Food allergies have become a hot topic in recent decades, especially among the parents of children with food allergies. A Centers for Disease Control study showed the prevalence of reported food allergies for children increased 18 percent from 1997 to 2007. According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, scientists have estimated that about 15 million Americans have a food allergy, including about 6 million children. Many parents of these children are trying their best to find substitutes for classic American dishes, especially comforting kid foods like pizza, mac n’ cheese, birthday cakes, pudding, cookies, and the like.
Obviously, some foods are more difficult to substitute for than others (for example: wheat, eggs, and dairy) and some have easy substitutes but are unfortunately present in everything (like peanut and soy). And some cities are more allergy-friendly than others.
Anchorage’s dining scene is not, if I’m honest, allergy-friendly, but the community as a whole is becoming more aware that there is a need for, and business in, catering to dietary restrictions.
So where can you go and what can you do to feed your food-allergic children and their friends?
Check out Ash's cover story in this week's Anchorage Press!
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