Tiny Moment: Comes With the Job

The reality of Jaxson's food allergies have been catching up to me. Yesterday, he saw me eating a bowl of spaghetti for dinner and really wanted some. I went through his allergy check list in my head, egg - nope, dairy - nope, peanut - nope & soy - nope. Awesome I thought a food Jax can eat! So I gave him some and he LOVED it. Bite after bite, he gulped it down with a big smile. Then about 5 minutes later I stripped him down for tubby time and immediately noticed the beginnings of a rash on his back and chest, which gradually got worse by the minute. I grabbed the Benadryl, which he kind of loves (haha that's bad....really we only use it for allergies), gave him a dose and tossed him in the tub. Poor little guy kept itching and scratching. Today he still has the rash but it seems to be itching a lot less. So today I sat down with the labels from the noodles and the spaghetti sauce and tried to figure it out. No dairy listed, no egg listed, no peanut listed and no soy listed.....hmmmm, odd. Then as I researched more I found a few ingredient lists with alternative names and/or derivatives of dairy and soy items. There, on the soy derivatives list, I found "natural flavors"listed. I thought what?!?!?, no way, really? How is that soy? After even more research, I discovered that even though a law was passed in 2006 requiring the top 8 allergens (including soybeans, milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat & peanuts) be listed if used in any quantity in natural flavors, soy seems to be the exception and this is why.....Soy can be broken down in many different ways and during this process a lot of the protein is broken down as well. After the majority of protein is broken down, most people with a soy allergy will not have a reaction, therefore removing it as an allergen that requires listing. Unfortunately for Jax, something in the natural flavoring in Prego sauce contains enough soy to cause a rash. So random, because he can other products with natural flavoring and have no reaction. So it seems to me that some companies use soy in their natural flavoring and some do not.....just makes it a hard thing to tackle!

So what's a mom to do with this new information besides have a little freak out and eat chocolate in a locked closet!?!?! For me I always do better when I am informed and educated. Today I have discovered that most processed foods contain natural flavoring and the only way to determine what its derived from is to call the manufacturer and "grill" them  (from what I have read from others, the companies are not super forthcoming with the ingredients of their natural flavoring) or wait for a reaction after eating something with natural flavoring. I also discovered that making things from scratch is probably going to be the best way to go to eliminate soy from Jax's diet. I guess the Lord knew the only way I would become a consistent cook is to have a kid with multiple food allergies. So now, I am on the hunt for vegan recipes (no eggs or milk) but adding meat back in and making sure there is no soy (which adding soy to a Vegan diet is super common) or peanuts involved. Needless to say I am slightly overwhelmed. Thank goodness for Pinterest and so many people that have chosen to blog their amazing recipes. Now I just need to breath, move forward and figure it all out.