Thursday, September 1, 2011

New treat pops into our lives

Popcorn is yummy!
Oh, I love popcorn!
Pamela also likes it.
Cake is sweet like popcorn, but popcorn has salt on it.
Open the bag and see a yummy treat!
Rivers of popcorn would be fun to swim in.
Nothing is better than popcorn!

My 8-year-old son excitedly wrote this acrostic poem today after his first taste of popcorn. Joseph, who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, egg and soy, could hardly wait to get home to try a handful of the Angie's Kettle Corn that we picked up at Whole Foods. His eyes popped with delight as he crunched the tasty snack and exclaimed that it was, "The best snack ever!" My husband and I agree that the all-natural popcorn is fabulous! Just a few natural ingredients blend together to find the perfect balance of salty and sweet.

After several years of trying unsuccessfully to find a safe brand of popcorn for Joseph, I was excited when I saw a tweet from Sloane Miller, author of "Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies," touting Angie's Kettle Corn.  I was thrilled to see the information in regard to allergens on the company's website. The website clearly states the ingredients and manufacturing practices, and it sums it up in a phrase that allowed me to head to the popcorn aisle today:

"All three varieties of Angie’s are allergen free, certified gluten free and certified Kosher. Furthermore, our facility is 100% free of all peanuts and tree nuts, and our equipment is not used for any products containing allergens or gluten, ever."

In addition to finding a safe, delicious popcorn, I found a company that is upfront about its ingredients and manufacturing practices — something not always so easy to find. No customer service runaround here, just a simple snack to make my son smile.

The new tasty treat helped us celebrate a milestone for Joseph after his appointment today with his allergist. He has been getting weekly immunotherapy shots for his environmental allergies for a year. The allergist confirmed that they do seem to be helping Joseph. He feels better in general and he has had fewer asthma flare-ups during the past year.

Joseph was happy that the good news meant he could receive his shots every other week instead of every week. Joseph never complains about our weekly shot visit or the discomfort from the injection. I am so proud of the way he handles all aspects of living with allergies and asthma. So, I was thrilled that his new snack was a hit. I have a feeling I will be making another popcorn run very soon.