy USA Inc. produces premium tofu, soymilk and vegan salad dressings that are USDA Certified Organic, as well as all-natural, restaurant-style stir-fry sauces, weight-management meal replacement beverages, and Asian pastas, teas and juices. These healthy and delicious products are sold under the brand names Vitasoy®, Nasoya®, Azumaya®, Vita® and San Sui®. Vitasoy USA Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vitasoy International Holdings Limited of Hong Kong, a world leader in soy products for more than 65 years. Visit www.vitasoy-usa.com for more product information and recipe suggestions.

I've seen nondairy Nog around in limited quantities for years. Maybe this year is the one in which it breaks out in the mainsteam. I'll keep you posted.

Organic Meadow Certified Organic Lactose Free 2% Milk

Is this the first organic lactose free milk in Canada?

I don't know, but the press release claims it is.

You can find the full text of the release here.

For the first time in Canada, 3.5 million Canadians suffering from the symptoms of lactose intolerance will be able to enjoy the wholesome goodness of organic milk. Organic Meadow, Canada's leading, certified organic dairy, is now offering Certified Organic Lactose Free 2% Milk through major grocery chains and specialty food stores across Canada.

For years, health conscious consumers have recognized the benefits of organic milk as part of a well balanced diet. But for many people affected by lactose intolerance, enjoying a cold glass of organic milk with a meal, or simply on its own, was not possible. People with lactose intolerance cannot digest the natural sugar lactose. They suffer a range of symptoms including pain, gas and bloating, because their system can't perform the necessary function of converting lactose to glucose and galactose. The condition affects an estimated 25% of Canadians and can be as minor as discomfort and as major as contributing to chronic illness. Sufferers of lactose intolerance frequently have to eliminate all dairy products from their diets. With the release of Organic Meadow's lactose-free milk, these people can re-introduce organic milk to their lives.

...

Organic Meadow's lactose free 2% organic milk is sold in 1 and 2 litre cartons and has the same nutritional value as its regular 2% milk. To locate a store near you, visit the Organic Meadow website at www.organicmeadow.com.

One slight problem, though. Maybe not so slight.

"People often refer to organic dairy products as having the taste they remember from childhood. " said Ted Zettel, President, Organic Meadow. "We think that's because Organic dairy cattle live healthier lives; they are fed only organic feeds, are treated homeopathically on the rare occasion of illness and spend a lot of time outdoors."

Treated homeopathically is the same as not being treated at all. Homeopathy is sheer quackery (or moo-ery). I have to hope that the Canadian government requires health inspections and real veterinarians to treat the cows with real medicines. Fortunately, this is not raw milk but regular milk that has been Ultra High Temperature (UHT) pasteurized so it will be safe on the shelf.

Halloween Horror! Lactose Bacteria Mutating in Your Colon!

The bacteria that eat the undigested lactose that the reaches the colon are a special breed, so to speak. And that helps explain why a colony of good bacteria - the type that digests lactose - or a colony of bad bacteria - the type that ferments lactose - can take hold so quickly.

Anneli Waara writes about this is an article called "Mass copying of genes speeds up evolution" on Innovations.Report.de.

The research should be found in the latest issue of PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, but I didn't see the proper article there. I'll try to find it for you and edit it in.

Waara said:

“When the bacterium’s gene for making use of lactose is inefficient, that is, when the bacterium has an ineffective enzyme for breaking down lactose, mutant bacteria are favored instead, with up to a hundred-fold rise in the number of copies of the gene,” says Professor Dan Andersson, one of those behind the study.

This has two consequences: on the one hand, the bacterium manages to grow on lactose because the amount of the inefficient enzyme increases and, on the other hand, the chances increase that the bacterium will develop a mutation in one of these 100 identical genes leading to an improvement in the enzyme function. The scientists also show that amplification proceeds stepwise: first, a large region is duplicated and then smaller regions within that region are amplified to high numbers of copies. According to Dan Andersson, it is probably much more common than was previously thought, which is extremely exciting.

“And they are important, since this means that evolutionary changes can take place at a considerably higher speed. One reason the extent of this has been underestimated is their inherent instability, which makes them difficult to study in laboratory experiments.”

They're evolving right before our eyes, er, below our eyes. Somewhat out of sight of our eyes, to be precise. But they just might solve puzzles about changes in other genes. It's not just gas, then; it's progress.

Allergen-Free Halloween Treats

Cybele Pascal from lime.com sent me a link to these dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, wheat-free, and gluten-free recipes.

Go to: Allergen-Free Halloween Treats.

You'll see recipes for Chocolate Sunflower Butter Cups and Old-Fashioned Popcorn Balls. (The sunflower butter is the same kind of nondairy butter that I talked about in Shea Butter and Other Nondairy Foolers.)

And of course poke around the site for the many other recipe, food, and health pages.

Dairy Market for Kids Increasing

The market for kid's foods is estimated to be more than $300 billion worldwide. That's approximately 300 billion times as much as I make for this blog. More, actually.

So it's not surprising that the dairy industry thinks that it sees opportunities. A report, Eight Key Case Studies In Kids Nutritional Dairy, authored by Julian Mellentin, director of the Centre for Food & Health Studies, outlines the consumer markets key health concerns and how companies can address them effectively.

According to an article on NutraIngredients.com:

"The dairy industry's ambition to innovate with more and more new ingredients seems to be growing increasingly bolder," said Mellentin. "No other food or beverage category has played such an important role in driving the functional food revolution in Europe, South America and Asia."

Mellentin claims that probiotics, omega-3s and calcium are the three areas in which "the most significant success stories are being made."

This all gets back to the functional foods trend that's sweeping Europe and beginning to take hold in the U.S.

Even better, more and more dairy products are being introduced with lower fat:

Low- and no-fat products account for more new product launches than those making any other lesser evil claims, according to Datamonitor.

In 2001, 7.4 per cent of new food products launched worldwide claimed to contain reduced levels of fat, rising to 10.4 per cent in 2005. This trend is beginning to spill over into children's food.

The anti-milk crazies love to talk about high-fat milk as part of the evilness of dairy, but the reality is that whole milk products have been being phased out of the industry for years. And remember that most children - and adults - with lactose intolerance can still have some dairy without symptoms. Dairy does contain valuable calcium and other nutrients in a good-tasting form, so you parents should only remove it from your child's diet if absolutely necessary, as with dairy allergies.

Mellentin's report is available for a price only, alas. The website is KidsNurtitionReport.com. For $195 / €165/ £100 / A$250 / NZ$290 / C$220 / JPY22,000 you get a 38 page* pdf.

As with all our case studies, this to-the-point 39 page* analysis has been written based on in-depth interviews with the companies concerned to provide you with:

• Companies’ own views on the key nutritional aspects of children’s health they have chosen to target and why
• Insight into branding, marketing and pricing strategies
• Understanding of what aspects of the different strategies have worked and why
• Understanding of product formats used, and ingredients chosen
• Demonstration of the value of packaging innovation.
• Colour illustrations of products
• Relevant market data.

*Yes, the site says both 38 pages and 39 pages. It reproduces the table of contents and 38 is apparently correct. Maybe you get a cover page thrown in for free.

Sweet Energy

Maxine Frith of The Statesman has a nice summary of sugar and the role it plays as a food in her article, Sweet Energy.

Sugar is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable. There are many different types of sugar: glucose, fructose and lactose are among them, but the table sugar (or sucrose) that most of us eat, extracted from beet and cane, is made up of glucose and fructose.

Along with fats and protein, carbohydrates make up the three macronutrients that provide energy in our diet. Quite apart from making food taste nicer, it provides the body with vital fuel.

For primitive man, the sweet taste of sugar was a natural indicator that something was safe to eat. The Arabs and Berbers introduced sugar to western Europe in the eighth century but it was a luxury for most people until the 18th century, when improved production techniques brought the cost down.

…

So what are the health problems? We are all eating far too much of it. The average British adult eats 33 teaspoons of sugar every day, amounting to 198g, when the recommendation is for no more than 90g. All too often, sugary foods are also high in fat, so consumers are getting a double whammy of unhealthiness. The couch-potato culture means that many people are taking in a lot of energy in the form of sugar, but not expending it - leading to obesity.

It also has a notoriously terrible effect on teeth. Bacteria in the mouth multiply in the presence of sugar, producing acid and causing plaque and tooth decay. There is a popular misconception that increased sugar intake directly causes Type-II, or adult-onset diabetes. It doesn’t, but obesity is a risk factor, so lots of sugar can be indirectly responsible. There are concerns, backed up by some scientific studies, that excessive sugar intake causes hyperactivity in children. Sugar has also been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer; a study found that women who consumed foods that rapidly boost blood-sugar levels were three times more likely to develop the disease.

What are the health benefits of sugar? Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for working muscles and physical activity. They are stored in the muscle in the form of glycogen and help to prolong the length of time that people can exercise before they feel tired; hence why athletes will consume sugary drinks during or before a match or race.

Consumption of carbs also naturally stimulates production of the mood-enhancing hormone serotonin, researchers have found, so sugar makes you feel better, at least in your mind. A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA even suggested that the reason so many people fail to keep up a diet is because they cut out carbohydrates, their serotonin levels fall, and they become depressed and irritable. Carbohydrates are the only food group that boosts serotonin levels.

…

Is sugar addictive? There are now several US-based websites dedicated to the idea that people can become sugar addicts, as attached to the high that sugar gives them as alcoholics are to drink.

They recommend cutting out sugar from hot drinks gradually.

One problem is that high sugar consumption can interfere with your body’s ability to regulate just how much it needs. If you eat too much, you will produce extra amounts of the hormone insulin to remove the excess, but then your sugar levels dip a little below normal and so a message is sent to the brain demanding more of the stuff. Its a cycle known to some addicts as the sugar binge impulse that drives them to finish off the box of chocolates.

Lactose, the milk sugar that people with lactose intolerance can't digest, is only a mildly sweet sugar. But in the form of whey it is a cheap byproduct from cheesemaking, so it is added to a bewilderingly wide array of products. That makes them extra sweet, piles on the empty calories, and causes many people to develop digestive symptoms. Sugar is eminently desirable, but we get more than enough of it. Time to cut down and cut back.

More Nondairy Candy Goodness

I gave you a bunch of links collected by Alisa Fleming, at the GoDairyFree site, in my Nondairy Halloween Treats post.

Life has changed since even a few years ago, when the find of a single nondairy chocolate site on the Net was cause for celebration. It's getting too late to order for Halloween, but you can have a heck of an Election Day celebration!

Chocolate Emporium.

The Chocolate Emporium is delighted to offer a fun & unique selection of dairy-free confections for Halloween. All Halloween items are dairy-free, certified parve by the Star-K.

Allergen Control at Chocolate Emporium
All items are gluten-free & dairy-free except for the chocolate treats marked with an asterisk.

And one for you UK readers:

Dietery Needs Direct

Biscuits - Wizard Cookies

Wizard shaped plain biscuits free from gluten, wheat, milk, soya and eggs. Note: although the products do not contain any of the above in the ingredients, there may be traces on milk, soya and eggs on the premises as these are used in other biscuits made in the same factory


Ghost Lollies


Dairy and Soya Free Chocolate and carob Ghost Lollies. As the chocolate is not as dark and bitter as a lot of dairy free chocolate, these are a favourite with children's and adults alike. Each box contains 5 Ghosts. Note: carob is also free from added sugar

*Nut Info: Ingredients come from a factory where hazelnuts are used. The products are made up in an area and machine that does not handle nuts. It is recommended that people who are allergic to peanuts avoid lupin (in the carob ones) and the same machinery and space is used to make both the carob and chocolate shapes although it is cleaned out thoroughly in between batches

Witch Lollies

Dairy and Soya Free Chocolate and Carob Witch Head Lollies. As the chocolate is not as dark and bitter as a lot of dairy free chocolate, these are a favourite with children and adults alike. Each box contains 5 Witches. Note: Carob is also free from no added sugar

*Nut Info: Ingredients come from a factory where hazelnuts are used. The products are made up in an area and machine that does not handle nuts. It is recommended that people who are allergic to peanuts avoid lupin (in the carob ones) and the same machinery and space is used to make both the carob and chocolate shapes although it is cleaned out thoroughly in between batches

Vampire Vic Video

Vampire Vic and his digestive woes

Dovid Rotshtein, a copywriter over at Ganeden Biotech, Inc., the maker of the Digestive Advantage line of probiotic products for people with lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, and other gas-related problems, sent me this Youtube video.

It was made by a couple of their employees as a Halloween spoof of their commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOVX3TyKYUE


Rotshtein called it HILARIOUS. Enjoy.

Prize-Winning Multi-Lingual Phrase Passport

The Multi-Lingual Phrase Passport, part of the Let's Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free series, has won a Best Books 2006 National Award in the Language Guides category from USABookNews.com, according to a press release on Endonurse.com.

The innovative pocket-sized guide empowers travelers with food allergies, celiac disease, and those following specialized diets to safely eat outside the home. The award-winning "Passport" includes over 1,200 food allergen phrases about corn, dairy, eggs, fish, gluten, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat to confidently travel in foreign language-speaking countries.

These considerations outline ingredients, food preparation techniques, dining requests, breakfast dishes and health statements. Each phrase has been translated into French, German, Italian and Spanish by a professional translation service and validated by native speakers to ensure accuracy and contemporary cultural idioms.

Additionally, Let's Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free has been recognized as a USABookNews.com award-winning finalist for Best Health/Diet Book. Based on 4-plus years of research, this first-of-its-kind book is the foundation of the "Let's Eat Out!" series. Designed to help people dine out safely, whether around the corner or around the world, it is also a 2006 Benjamin Franklin Award finalist for Best Health Book and Best First Book Non-Fiction.

The nearly 500-page full-color book is co-authored by Kim Koeller and Robert La France, who collectively have traveled over 2 million miles and dined in 30-plus countries on four continents. Koeller, with an MBA in international management, is a celiac businesswoman managing over a dozen food-related allergies while eating 80 percent of her meals away from home. La France is a restaurant industry veteran, with a passion for the culinary arts, who brings a unique understanding of how restaurant staffs can accommodate guests with special dietary needs.

Below are links to the winning book and the rest of the series at Amazon.com, which appear to be good guides for those with lactose intolerance, dairy allergies, or other food sensitivities or restrictions.

Multi-Lingual Phrase Passport

Let's Eat Out!: Your Passport to Living Gluten And Allergy Free

French and Italian Cuisine Passport

Chinese, Indian and Thai Cuisine Passport

For more information, take a look at their site, AllergyFree Passport.

Slim Fast Easy to Digest Lactose-Free Shakes

Slim Fast, the makers of diet "meal replacement" shakes, has announced a lactose-free variety called Easy to Digest. It comes in Chocolate, Vanilla, and Coffee flavors. The product is also gluten-free.

It is not, however, milk protein free, since it contains both caseinate and milk protein concentrate.

All well and good. Most of these products rely heavily on skim milk as a base and are not at all suitable for those of us with lactose intolerance.

Even so, did Unilever - Slim Fast's parent company - have to issue the world's worst press release to announce this?

First, notice that the press release never even gets around to saying directly that this wonderful new product for the lactose intolerant market is actually lactose free. The convoluted prose manages to avoid entirely the issue of what the ingredients for the shake are. (Understandable, since the shakes are basically water and sugar.) And the release contains highly misleading nutritional advice:

Symptoms of lactose maldigestion also tend to develop in all consumers as we age, because the body loses its ability to produce lactase, the enzyme that is needed to digest lactose. For that reason, the new Slim-Fast Easy to Digest shake contains higher levels of vitamins B6, B12 and D, nutrients important for people over 50, and is an excellent source of the antioxidant vitamins C and E. Each Slim-Fast Easy to Digest shake provides 50 percent of the Recommended Daily Value (DV) for Calcium, an essential nutrient that is often lacking in the diets of people who avoid milk and other dairy foods due to lactose intolerance.

Just because the body loses its ability to digest lactase, which can happen at any age and has nothing to do with turning 50, doesn't mean that any of the other vitamins are lacking. And a simple multivitamin pill will give you all the vitamins you need. Putting them in a "meal replacement" doesn't mean anything except as promotional hype.

I can't totally blame companies for the nonsense issued by the firms hired to promote its products - it's a game no one in the industry takes seriously - but this is egregious.

If you want to have an occasional Slim Fast shake as an alternative to a meal, I won't try to stop you. At 180 calories the shakes will pack on far fewer pounds than most foods. Just be aware that you're buying expensive sugar water, not a meal.

Shea Butter and Other Nondairy Foolers

I was idly flipping through the coupon section of Sunday's paper, when my eye was caught by an advertisement for new Jergens Shea Butter.

Wait. Shea butter?

Unless you are fanatically into obscure and/or faddish beauty products you've never heard of Shea butter. Wikipedia defines it as "a slightly greenish natural fat extracted from fruit of the Shea tree by crushing and boiling. Shea butter is edible. It is consumed in traditional cuisine and used in the chocolate industry as a substitute for cocoa butter."

Jergens is not the only company suddenly promoting shea butter. Avon has one, and Nasabb, and Flori Roberts, and a million others. Codina actually owns the sheabutter.com site. But thanks to Keri, which helpfully lists shea butter in the ingredients as "butyrospermum parkii."

It's not a dairy product, therefore, but a type of fruit butter. There are dozens of types of fruit butters, from mixtures called, you guessed it, fruit butters to apple butter, passion fruit butter, and apricot pumpkin butter.

Why butter? Any product that forms a soft, spreadable paste is commonly and historically referred to as a "butter". Fruit butters have been around forever, but most of us are far more familiar with peanut butter and other types of nut butters. Cocoa butter, a vegetable fat made from cocoa beans, is another familiar use, though few of us have probably seen the original except as an ingredient on chocolate bars.

The Oxford English Dictionary even contains an entry for rock butter, "a mineral composed of alum combined with iron, which exudes as a soft butter-like paste from certain aluminiferous rocks."

This extended metaphoric use of butter goes back to a 1440 cite of "botyr of almondes."

Of course, none of these "butters" have any dairy in them. That doesn't keep people from getting confused even so.

A long, long time ago, when I first started my web site, I put up a page called The Better Look Twice List of Supermarket Products That Appear To Contain Milk -- But Don't!. This page includes the butter bean, the butter clam, buttercup squash, butterhead lettuce, apple butter, peanut butter, and even Shea butter! I was way ahead of my time. Shea butter took years to become the latest fad moisturizer and emollient.

No matter how lactose intolerant you are, though, don't think it contains any dairy. But, please, don't eat the Jergens.

Nondairy Halloween Treats

Alisa Fleming, from the great GoDairyFree site, sent me this collection of online stores that sell dairy-free candies to allow kids with lactose intolerance, dairy allergies, kosher needs, or vegan sensibilities to enjoy Halloween as much as everybody else. The following is reprinted exactly as she sent it.


"Those packages of jolly ranchers, sweet tarts, hot tamales, and nerds will do in a pinch, but for some real Halloween fun, skip the artificial flavors and treat your kids right with all-natural candies and chocolates. We scoured the Internet and the aisles to uncover these tasty made-for-Halloween handouts:

"Chocolate Decadence (www.chocolatedecadence.com) goes above and beyond for trick-or-treaters. Their chocolate shapes are dairy free and gluten free for the allergen sensitive, as well as kosher certified. Though they have many combinations, the package of 50 sealed bags, each with a selection of chocolate pumpkins, witches, owls, witches hats, and ghosts, seems to be a very good deal at $23.95.

"Endangered Species (www.chocolatebar.com) is offering individually wrapped dark chocolate Halloween Treats, 24 per bag. They are offered online at $15.00 for three bags, but I have heard rumor that some better deals can be had on these treats in stores. Endangered Species also carries their traditional chocolate treats, Dark Chocolate Bug Bites and Chimp Mints, which will surely be enjoyed from the goodie bowl. Worth noting, each Endangered Species dark chocolate product is non-dairy, vegan, and kosher certified.

"YummyEarth (www.yummyearth.com) proudly manufactures organic, gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free, nut-free, kosher certified…whew…vegan lollipops. These all-natural gems come in fun flavors like pomegranate pucker and razzmatazz berry. Though you can purchase them direct, the best deal this Halloween season is on Amazon. Five bins with 30 lollipops each is just $15.30. If you are expecting a trick-or-treating army, stock up with the 350-count bag for just $21.88. Plus, Amazon will send you a $10 gift certificate if you spend $29 or more on YummyEarth products (through October 31).

"Amanda’s Own (www.amandasown.com) offers a line of semi-sweet chocolates made specifically with kids in mind. These sweeter chocolate treats have been molded into ghosts, bats, and pumpkins for the goblin season. Though they have a touch higher price tag, $4.75 for a 3.25oz box of individual foil wrapped treats, Amanda’s chocolates are guaranteed dairy and nut free for allergen sensitive little chocolatiers.

"College Farm Organic (www.collegefarmorganic.com) offers kosher certified, all natural hard candies. Be aware, the Vanilla Caramel and Strawberries & Cream varieties do contain dairy. However, the Vienna Roast Coffee, Chocolate Mint, and Luscious Lemon candies, plus each of the NaturePops varieties, are non-dairy, vegan, and kosher certified. The individually wrapped candies come in packages of 24. Find them in stores, or purchase online at www.wellnessgrocer.com for $2.51 per bag or $2.25 for six bags. Use the coupon code GDF10, and get an additional 10% off your order.

"For more snack and holiday ideas, keep an eye on www.GoDairyFree.org."

A Variety of Alternatives to Milk

At last: a sane, informative post.

Jarett Bies of the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader posted a good article that not only listed a variety of alternative "milks," from low-lactose organic cow's milk to kefir to rice and soy milks, but also added commentary from Michael Cheng, the director of the culinology and hotel-restaurant administration programs at Southwest Minnesota State University.

These "milks" cover a spectrum.

All should be tolerable by those with lactose intolerance. However, those with dairy allergies or vegans need to be more selective of their choices.

Ice Cream Sandwiches for Dogs

Dogs are lactose intolerant. So are cats. So are all adult mammals, except for a small percentage of humanity who are mutants.

But those human mutants - about 30% of the worldwide population, but at least 75% of those in the United States - think their animals should eat all the same foods that they do.

Humans are irrational. I sometimes wonder if that's not a recent mutation as well. We can't have been this irrational for the past two million years, can we? How did we ever not kill ourselves off?

Anyway, humans sorta know that it's not a good thing to give ice cream to dogs. So they invented an ice cream substitute that's supposed to be better for them.

That's Frosty Paws Frozen Treats now also in Peanut Butter. I'm not making this up. Why do fake news when the world is right there begging for it?

I've never really understood the point of Frosty Paws, though, since the second ingredient is whey powder, which is mostly pure lactose. Isn't that what dogs are supposed to avoid?

Apparently. Pedigree, the dog food giant, and Good Humor, the ice cream truckster, have teamed up to make Pedigree Ice Cream Sandwich Treats for Dogs.

The Associated press reports that:

Ice cream maker Good Humor and pet food producer Pedigree have announced plans to produce ice cream sandwiches for dogs. Many dogs are lactose intolerant and cannot eat ice cream, the companies said.

Pedigree Ice Cream Sandwich Treats for Dogs will be dairy-based and have the same texture as ice cream, but contain only 1 percent lactose.

The treats also will have added protein and no sugar.

The companies plan to sell packages of 24 frozen treats for $3.99.

It's low-lactose, which is good. But it's ice cream. For dogs.

Still close to a full moon out there, I guess.

An Alternative to Lactase? Not in This Universe

Is the moon full? Why, yes, I believe full moon occurred on October 6, just a few days ago. Maybe that's why the loons are appearing online.

On October 5 I talked about the utterly crackpotish Milk/Blood Type Moron Connection.

Then a day or two later, the moon-worshipers at East-West magazine found another dingbat, Dr. Ellen Cutler, D.C. to quote on the subject of lactose intolerance. Cutler:

thinks people’s reactions to milk are not solely based upon their inability to digest lactose, but that it could be sensitivity to the proteins in milk or even sensitivity to the enzyme lactase itself.

That's right. Cutler says that reaction to milk could be a sensitivity to the enzyme lactase itself. Lactase is not found in milk, of course, but is naturally made in human intestines. This would be as astounding case of auto-immune allergy if there were anything to this nonsense, but fortunately there isn't.

How should people cure this non-existent sensitivity?

In some cases, Cutler says, people could even be sensitive to other sugars such as maltose in grains, sucrose or dextrose in fruits. As such, rather than give up dairy she suggests taking a digestive enzyme. Depending on the specific sensitivity the person has, Cutler says, there are sugar-specific or wide-range enzymes that can help with digestion.

Or you can help your digestion by using lactase. Lactase is the one enzyme that can be of any effect, because there is only one sugar in dairy, and that is the milk sugar lactose. No other enzyme will have any effect on lactose. Of course, taking lactase would be worse than the disease because people are sensitive to lactase, but don't let logic get in the way. Culter doesn't.

Note: I have to interrupt here and say that there is not one documented case in all of the medical literature of anyone being sensitive to lactase.

A doctor should know the medical literature. But Cutler is not a medical doctor or a physiologist or a nutritionist or anyone who could be expected to read normal medical studies. Ellen Cutler is a D.C., which stands for Doctor of Chiropractic. [I know: that looks wrong. Isn't Chiropractic an adjective? But that's what is awarded.]

But still, she's a doctor, isn't she?

No. Not any more than a lawyer with a J.D. (juris doctor) degree is a doctor. A D.C. is not a medical doctor, nor is someone who is even able to prescribe medicine.

But Cutler really, really wants you to take enzymes. Not the lactase enzyme, to be sure, because that's cheap and readily available and works just fine. But other special blends of enzymes. You see, she's a quack with her own brand of crackpot cure-alls to sell you.

If that doesn’t work, she says her own technique, BioSET, does.

BioSET (BioEnergetic Sensitivity and Enzyme Therapy) is a cleaning process designed to help clear food sensitivities. It works on principles similar to acupressure and helps rid the system of intolerance through a process resembling biofeedback.

Yeah. And it clears your wallet through a process resembling scamming.

From her website:

The BioSET™ line of professional therapeutically effective blends of high potency enzymes, standardized herbal extracts and natural-source vitamins and minerals

100% vegetarian capsule and contents

No fillers - only active ingredients

Patient-friendly product names

Specifically formulated to be an integral part of the BioSET™ diagnostic and treatment system developed by Dr. Ellen Cutler.

I have a patient-unfriendly name to call you if you fall for such quackery: gullible fool.

Lactose.com

This may not make your day, but mine sure was brightened by the discovery that the Dutch Company Friesland Foods Domo has purchased the lactose.com domain name and used it to launch the knowledge database about lactose.

It's hard to find a good, compact but comprehensive source of information about lactose. Admittedly lactose.com is mostly limited to information about lactose's use in pharmaceuticals and to a lesser extent food, but it's a good start even if it is from "a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical lactose."

Want a picture of a lactose molecule?



Aw, cute as a button.

Anyway, did you know that the market for pharmaceutical lactose is now worth over $100 million? That's why you find it in so damn many pills, which collectively - but not individually - can often make life difficult for the lactose intolerant.

An article by Kirsty Barnes on in-PharmaTechnologist.com says that:

This website was established especially for companies, universities and authorities involved in studying, processing and registering lactose and although lactose is used in many different industries, especially in food and beverages, this website focuses solely on its pharmaceutical applications.

The new site - www.lactose.com - has been launched by Friesland Foods Domo, who said the website “will be updated regularly,” meaning that dedicated lactose followers “will have all the latest information on lactose available at all times.”

The company is the pharmaceutical division of Dutch firm Friesland Foods, who established itself as a large global lactose producer for the nutrition and food industries before moving in to the pharmaceutical lactose market.

The firm now manufactures a wide range of pharmaceutical lactose products for use in tablets, injectables, capsules, sachets, pellets and dry powder inhalers.

As I said, I'm sure few of you will have reason to go to the site very often, but it's one that I'm going to bookmark immediately.

Milk and Blood Type - the Moron Connection

You can find all sorts of idiotic nonsense about health in general and milk in particular on the Internet, but to see it come out of the mouth of a "certified nutritionist" in the pages of an actual newspaper makes me want to put my head through the screen.

The idiot in question can be found in the article titled The Milk Maze by Kat Bergeron at the SunHerald.com website.

She starts with some solid info on milk and calcium before going on to quote from Jim Borden, who is purportedly "a certified nutritionist at Five Seasons, a health food market that offers organic dairy products as well as alternatives."

Ask Borden if you should drink cow milk or soy and he will ask your blood type. He is a proponent of Peter D'Adamo, an American naturopathic doctor who has created a widely used guide to healthy eating based on blood type.

"If you're a B blood type, real milk is beneficial," Borden said, "But if you're an A or O blood type, for example, and you drink milk, your body would marshal against it and try to eliminate it. We've seen some of our customers improve from chronic conditions that they didn't know what was causing it."

AArrgghhh! Moron! Who certified this numbskull? The connection between blood types and health is a crackpot notion that came out of Japan a few years ago based on the classic crackpot book You Are Your Blood Type, by Toshitaka Nomi and Alexander Besher. (Christopher Stephens explores the bizarre and anti-scientific origins of this bit of insanity in Searching in vein.)

Don't believe it. Stay far away from anyone who professes to believe. And make sure you don't follow any advice based on blood type.

For shame, Biloxi Sun Herald. For shame.

New Gene Process Makes Low-Lactose Milk

Wow. Every once in a while a scientific discovery comes out of the blue and suggests a possibility that no one ever thought of.

Here's the science. I'll follow with the English translation.

From GM bacteria could naturally sweeten dairy, by Stephen Daniells on foodnavigator.com.

By adding a novel genetically engineered bacterial strain to dairy, the fermentation process is limited to converting lactose to glucose, a technique that could remove the need to add sweeteners to dairy products.

The research, part of the EU-funded Nutra Cells project (QLK1-CT-2000-01376), also has implications for lactose intolerance because, by converting the lactose in the dairy to glucose, the final lactose content of the dairy is significantly reduced.

…

Lactococcus lactis is used extensively in the dairy industry in the production of fermented milk products, and has a relatively simple carbon metabolism pathway. By directly engineering this strain of Lactococcus lactis the researchers were able to delete genes that coded for glucose metabolism by the bacteria. This was achieved by disrupting the main sugar transport system, the so-called sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS).

Lactose is a disaccharide, meaning it is made up of two basic sugar molecules, a galactose molecule bonded to a glucose molecule. By deleting certain genes in the lactose-PTS, it was possible to create a bacterium (NZ9000Glc-Lac+) that selectively fermented the galactose part of the lactose, but not the glucose part. The glucose then accumulated outside of the cell, in the dairy product.

OK, here it is in English. When lactose hits the intestines, it normally is digested – split into its smallest components - by the enzyme lactase. Those smallest components are the simple sugars called glucose and galactose. We know that many beneficial bacteria can do the same thing. That's what probiotic bacteria are for. (I've had a long series of posts about this. See Probiotic Kefir Healthier Alternative to Yogurt; Prebiotics and Probiotics; and Kids and Lactose Intolerance, among others.) The bacteria can do this in the body – that's why they reduce symptoms from lactose intolerance – and they can also do it directly in the milk itself. That's what makes products like yogurt and kefir low in lactose.

What the scientists, led by Professor Oscar Kuipers from the University of Groningen for the European Union-funded Nutra Cells project, did was change one piece of the process. The modified bacteria gobbled up a lactose molecule, split it, fermented only the galactose half and released the glucose half back into the milk. This made for a sweeter, but lower-lactose milk product.

This isn't a big breakthrough all by itself. In fact, one of the problems with lactose-reduced milk is that it is often considered too sweet by many people. Oddly, both glucose and galactose individually are sweeter than they are combined as lactose. But whey and other high-lactose sweeteners made from dairy products are often added to milk in commercial food processing. If the milk itself were sweeter to begin with, then no extra sweeteners would be needed. [Lactose-free milk could be used in the first place, but it is expensive because of the lengthy period needed for the added lactase to work.]

An additional impact of this is that the process would be acceptable both to Europeans worried about genetically-modified food, since no new DNA is added. Instead one already-existing gene is stopped from working.

Prof. Kuipers said that while an industrial level process hasn't yet been developed, it isn't a big technical issue. Even so, don't expect to see this on the market for a few years.

Nonetheless, it's a startling advance and perhaps just a tease of what's coming as scientists learn more about manipulating genes. For good.

Probiotic Kefir Healthier Alternative to Yogurt

Here's a follow up to my earlier posts Functional Nondairy Makes Europe Healthier and Even Healthier Yogurt.

The range of low-lactose probiotic beverages is large and growing. The Today Show food editor Phil Lempert lists several of them in an article on MSNBC.com. Especially interesting are the kefir drinks. Kefir is as old a low-lactose dairy creation as yogurt and also comes out of the Middle East, where half the population tends to be lactose intolerant. A number of cultured or fermented low-lactose dairy products were developed there.

Lifeway Foods Kefir is a creamy probiotic dairy beverage similar to but distinct from yogurt. Its effervescent quality stems from the kefir culture which contains 10 active "friendly" microorganisms, compared to two or three in yogurt. Kefir also has more beneficial cultures than other fermented milk products, such as yogurt or buttermilk and is an ideal milk substitute for infants, pregnant women, nursing mothers, convalescents and elderly. It is a good remedy for digestive problems, and is particularly good in reestablishing necessary intestinal microflora, which may have been destroyed by antibiotic or other medical treatment. (lifeway.net)

PROBUGS™ is a new line of Organic Whole Milk Kefir for kids with fun characters and flavors even the pickiest eaters will like. Not only is it high in protein and calcium, it has added inulin for optimum calcium absorption. Plus it has 10 live and active cultures (friendly bacteria) to help their little bellies and immune system stay healthy. Sublime Slime Lime, Orange Creamy Crawler. 4-pack (5 oz. each) sells for $4.65 (lifeway.net)

Add kefir to your lists alongside of yogurt for a new and different taste that should contain the same benefits without as much of the sugar that is added to commercial yogurts.

Ethical Nondairy

A British magazine called Ethical Consumer has firm ideas on what makes for good products.

At their web site, the company says:

Ethical Consumer magazine publishes buyer's guides designed to help you find the products which best fit with your own values.

• Read the truth about the social and environmental records of the companies behind the brands you buy
  
  
• Learn about alternative products and support smaller, more ethical companies

I've never seen the magazine, but apparently its September-October 2006 issue includes their special "Ethiscore ethical rating tables for non-dairy milk." The Utne Reader magazine reports that the list includes familiar U.S. brands.

If any British readers find the magazine, let me know what the ratings are. And what an Ethiscore is.

Trick-or-Treat for Food Allergy Coin Collection Campaign

Trick-or-treating is more trick than treat for kids with a food allergy.

Bah. What a way to trivialize a serious subject. But you just know that you'll be seeing that lead on a zillion newspaper articles between now and Halloween. And the publishers wonder why people have stopped reading newspapers.

Stop it with the cutesy leads and the punning headlines and burying the national news on page three. And CBS, you want to save the Evening News? Take out all the fluff and make it solid hard news every single minute of the broadcast. Nothing can save Katie Couric but stop insulting us with the notion that news doesn't mean news.

Here's some news, plain and simple. FAAN, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, is doing its fourth annual Trick-or-Treat for Food Allergy Coin Collection Campaign. The Campaign provides an alternative to the possibly dangerous or even lethal trick-or-treating for kids with food allergies. Instead, the kids collect coins and compete nationally for prizes.

According to the FAAN press release:

Prizes will be awarded to children who raise a certain level of funds. Incentives for participation include a multi voice changer mega phone, MP3 player, X-Style Kaleidoscope, and an Icebar Radio with headphones. Proceeds will go toward food allergy education and research programs.

Participants from the past two years will receive their boxes in the mail by the beginning of October. Others interested in participating should contact FAAN at 1-800-929-4040 or visit their Web site at
http://www.foodallergy.org.

Parents can also organize special parties with allergen-safe foods for kids for dairy allergies, lactose intolerance, or other food issues. Let's break the candy/sugar/fat/calorie debacle that Halloween has become and find new ways to let our kids play dress-up and party.

Food Labels Not Understood by the Sick

We've all heard that the poor get sicker than the more well-off, and we've heard that too many people in the country don't understand what good nutrition means.

Now a study done at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows that the sicker are also the less-educated.

The study, "Patient Understanding of Food Labels: The Role of Literacy and Numeracy" by Russell L. Rothman, MD MPP, Ryan Housam, BS, Hilary Weiss, BS, Dianne Davis, RD CDE, Rebecca Gregory, MS RD CDE, Tebeb Gebretsadik MPH, Ayumi Shintani, PHD MPH, and Tom A. Elasy, MD MPH, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 31, Issue 5 (November 2006), and reported at Newswise.com, looked at 200 primary care patients from a "wide socioeconomic range."

Even so, 63% had less than 9th-grade numeracy skills and 23% had less than 9th-grade literacy skills. This was bound to be a problem, since 40% of the study patients "had a chronic illness for which specific dietary intervention is important (e.g., hypertension, diabetes), and 23% reported being on a specific diet plan."

They asked those in the study basic questions about interpreting and understanding nutrition labels, and to do the basic math required to convert a serving size to a whole package.

One part of the NLS [Nutrition Label Survey] asked subjects to interpret food labels, such as determining carbohydrate or caloric content of an amount of food consumed. The other part asked patients to choose which of two foods had more or less of a certain nutrient, giving patients a 50/50 chance to guess the correct food item. Also, half of the survey questions involved products that were clearly labeled on their package as "reduced carb," "low carb," or designed for "a low-carb diet."

…

Overall, patients correctly answered 69% (SD 21%) of the NLS questions. For example, only 32% of patients could correctly calculate the amount of carbohydrates consumed in a 20-ounce bottle of soda that had 2.5 servings in the bottle. Only 60% of patients could calculate the number of carbohydrates consumed if they ate half a bagel, when the serving size was a whole bagel. Only 22% of patients could determine the amount of net carbohydrates in 2 slices of low-carb bread, and only 23% could determine the amount of net carbohydrates in a serving of low-carb spaghetti. Common reasons for incorrect responses included misapplication of the serving size, confusion by extraneous material on the food label, and incorrect calculations.

The optimists would say there's good news in the finding that "Most patients reported using food labels and found labels easy to understand."

As a pessimist, I say that most is nowhere good enough. The nutrition labels are designed to be as simple as straightforward as possible while still retaining all the important information. They were tested for years before getting the government's OK. If more than three-quarters of a patient population can flunk understanding them, even for one question, then the labels aren't doing their job.

I don't blame the government for this. Schools are the one who are failing. Or have failed, since presumably all of the patients in the study were adults. Basic literacy and basic numeracy are absolute musts for health, for nutrition, for management of disease, and for every other aspect of life.

People have to be able to understand what they eat as well as the medicines they take and the advice doctors give them. If even a small percentage of the population can't do this, we're facing a health crisis. If large numbers of the population, especially the sicker part, can't do this, the crisis is already here.

Bad, bad news, indeed.

Kid Source Online Covers Food Recalls

Spinach has been in the news more than since Popeye was a midshipman. The Food and Drug Administration issued the current warning and product recall, but there are dozens of others which get less publicity.

One site that you can visit to check on a variety of product recall notices, along with huge amounts of other issues concerning children's health and safety, is Kid Source Online.

Of course, the source of all sources is the FDA itself. It maintains a Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts page that lists every action taken within the past 60 days.

Go Dairy Free Newsletter

I've mentioned the great Go Dairy Free site before. They're doing a fine job in collecting general dairy free information as well as dairy free products and recipes for those with lactose intolerance, dairy allergy, vegans, or anybody else who wants to avoid or limit dairy in their diets.

The September Go Dairy Free Newsletter is up on the site now. It includes reviews of individual dairy free products, recipes for Basil Chicken, Light Pasta Alfredo, Ma Po Tofu, and Paella, and discounts and coupons for dairy free items.

Alisa and her team are doing all the heavy lifting I had to give up on my web site, which lightens a lot of the guilt I felt. Think of Go Dairy Free as regular CNN and Planet Lactose as Headline News. Tune in either one for your dairyfree news fix.