Local Experts Weigh In On How To Lighten The Bill When Shopping For Kids With Food Allergies
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Parents of children with food allergies are often in a position of having to spend more money at the grocery store than those who don't.
As Professor of Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University, Dr. Christopher Chang sees children with food allergies.
"One of the more difficult situations is when you have someone who has a lot of different allergies, so they have more than just one food allergy in terms of finding affordable foods," he said.
Registered Dietician and Clinical Nutrition Manager at Cooper University Hospital Maureen Scaramella agrees, but she says cooking for someone with a wheat, milk and egg allergy are the most challenging.
"If you want to just to substitute something else for milk, you could use something like rice milk, soy milk. If you had to substitute eggs -- apple sauce, a quarter cup replaces one egg. Mashed bananas work the same way.
All of these food substitutes are inexpensive and allow you to preserve most of your recipe without having to resort to an expensive pre-prepared food.
For children's lunches, Scaramella recommends humus dips and fresh veggies to replace wheat laden breads.
