Any vegans?

[mickeyismybff]

About half the population who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soya milk, as much as I hate to say it!

But I'm glad you're getting support from your GP and so on. My allergies all magnified after having a baby so I was given a lot of 'you're just tired and your body will sort itself out' and ended up doing a restrictive diet just to figure it out myself because I was in agony. DS goes to a proper allergist though and his consultant is very young and quite geeky in her following of every bit of research going and I love that she will talk it all through with us. He tests fine on all the RAST tests so a few years back would have just been told he has dodgy skin and not to change his diet. Actually eating anything with milk gives him hives over his whole body within an hour so... call it allergy or don't call it allergy, it's definitely something. :lol: I laughed a lot (because what else can you do) about just eating fish and leaves, because for a while that was all I could have without all the reactions - literally steamed fish and plain green veg so either salad, broccoli, or green beans, every day. But after a period of fish and leaves healed the inflammation, life is way more fun now and I can eat quite a few things to a reasonable amount and feel when I need to reset by eating really clean for a few days and not get anywhere near where I was at my worst.

Sorry, I've gone way off topic now but just have a big fist bump of solidarity that it sucks but it gets better and you WILL feel better and you will have an awesome time at Disney, and seriously, I love travelling other places but nowhere makes it as easy as Disney with allergies. (Hopefully I've managed to get back on topic just a little there. )

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by loldis

Make sure to write down specifics for anything processed like chips - e.g. were they seasoned? Brand like McCain almost always have gluten in them, which people don't often associate with chips as they just think potatoes. Quorn unless specifically marked vegan always has egg in it from memory. But the vegan Quorn often uses wheat instead of egg to bind, can't win if you're trying to exclude both.

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The chips were just potato and sunflower oil (just checked the packet). The quorn listed egg in the ingredients and I had it with egg mayo. As i'm using an immunosuppresant for my skin the main things to look out for are stomach symptoms and generally feeling unwell. Will cut out egg again and see how I go!

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by mickeyismybff

About half the population who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soya milk, as much as I hate to say it!

But I'm glad you're getting support from your GP and so on. My allergies all magnified after having a baby so I was given a lot of 'you're just tired and your body will sort itself out' and ended up doing a restrictive diet just to figure it out myself because I was in agony. DS goes to a proper allergist though and his consultant is very young and quite geeky in her following of every bit of research going and I love that she will talk it all through with us. He tests fine on all the RAST tests so a few years back would have just been told he has dodgy skin and not to change his diet. Actually eating anything with milk gives him hives over his whole body within an hour so... call it allergy or don't call it allergy, it's definitely something. :lol: I laughed a lot (because what else can you do) about just eating fish and leaves, because for a while that was all I could have without all the reactions - literally steamed fish and plain green veg so either salad, broccoli, or green beans, every day. But after a period of fish and leaves healed the inflammation, life is way more fun now and I can eat quite a few things to a reasonable amount and feel when I need to reset by eating really clean for a few days and not get anywhere near where I was at my worst.

Sorry, I've gone way off topic now but just have a big fist bump of solidarity that it sucks but it gets better and you WILL feel better and you will have an awesome time at Disney, and seriously, I love travelling other places but nowhere makes it as easy as Disney with allergies. (Hopefully I've managed to get back on topic just a little there. )

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I don't fully remember what things I chose on the RAST test (there was a limit of 9) but I seem to remember soya beans were on there, and my Dr didn't mention that. She only said a mild allergy to cow's milk, and cats which is insane as I don't react to my cat at all - not so much as a sneeze when he's sat on my lap.

I also know it must be dietary/immunity related and not something at home as I have it when I am abroad. In fact one of the worst flare ups was when I went to Croatia. Pretty much all I ate there due to lack of vegetarian food was bread, cheese and tomato and I had the worst flare up especially on my lips. I couldn't talk for days after I got back

I know what an airborne allergy is like as I have hay fever and this feels very different and unmanageable.

I can match the 'fish and leaves' diet - my safety diet is rice crackers and cucumber. Sooooo boring but when i'm so uncomfortable and in pain it's all I want to risk!

[Guest]

I would make the point of saying that you have a dairy allergy rather than just vegan because they will likely be more cautious of cross contamination. I am vegetarian and dairy and soy free. It was actually fairly easy at Disney because they're set up so well to cater for allergies. We asked for a chef every time because DD2 had a long list of exclusions, and mostly the chefs were fantastic.

I had an awful experience in Starbucks in HS. They put cream and caramel drizzle on my coconut milk hot chocolate after I had (obviously) said no. Second time round they were just about to put the lid on when someone emptied a milk jug from shoulder height at the sink behind my drink. I wasn't overly amused with them.

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by Hollie04

I would make the point of saying that you have a dairy allergy rather than just vegan because they will likely be more cautious of cross contamination. I am vegetarian and dairy and soy free. It was actually fairly easy at Disney because they're set up so well to cater for allergies. We asked for a chef every time because DD2 had a long list of exclusions, and mostly the chefs were fantastic.

I had an awful experience in Starbucks in HS. They put cream and caramel drizzle on my coconut milk hot chocolate after I had (obviously) said no. Second time round they were just about to put the lid on when someone emptied a milk jug from shoulder height at the sink behind my drink. I wasn't overly amused with them.

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How did you know it was soy you were allergic/intolerant by the way? The RAST test didn't show up for me but it's still top of the list of potentials along with egg now. Soy is in so many things!

That's bad about Starbucks at Disney! I was going to see if I could get a decaf latte with coconut milk here in the UK as i'm craving something like that. Hopefully they won't mess it up as I don't want to risk another month of sickness and skin problems.

[Wee_Red]

Team Almond milk! Make sure you avoid certain seasonal drinks like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I've been quite fortunate with the Starbucks here who actually alert you to things like that.

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by Wee_Red

Team Almond milk! Make sure you avoid certain seasonal drinks like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I've been quite fortunate with the Starbucks here who actually alert you to things like that.

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Do they do the pumpkin spice latter and other seasonal drinks with non-dairy milk instead, and decaf? Coconut milk is my fav!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Gelatoni

How did you know it was soy you were allergic/intolerant by the way? The RAST test didn't show up for me but it's still top of the list of potentials along with egg now. Soy is in so many things!

That's bad about Starbucks at Disney! I was going to see if I could get a decaf latte with coconut milk here in the UK as i'm craving something like that. Hopefully they won't mess it up as I don't want to risk another month of sickness and skin problems.

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It’s actually my daughter who has the allergies. She came out in hives with dairy when we started weaning on to solids so we were referred to the paeds dietician. The dietician told me that a large number of people with dairy allergies are also allergic to soy, so cut it out initially then trial again. We gave her some soya yoghurt and had reactions on two occasions. That was enough for the dietician to say that there is an allergy.
I don’t think they do any testing on under 1s as allergies can change so much. I’ve read in to it a bit and the biggest issue is that there are IGE mediated and non IGE allegiance, only IGE allergies will show up in tests. Non IGE tend to be delayed reactions but can be just as serious. I suspect DD2 is non IGE with soy.

I forgot to mention allergies when I ordered at Starbucks because I thought asking for coconut milk was obvious enough. I’ve heard people say that you should ask for the milk wand to be cleaned before use with alternative milks because that’s a huge source of cross contamination. I would now always make sure that I can see my drink being made if it’s busy and they’re likely to be rushing around!

[mickeyismybff]

Originally Posted by Hollie04

I’ve heard people say that you should ask for the milk wand to be cleaned before use with alternative milks because that’s a huge source of cross contamination. I would now always make sure that I can see my drink being made if it’s busy and they’re likely to be rushing around!

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We go for cold drinks at Starbucks to avoid the cross contamination on the machines, though I have to admit they look much cleaner at the parks than in my local Starbucks at home! But it's good advice to say it's an allergy just so they are aware and can be careful. I had a barista get ice from the back for a cold drink once when we said that as she knew there had been a spill over the ice earlier and said although it was cleaned up, it wouldn't be emptied and completely disinfected until after close, so she'd rather get us ice that hadn't made it to the front line yet. I would never have thought of such a thing and we were really lucky that she did. I've never really asked for ice from somewhere else or anything because I don't know how that works and I doubt it's consistent from one location to another, but sometimes I do that terribly British thing of not wanting to be a fuss so I don't mention it and in retrospect, it's definitely better when I do. So don't have that thought - it's not a fuss!

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Gelatoni

Do they do the pumpkin spice latter and other seasonal drinks with non-dairy milk instead, and decaf? Coconut milk is my fav!

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They will make any drink with any coffee and milk you like, but the pumpkin spice sauce has dairy (condensed milk from memory) in it. The gingerbread latte is fine without the toppings though, as the syrup itself is dairy free.

Most baristas are very good at making as directed but I do always keep an eye on them to make sure they're using the right milk. I've only had a few occasions where they've messed up (I get Starbucks a lot - it's my indulgence ) and it's normally because the person taking the order wrote it down wrong. I always use the mobile app now, as it prints up all the changes on a sticker so they can't miss it.

They have a very extensive allergens list here: starbucks/quick-links/nutrition-info (note this is the UK one, there may be some variations when travelling to the US due to different suppliers so always ask if you're unsure)