Does Some Wine (or Beer) Trigger Your Food Allergies?

Have an allergic/sensitive reaction after drinking certain wines but not others? Beer, of course is made with wheat and barley, so if you have celiac disease or an allergy to these grains, find a gluten-free beer that you like.  However, if you have multiple food allergies, or are vegan, wine and beer both have "fining agents" that can be

• bone marrow
• casien (milk)
• egg albumum derived from egg whites
• shellfish shell fiber (called "chitin")
• fish oil
• gelatin (dervied from animal parts)
• gelatin (derived from fish membranes)

... Some wines have even used grains, although in my own research it seems this practice is not as prevalent anymore. I've started researching this more deeply, and glad to find this article on Lifehacker​ confirming my suspicions.  Does this answer any burning questions?

There is the great debate about how distillation and refining of alcoholic beverages breaks down the proteins so that the immune system doesn't see the allergen anymore. Being a canary in a coal mine, myself, I can tell, with one sip, if a beverage contains my allergens - distilled out or not. Even if a so-labeled potato vodka has a mix of refined grain alcohols in the bottle, my body reacts nearly instantly. If it does not, I have no problem. The fining agents, however, are not distilled out of the beverage, so even if you are not a creature of great sensitivity like myself, but still have allergies, this is something of which to be aware.

What can you do?

Look for unfined wines or unfinished wines as a start. There are no laws requiring labeling of fining agents in alcoholic beverages, so you will not find them on the label. Unfined wines might be a little more cloudy, but this will clear up with time. Besides, its better to be safe and drink cloudy wine.

Barnivore has a great list of vegan wines. So if you are allergic to dairy, fish, or animal products, this is another great place to do your own research.

Here are a couple of articles on the subject:

Why Wine Can Trigger Your Food Allergies

Not All Wine is Vegan, and Here's Why

Chef Tip: Store Onion Ends in Freezer for Use in Stocks & Broths

Do you ever feel wasteful after you peel and chop an onion, and have to throw away your onion ends?  Throw 'em in the freezer in a ziplock freezer bag and use in bone broths, meat broths and soup stocks. When you take out the bones and herbs, take out the onion ends, too. You don't even have to peel, and definately don't thaw them. Just throw 'em in as is.

Chef Tip: Use Your Celery Leaves for Flavor!

Do you throw your celery leaves away? Don't! The leaves add HUGE flavor to soups, stocks, stews, sauces, roasted birds, and more. How do you use your celery leaves?

Chef Tip: Pot Boiling Over? Place a Wooden Spoon on It.

If you are like me, you are easily distracted in the kitchen, and not terribly patient. I've spent many a 5-minute interval waiting for that pot to boil. As soon as I turn my back to accomplish an actual task, the contents of the pot are all over the stove. 

A simple solution is a wooden spoon. Place it over the top of your pot, and it absorbs and bursts the bubbles enough to keep the liquid in the pot where it belongs. This actually works.

Your 5 minute intervals are no longer lost in wasted waiting. You're welcome.

How to Read Egg Carton Labels

If you are confused and concerned by egg labeling, you are not alone. When you read what each label allows or disallows, it is in one moment comforting, and in the next, shocking. For instance, Cage-Free allows the chickens who lay the eggs to roam free, but does not guarantee that they are exposed to sunlight and also allows beak cutting, a gruesome practice to keep the chickens from pecking each other in close quarters.

So read more, and consider getting your eggs from a local farm with a reputation you can count on.

This simple graphic from Willy Blackmore, Take Part's food editor helps us make better decisions when we feel the chill of the refrigerator aisle and reach for those cartons.

 Click the graphic to make it bigger and more readable.

Via: TakePart.com