If you have grandchildren with food allergies, you know that snacktime is often fraught with obsessive label-reading, phone calls to the parents, and worried Google visits before and after. So much for those plans to spoil the grandkids with whatever junk food they want.
To manage your grandchildren's special diets more easily, there's a new online tool, Food Content Alerts, which is, in equal parts, a database of allergy-safe foods, a community of parents and grandparents of kids with food sensitivities, and a news feed featuring up-to-the-minute alerts from the FDA. Current manufacturing and ingredient info that you won't find on most food labels is also available on the site, which makes buying the sweet treats and salty chips your grandchild deserves a little less nerve-racking.
How it works: Parents create an account and make a customized profile for each child according to the his or her allergies or sensitivities. If your 8-year-old grandson can't have peanuts, his parents can search the database for safe food products, browse other parents' peanut-free recipes and tips, and share a list of safe foods for him with his school, his friends' parents, and you. You can print your grandchild's shopping list, or, if you have a mobile phone with Web access, view his or her profile and search for new foods on the website, in real time, while you're at the market.
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