| Avoiding Garlic and
Onions Tish Richardson PhD has kindly provided an extract from her book The
Tolerant Cook - The Allergy and Food Intolerance Cookbook. Tish's
book provides additional information on how to avoid garlic and
onions.
(See end of article for link to book.)
Avoiding garlic in commercially made foods is indeed a challenge;
you are safer to assume a product is guilty until proven innocent
and that garlic will most likely be present in any savoury sauce,
condiment, pre-prepared meal, etc. The issue is complicated as
garlic would normally be considered a 'food' and warrant inclusion
in the ingredient list but its presence is often hidden under the
generic terms 'spices' or 'natural flavour'. This necessitates
contacting manufacturers about individual products to check whether
or not garlic is included. Some manufacturers are prepared to
give out information on its inclusion in a product as a spice, while
others consider this proprietary information and will advise 'they
cannot disclose the spice content of a product', sometimes with the
qualification 'if you are allergic to garlic or onions then avoid
the product'. Additionally, there is no requirement under the
current Food Standards Code that any change to a 'spice' in a
product, to include or remove garlic, be reflected in a change to
the ingredient listing. Usually, onion is declared as a food
ingredient and so is generally easier than garlic to identify in
foods; however, it can be included in a product and described
in the ingredient list as 'natural flavour'.
Various forms of garlic and onion may be included in commercially
prepared foods, ranging from the whole bulb or clove, garlic or
onion extract, powder, minced or granulated garlic, to garlic oil;
all of these can cause a reaction in anyone sensitive to the
ubiquitous bulbs.
Additionally, where sensitivity to garlic is high, asafoetida or
hing may also cause a similar reaction, even though it is not
related to garlic or the lily family. Asafoetida is made from
the dried resinous sap of a variety of giant fennel and has a very
strong, foetid odour; it is available in two powdered forms -
brown or yellow - which usually include wheat starch as a bulking
and anti-caking agent. It is used in Indian vegetarian meals
and pickles (such as lime pickle) to add a garlic-like flavour with
onion overtones.
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Book by Tish Richardson PhD
The Tolerant Cook-The Allergy and Food Intolerance Cookbook
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