I confess, like so many organizations, we put up an FAQ section when our website was inaugurated (five years ago) with the best of intentions. A few questions were added in the beginning, but as the website progressed with content, that wee little section was ignored. This does not mean the questions ceased, oh no. For years we have been personally fielding your questions, and it seemed about time we start publishing them.

As you may have noticed, we started a new weekly feature called "Ask Alisa" to highlight some of your questions and our researched answers. Realizing that this may actually be our new FAQ's, we have started an Ask Alisa section on Go Dairy Free to put all of these questions in one place for your ease and perusal.

We promise that your questions will continue to be a central feature on Go Dairy Free each week, no longer relinquished to the hidden FAQ department. And as you can imagine, with at least one new Q&A per week, that section will grow quite rapidly ...

Q: Heather (of Heather Eats Almond Butter) - I was curious about how my body would react to heavy whipping cream and butter. I know I have problems with the proteins in dairy, but do you know of anyone who has to skip out on the high protein dairy products like yogurt and cottage cheese but can handle the ones that are mostly fat?

A: Alisa – The answer to this question hinges on the level of milk sensitivity and the product in question.

In general, heavy cream will offer little relief to someone who is sensitive to milk, and will still pose a threat to the milk allergic. Cream varies in grade depending on the country. In the U.S., heavy cream or heavy whipping cream is defined as 36% milk fat or higher. It is the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. Increasing the fat “pushes out” some of the proteins, but not all. For example, skim milk contains about 8 grams of protein per cup, while fluid heavy cream contains just under 5 grams of protein per cup. There is certainly enough protein remaining in heavy cream to cause problems for most people who are sensitive to milk proteins (whey, casein, or otherwise), and it is definitely an unsuitable food for those with moderate to severe milk allergies ...

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has announced that registration for the 2010 Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward a Cure is officially open. According to FAAN, the mission of the walk is, "To raise public awareness, to provide advocacy and education, and to advance research on behalf of all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis."

In 2009, the event hosted 18,000 walkers in 33 cities and online using the Alexander's Hometown Virtual Walk (for those who aren't near a walk or who can't make the date), raising over $1.8 million.

Now in its seventh year, this fundraising event will be held in over 50 cities across the United States throughout the year. Visit the Walk Locations page to see if there will be a walk in your local area.

Update: February 15, 2010 - The Picky Eater app has been renamed to "Allergy Guard."  In addition to the name change, they have also released Allergy Guard Lite, which is a free version of the app, though ad-supported. 

January 20, 2010 - Cooking Allergy Free has announced the availability of a new iPhone or iPod Touch application specifically for those with food allergies. The app, "Picky Eater", is packed with information about over 1500 ingredients. Each listing contains a description and it's association to over 150 different allergen groups. All information is stored on the device so that you can easily take it with you to the grocery store, out to eat, or while you're making your next recipe. When near an internet connection, the application has the ability to update it's listings as new ingredients and allergens are added. Plus, the application is just $1.99.

Future versions are already being worked on which will contain some great new features, such as storing your allergies for easier searching, ability to select ingredients to create a shopping list, and more ...