Your options for buying allergy-safe foods will vary by your location. You’ll often find more choices near large cities, but some smaller towns have great options.
The general advice I provide below can’t replace a visit to your local stores, but you can use it as a starting point for your forays into places that sell groceries.
Even those foods can include some major food allergens regulated by the U.S. Drug and Food Administration (FDA) since 2004. What’s known as the FDA’s “Big 8” allergens - milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybean - became nine in April 2021 with the addition of sesame. In addition, sesame will be added to food labels as a major allergen on January 1, 2023, so always check the label before purchasing.
You will be able to find some dairy-free milk, especially soy and rice milk, at virtually all supermarkets. Areas with large populations of school children are likely to have large selections of wheat- and dairy-free foods (especially cereals, snacks, and pasta) to accommodate kids on gluten-free/casein-free diets, plus some nut-free cereals, sandwich spreads, and snacks.
Some supermarkets — particularly larger, upscale markets in areas where they are competing with specialty retailers — also offer baking mixes, frozen allergy-safe foods, and a wide selection of dry goods.
Specialty supermarkets often offer store brands of especially common allergy-safe alternatives such as rice pasta and soy milk, making them especially cost-effective for these products. Some sell baked goods that may meet some common allergy needs.
However, ethnic markets can pose a cross-contamination risk (be very cautious if considering something in a bulk bin, for example), and the language barrier is a potential issue. It goes without saying that you should never buy any food whose ingredient label you do not understand or that isn’t clear. This may be a problem on food labels that have been translated from the original language.
Health food stores, in general, are ideal places to buy baking ingredients like corn-free starches, egg replacer, xanthan gum, and wheat-free flour. Many also sell a large selection of cookbooks. Again, do be aware of cross-contamination possibilities if you choose to buy from bulk bins.
Online shopping is easiest for nut allergies and for celiac disease since specialty online grocers exist for both of these conditions. Take for example The Glueten-Free Mall, which specializes in top brands and products free of wheat, or Liv Nut Free, an online and in-store pastry shop that bakes without peanuts and tree-nuts. However, you can buy nearly any allergy-safe food online (although frozen or refrigerated foods are, of course, expensive and cumbersome to ship).
