The Allergy & Free From Show
The Allergy & Free From Show
I only discovered the show in 2017- I am always late to the allergy parties. I was living within 5 minutes of the Olympia event space and researched the events that were coming up and I found it. I couldn’t believe it. A place where there were people like me & who lived like me!
When I went I was amazed at the size of the show, how many people and companies were there. It was a show that a lot of booths contained nuts. There were a few that were free of the 14 allergens, but, as you know, a lot of my food allergies are outside of that list. I felt very disheartened. There were lots of vegan & gluten free booths, which I can understand, as there is a lot of money within those communities and there are a lot of people who live that lifestyle that do not have a dairy or gluten allergy (or intolerance).
I gained so much knowledge about the community that year! I bought a lot of cocoa Libre chocolate and drank many allergy friendly beers but I also left it feeling like I was underrepresented. That is when I truly was driven to be more involved in this community, investing more into my instagram and making moves to start this blog. I do thank the show for pushing me and searching for more people who have the same allergies as me and to connect with them, on a deeper level than I had been.
This year - 2019 (In 2018 I didn’t attend, as I was prepping my content and mission statement for this blog, which went live in September of that year!) I went back to see if it had changed much, but mainly to to buy a ton more Cocoa Libre (the new salted caramel bar to be exact) but I had such a different experience. There were a lot more nut free options and, from what I saw, no nuts were on display. There were booths about eczema, asthma. Food delivery companies that engaged with me about their policy on cross contamination. - I went with Riverford - excellent service and staff. It was quite incredible that within two years I felt that the allergy show was really an allergy show.
The company Nomo - which is a sub category of Kinnerton chocolate, which provides safe chocolate for nut allergy sufferers. Although nuts are used in their factories, they “have spent over £1 million to keep Nuts OUT of our segregated and walled off non nut Factory. This results in 5 of our production lines being able to offer up chocolate products for children and adults that are produced in controlled conditions on machinery that never runs nut products.” I have always used Kinnerton chocolate in my baking and the new Nomo range allows people with a nut allergy & dairy allergy to enjoy creamy, delicious chocolate bar that we have been deprived of for a long time. They were the only booth to supply their products in single containers and place their chocolate with gloves on - I was so happy to finally eat a sample at an expo, that I bought a whole box mixed with chocolate, salted caramel, and fruit & choc (my favourite - I have always wanted a Cadburys fruit & nut, and know I fell like I did!)
I really hope that over the next few years the show will expand their collection of brands that have a policy in segregating their food from nuts and other severe allergens, and that the brands will take the up most care when distributing their products free from cross-contamination.
Every year I think we are moving in the right direction when it comes to awareness, prevention and knowledge within our community. We are always learning (I am human too and I am not perfect) but allowing advice form spectators and sufferers is a great tool in expanding our minds and research. I hope to go as many of the shows I can. They have them in a lot of UK based cities all year round, and they are very active on Instagram.
I hope that if you are a sufferer or some one who supports attend the show at least once and engage in a dialogue, to further your understanding but also the understanding of the people who don’t attend on the outside world of this community. Every little bit helps in making this world safer for us, so thank you!
Brands that I found at The Allergy & Free From Show:
Brands that I wish were at The Allergy & Free From Show:
I am so grateful that this show exists. All of my views are based on my allergies and my own specific experiences. Everything needs to grow and develop, we are all human and make mistakes or errors but the fact that there are people in the world advocating for allergy people is the most important thing!
I look forward to July 3-6 2020!
