Egg-ceptional Easter: Celebrating Safely with Food Allergies

Shout out to Claude AI for helping this tired mama out with a fun title for this blog! But from here on, it’s all me!

You ready? Let’s dive in and talk about celebrating Easter with food allergies.

Growing up, Easter was always celebrated in my home - with traditional hot cross buns (with REAL icing for the cross, not bits of flour), going to church in a new dress and having a chocolate easter egg or bunny. The truth is, I never once thought about how deeply ingrained chocolate and Easter was ingrained into my experience.

According to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) website “cow's milk allergy is one of the most common presentations of food allergy seen in early childhood” and guess what 99.99% of Easter chocolate bunnies and eggs are made of? You guessed it - DAIRY! Thankfully, there is a bit more choice on the supermarket shelves and as a parent of a child with a dairy allergy, my eyes filled with happy tears as I looked at the free free selection at my local Sainsbury’s and saw shelves of allergy-friendly options.

So, how do we navigate Easter while maintaining the magic?

✨ Be Prepared
Whether it’s an easter egg hunt by a friend, Easter lunch with family or an Easter event day out, do these 3 things:
1. Talk to your child before hand - “We’re going to x (event) today. How are you feeling? Are you worried about anything?”
2. Have a game plan about what to do if their allergen is present - “If there’s y (allergen), here’s what we’ll do …”. Remind them they are not alone.
3. Walk with allergy-safe alternatives.

✨ Beyond Chocolate Eggs - Creating Allergy-Friendly Easter Traditions
Regardless of your religious affiliation, Easter is so much more than chocolates (although my daughters' might beg to differ)! Making an Easter bonnet, spending time in your garden or local park looking at the daffodils and tulips, drawing chicks and bunnies, making Easter cards, baking allergy-friendly cookies, hopping around like bunnies, looking for bunny-shaped clouds in the sky or having an Easter-themed movie marathon … the list is endless. Spending time doing meaningful activities and being together is the important part.

✨ Navigating Social Events
Safety first, always. Do what works best for you and your family. This could look like discussing allergy-safe options with the host, bringing your own safe alternatives or simply choosing to be present for an event (and not eating).

If you are a friend or family member of someone with a food allergy or intolerance, here are 3 things you can do:
1. Ask them (again!) what specifically they are intolerant or allergic to.
2. Ask them what are 1-2 dishes that they can safely have and if they have a recipe they can share with you.
3. Keep all food packaging so they can double check the ingredients.

✨ Creating Opportunities To Talk
It’s really important to create space and opportunities to talk about any feelings of “being different” or exclusion because of their allergies and intolerances. For example, I took a moment this week to ask my daughter (with dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut allergies) what she thought about egg painting and just allowed her to talk about whatever came to mind - as I recognized that in her 9 years, she’s never once painted an egg. I don’t know if she’ll ever paint an egg and it’s a question I’ve now made a note of to ask our allergy consultant at our next visit!
Ask them about what they enjoy about Easter and what makes it special. And know it’s okay to acknowledge the tough and tricky bits of celebrating Easter with food allergies. All feelings are welcome and valid.

Wishing you all a safe and magical Easter!

And as always, remember to take your 2 Adrenaline Auto-Injectors on all your adventures! 🐰