You are in the middle of summer, with travel, hiking, camping, or lazy beach days. All these fun activities can be seriously impacted by food allergies.

We understand. Not only do we create safe snacks ourselves, we also bring you a few tips on how to pick a safe snack and enjoy your summer.

Food allergies can be particularly scary if you or a loved one have just been diagnosed.  Reading food labels doesn't seem like a difficult task but it can be challenging.  Here are three things you need to know about safe snacking:

1. May contain traces…

Thankfully, food manufacturers in the US and Europe are required to share this information.  But it is a rather vague statement.  What does it mean?

Most prepackaged foods are processed in co-packing facilities.  This means that different food manufacturers share the same packing facility.  It's a good way to cut costs, so co-packing is quite popular in the food industry.  But when your nut-free snacks are packed on the machine that also packs peanuts, it is not impossible for the tiny bit of peanut to end up in your peanut-free snack.

The same is true for companies that manufacture both snacks that contain the allergen and are allergen-free.  In both cases, you are at mercy of people who clean the facility.  If they follow all the rules, you are safe.  If not, you can ingest the allergen.

At Wild Zora, we manufacture and package our bars in our own facility.  We have a full control over the entire process.  There are never any eggs, gluten, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, or fish in our kitchen.  Not only are our bars free of those allergens, our facility is too!

2. Hidden Allergens

Hidden allergens are probably the scariest part of navigating the world of safe snacks.  For example, eggs or their parts can be labeled as “emulsifier”.  Some food additives, such as lecithin, can be derived from eggs or soy.

If you are dealing with severe allergies, you probably make most of your snack foods yourself to avoid exposure to the allergen.  What if I told you there is a convenient snack that is tasty and safe?  Wild Zora bars are only made with real food ingredients.  This is what you will find in our Pork Taco bar, for example:

3. You are not alone

Navigating the world of safe snacking can be daunting.  Fortunately, the food allergies awareness is on the rise.  Support groups on social media can help you find safe foods locally or on the Internet.  There are also many websites that feature lists of safe snacks, latest research and so forth.  Here are a few places to start:

FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) website is a wonderful resource full of information on latest research, tips on living with the food allergies and it even provides an opportunity to become an advocate for people with food allergies.

Allergic Living has both a magazine and a great, easy to navigate website.  Their Facebook page offers helpful tips, news, and recipes.

Food allergies can feel intimidating.  Don't worry, we are among many people who are here to help.  With safe snacks, your summertime can be exactly as it should be: carefree and fun.