'Tis the season for lovely tubs of Quality Street, Celebrations, Heroes and biscuit assortments passed round offices or left under the tree to enjoy on Christmas Day!  Selection packs like these usually list allergen ingredients only for the combined contents, not for each sweet or biscuit.  How are you supposed to know which one is made with hazelnut prallne or egg fondant?   No problem - ring the free Customer Helpline. Listen in as Allergy Today calls four Customer Helplines - United Biscuits (McVities), Cadbury, Mars and Nestlé - to find out if they can provide allergy information for indi ..read more

Our second podcast recorded in front of a live audience at #FoodMattersLive, with Ruth and Quentin. This week we find out how to cope with allergy customers from two award-winning restaurateurs, discuss the proposed #OwensLaw (expect to be surprised!), and debate why the 14 listed allergens is only the beginning.  Dominic Teague, Executive Chef at the famous Indigo One restaurant @OneAldwych turned his hotel gluten and dairy-fee, re-designed all his dishes, changed the culture & approach of his staff and became a more creative chef.  Sara Wren founded the UK's first gluten free restaurant ..read more

The first of two podcasts recorded in front of audiences at the Food Matters Live 2019 conference.  Do restaurants and food establishments really look after allergy customers? What impact has Natasha's Law had, and is Owen's Law a good thing? Can mobile Apps help allergy sufferers, and would you trust them?  Ruth, Alice and Quentin are joined by blogger Lindiwe Lewis @the.allergy.table, Nathalie Newman @intolerantgourmand and her 8 year old son Callum (he's got 28 allergies!), and our great pal Dan Kelly @_maycontain to chew over what it's like to eat out and how far the industry still has to ..read more

This week the Allergy Today team discuss another avoidable anaphylaxis death, milk cross-contamination in coffee shops and Ruth contracts painful shingles from the methotrexate she's taking to come off topical steroids. Meanwhile Quentin gets excited by Waitrose flagging up recipe changes and we call Lucy's on a Plate in Ambleside - Ruth's absolute favourite allergy-friendly restaurant!  We talk to Bryony Mansell-Lewis, the organiser of Food Matters Live, the largest food producer exhibition and conference taking place at Excel in Docklands.  Listen at the end of the podcast for details of two ..read more

Recorded in front of a live audience at the Allergy & Free From Winter Show in Liverpool, Ruth and Quentin are joined by Tanya Ednan-Laperouse from @NatashasFoundation, Aimee Allen, a primary school teacher and @AllergyStarts blogger and Dan Kelly from @_MayContain.  We discuss Auto-injectors ("Epipens"), demonstrate how to use them properly, ask why TV and Hollywood gets it all wrong, the shortcomings of these devices and we give you our Top 10 Auto-Injector Tips for surviving an anaphylactic reaction.  Listen to the end for details of our two Live Podcasts @FoodMattersLive, Excel, Dockl ..read more

Quentin, Ruth and Alice in conversation with Clare Hussein (@Allergy_mumof1 on Instagram), her journey discovering and dealing with her daughter's allergies, eczema and anaphylaxis. Unhelpful and often incorrect information from the medical profession add to the frustration. Clare's story will ring bells for many parents struggling to cope with their children's allergies.  Listen out for a classic Morecambe & Wise moment...  Recorded in four different places at the same time ..read more

Ruth reckons she got shingles from methotrexate, Quentin shuns exquisite tapas in Madrid, Robbyn Snow (the Allergy Show) tells us how they keep visitors allergy-safe, Environmental Health Officer Karen Martin tells us why peanuts come with a "May Contain" warning, how she polices the food trade and who she'd close down if she had a magic wand. We get ready for our live podcast in Liverpool on 3rd  November.  See you at The Free From Show Winter 2019 ..read more

Ruth finds the perfect allergy-friendly restaurant. Quentin's egg allergy catches him out - again! Bear Grylls suffers a major reaction to a bee sting and we discuss take-aways who don't know what's in their kebabs.    Our guest is the wonderful Dan Kelly who blogs and pods as #May_Contain. His mission is to normalise allergies for younger age groups, making it OK to carry your Epipen and teach friends how to administer it.   He's a real inspiration ..read more

Ever wondered how much doctors know about allergies? In this unmissable AllergyToday Special, we talk to Dr. Stephanie Ooi, "The GP Mum" who, whilst holidaying on a tropical island, discovered her 5 month old baby had severe allergies. Even though she's a GP, she was unprepared, and so began her own journey: living with allergies. Now she helps other parents via Instagram (@the_gp_mum) and at her practice. Quentin, Ruth and Alice get a consultation ..read more

Coeliac disease is a serious auto-immune disease where gluten damages the small intestine. It affects 1 in 100 people, yet 70% of sufferers haven't been diagnosed. Coeliac UK's Lorna Gardner explains all. We talk to supermum Rebecca Smith whose daughter Bethany was eating erasers, chalk, and bits of the house. She thought it may be due to Bethany's Type 1 diabetes but her own research led to a coeliac disease diagnosis and miraculous recovery.  #coeliac #celiac ..read more