Providing healthy and nutritious snacks for children is a difficult enough task in and of itself. However, when your child has a food allergy, the challenge can be even more daunting. Some food allergies are easy enough to work with if they fall into the “intolerance” category instead of a full-on allergy. However, if that allergy is more serious and involves a food item included in other meal and snack options, you will have to get creative.
Thankfully, in this day and age, many food manufacturers are becoming more and more sensitive to the topic of food allergies. All ingredients are listed clearly on packaging labels so that you can be more mindful about what is contained in the foods that you buy. Moreover, many companies have opted to create alternative food products specifically for people and children with food allergies.
Here are three snack swaps that you can make if your child is living with a food allergy.
1. Peanut Butter
Most kids grow up with peanut butter as a staple snack item. Peanut butter on toast, peanut butter, jelly sandwiches, and even peanut butter and bananas are all crowd-pleasers that most children love. Furthermore, peanut butter contains protein that is essential for growing children.
That being said, peanut allergies can be incredibly dangerous. From a scratchy throat to going into shock, peanuts can have devastating effects on young children who are allergic to them. With that in mind, if your child has a peanut allergy, they don’t have to go without that staple snack item altogether. Beyond The Equator – peanut free peanutbutter is a great option that can give your child the taste of peanut butter without the risk.
2. Milk
Lactose intolerance and milk allergies in children are more common than you might think. While most allergies to lactose won’t result in anaphylactic shock, they can have some incredibly uncomfortable and even painful results on a child’s gastrointestinal tract.
While there was once a time when an intolerance for lactose meant that milk was simply off the table, these days, there are a number of excellent milk alternatives that will help your child get the calcium they need. Moreover, such options taste good enough to be a welcome alternative to cow’s milk. These milks are derived from plant sources like soy or almond and contain a comparable amount of nutrients to cow’s milk.
3. Gluten
Another food intolerance or allergy that makes it difficult to find viable snack options for kids is gluten. While celiac disease is actually still relatively uncommon, gluten sensitivity can be difficult to live with. When your child wants to snack on something that contains gluten, such as tortilla chips or bread, you need to ensure that you give them a gluten-free alternative.
Thankfully, most grocery stores have an entire aisle dedicated to gluten-free foods. Also, things like potato chips and corn tortilla chips shouldn’t contain any gluten at all.
