{"id":47,"date":"2026-02-04T18:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/?p=47"},"modified":"2026-02-10T04:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T04:13:21","slug":"sample-story-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/2026\/02\/04\/sample-story-1\/","title":{"rendered":"How to live the sweet life with an allergy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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How to live the sweet life with an allergy<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Learn how allergies affect people\u2019s daily lives and discover their favourite recipes<\/b><\/p>

By Kendra Mendrisky<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Is this vegan? Does this have gluten in it? Is this peanut-free?\u00a0<\/p>

Every day, millions of Canadians check menus, ingredient lists and packages to ensure the food they are about to eat fits within their dietary restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>

Some restrictions may be voluntary, like choosing to become a vegetarian, avoiding eating meat for ethical reasons. Others, like celiac disease and allergies, may cause serious harm to a person if they are not careful with what they consume.\u00a0<\/p>

According to Food Allergy Canada<\/a>, one in two Canadian households are impacted by food allergy.\u00a0<\/p>

In Ottawa, the Sibthorpe and Barton household is one of them.\u00a0<\/p>

Around seven years ago, Megan Sibthorpe, a wood store employee, was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, also called EoE. This condition causes white blood cells to collect in the esophagus due to inflammation triggered by certain foods, according to Food Allergy Canada<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

For Sibthorpe, anything containing dairy, even the smallest amount, can set off this allergic reaction, and it wasn\u2019t easy giving it up.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cCheesecake is my favourite food of all time, so it was really hard to fully commit to it,\u201d said Sibthorpe. \u201cWhen I finally did, it was fairly easy after that because I was like, \u2018okay, I have to do this now or I\u2019m going to be miserable forever.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Sibthorpe and her partner, Nathan Barton, are both vegetarians, with the exception of eating fish occasionally.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cVegetarian I found was an easy switch,\u201d said Sibthorpe, who decided to stop eating meat nine years ago. \u201cI don\u2019t really want to eat animals (and) meat\u2019s very expensive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

When buying groceries, Sibthorpe and Barton lean towards vegan items because the label guarantees no meat or dairy.\u00a0<\/p>

They like to shop at Metro and Farm Boy for baked goods. They also highlight Maverick\u2019s Donuts and Cinnaholic for specialty treats.\u00a0<\/p>

But going out for dessert is not a common occurrence for the couple, who often experiment with different recipes and ingredients at home. (See their favourites down below!)\u00a0<\/p>

In the world of dairy replacements, not all milk alternatives are created equal.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThere are good and bad ones,\u201d said Barton. \u201cFinding one that you like, finding the right ones to use for baking is a bit of a thing too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Sibthorpe and Barton enjoy oat milk for baking, complimenting its texture and taste. However, they do not like almond milk or soy milk.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cCashew milk is good, it\u2019s just very expensive and no one really has it,\u201d said Sibthorpe. \u201cI don\u2019t like coconut milk for coffees. It\u2019s fine for curries, and I think coconut milk is great for cooking with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

In 2023, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency<\/a> identified milk as one of the substances most frequently associated with food allergies.\u00a0<\/p>

Peanuts and tree nuts, which include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, also made the priority allergens list.\u00a0<\/p>

One of the many people affected by nut allergies is building science technician, Vittoria Pantano. She cannot have pecans or walnuts.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a hassle when you go out to eat or even when people bake for you,\u201d said Pantano. \u201cI had a neighbour and she would bake amazing goodies, but a lot of the time they had pecans in it. Eventually she did end up making me stuff without it, which is really nice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Pantano enjoys baking because she has complete control over the ingredients. Her favourite treats to bake are cookies, in particular chocolate chip and snickerdoodle. (See her favourites down below!)\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cBaking on my own, I know exactly what\u2019s in it,\u201d said Pantano. \u201cSo I can make a carrot cake and eat it without being worried.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Along with carrot cake, she is extra cautious around salads and butter tarts, which are culprits for hidden walnuts and pecans.\u00a0<\/p>

Pantano\u2019s favourite dessert spot in Ottawa is Dolci Sapori, an Italian bakery and cafe in Little Italy. She recommends their almond croissant and hot chocolate.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThey do have some things with walnuts and pecans,\u201d said Pantano. \u201cThey usually have them labelled and they know what\u2019s in all their food because it\u2019s all made in-house.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

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Megan Sibthorpe and Nathan Barton\u2019s picks<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>

Homemade Vegan Dumplings by Maggie Zhu (Omnivore\u2019s Cookbook)<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>

The Best Ever Vegan Cinnamon Rolls by Merle O\u2019Neal (Tasty)<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>

Vegan Baklava by Arman Liew (The Big Man\u2019s World)<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>

Many brownie box mixes are dairy-free\u00a0<\/p>

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Vittoria Pantano\u2019s picks<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>

Soft and Thick Snickerdoodles by Sally McKenney (Sally\u2019s Baking)\u00a0<\/a><\/p>

Any chocolate chip cookie recipe – try out different ones and find your favourite<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to live the sweet life with an allergy Learn how allergies affect people\u2019s daily lives and discover their favourite recipes By Kendra Mendrisky Is this vegan? Does this have gluten in it? Is this peanut-free?\u00a0 Every day, millions of Canadians check menus, ingredient lists and packages to ensure the food they are about to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/foodbeets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}