Creating a "safe list" of ingredients is a proactive way to simplify food label reading and quickly identify foods that are likely to be safe for you. This list contains ingredients you know you can tolerate. Here's how to create and use one:
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Start with Your Known Safe Foods: Think about the foods you regularly eat without any allergic reactions. Make a list of the key ingredients in those foods.
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Check Product Labels: When you're at the grocery store or looking at food labels at home, check the ingredient lists of the foods you know are safe. Add any additional safe ingredients you find to your list.
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Organize Your List: You can organize your safe list in several ways:
- Alphabetical Order: This makes it easy to quickly find a specific ingredient.
- By Food Category: Grouping safe ingredients by food category (e.g., grains, fruits, vegetables, proteins) can be helpful.
- Add Them On Mealeez: Mealeez allows you to mark ingredients as "safe" in your Profile, meaning they will not be flagged when scanning food labels or on restaurant menus when dining out.
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Use Your Safe List When Reading Labels: When you're checking a new food label, scan the ingredient list first for any ingredients from your safe list. If you see several ingredients from your safe list, the product is more likely to be a safe choice.
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Combine with Allergen Avoidance: Your safe list is a complement to your allergen avoidance strategy, not a replacement for it. You should always check for your specific allergens, even if the label contains ingredients from your safe list. Ingredients may be processed in facilities that also process your allergens, so cross-contamination is still a risk.
Example:
Let's say you know you can safely eat rice, chicken, carrots, and broccoli. Your initial safe list might look like this:
- Rice
- Chicken
- Carrots
- Broccoli
Then, when checking labels, you might find that some products also contain safe ingredients like "olive oil," "salt," and "pepper." You would add those to your safe list.