CountryHam's Milk Allergy
                                                                                                    
I have an allergy to anything that contains dairy protein.  I am not lactose intolerant.  People that are lactose intolerant have a mild reaction and can not digest milk
sugar.  I have a strong allergic reaction.  I was not born with this allergy, but became sensitive to milk after I had Lyme disease.  Before this, one of my favorite foods
was cheesecake, and I drank about a gallon on milk a week. Pizza! I can't even count how many pizzas I had eaten before the tragedy.

CountryHam's coming to dinner

It can be difficult to prepare food for CountryHam without Milk products.  There are milk products in almost every pre-prepared food in the supermarket.  There is also milk
in many foods that you would not ever guess.  There is milk in hot dogs and cans of tuna fish.  I must read the label on everything that I eat.  I've gotten sick from a
few meals that people have made for me because they didn't realize that.

I have gotten sick over other people's houses because :

     Most bread has milk or whey in it, and they used bread or bread crumbs in the recipe without checking the ingredients of the bread. 
     They used margarine instead of butter because they thought it was OK. 
     They used butter for frying in the pan either out of habit without realizing, or because they thought that a little bit wouldn't hurt me. 
     They used ANYTHING that came pre-prepared to add to the recipe, without checking the ingredients on the label. 
     They served me jelly from a jar that was already open.  Someone had been buttering their bread before they used the jelly, and put the knife with butter on it
     into the jar to scoop out some jelly. 
     They cut bread that was safe with a knife that had been used to butter another slice. 

I usually don't eat over other people's houses much for those reasons. As long as you are careful, it should be all right. You might want to keep this document for
future reference when CountryHam comes to visit. 

Here is the list of things that contain MILK protein that I can't have :

     Milk 
     Skim milk 
     Buttermilk 
     Cheese 
     Butter 
     Margarine 
     Cream 
     Whey 
     Casine 
     Casinate 
     Yogurt 

  Yes, Margarine is illegal for me. Almost all brands have whey in them. There are certain types of butter substitutes I can have, but I always have to read the
ingredients on them.

I am not allergic to any other foods, but shrimp has also made me sick so I avoid eating it.  I'm not allergic to any other forms of seafood or shellfish.