Managing an allergy to eggs is not as easy as it seems – it is not only obvious sources such as scrambled eggs and French toast that need to be avoided. Although food labels of most packaged foods have been required to list the eight most common food allergens since 2006, some foods are exempt from this ruling. Egg allergy sufferers (or their parents) should learn to identify food ingredients that contain egg:
- Albumin
- Globulin
- Livetin
- Lysozyme
- Meringue
- Surimi
- Lecithin (not soy lecithin)
- Marzipan
- Ovoalbumin or ovoglobulin - or any word begining with ovo
- Vitellin
- Simplesse (a fat substitute)
Common foods that contain egg ingredients include:
- Entrees: Processed meat, meat loaf and meat balls often use egg as a binder. Fried foods, such as fried chicken, may use egg in the breading process.
- Pasta: Egg noodles are obvious to avoid, but other tubular noodles such as macaroni or ziti may also contain egg. Flat noodles such as spaghetti and linguine are less likely to have eggs. Fresh pastas are more likely to contain egg than commercial dried pastas.
- Sides: Fried rice and vegetables prepared in a casserole or with sauces or breading may contain eggs.
- Salad dressings and sauces: All commercial mayonnaise contain eggs, but you can search for vegan products such as NaSoya's Nayonnaise in health food markets and specialty groceries. Sauces such as bearnaise, hollandaise, and newburgh, and some salad dressings (such as Caesar) contain egg.
- Soups: Noodle soups, clear soups and broths (the stock may have contained egg), and Chinese soups may have egg ingredients.
- Baked Goods: Some bread products such as bagels, rolls, and soft pretzels use egg yolk as a glaze. Many breakfast and snack products contain egg, such as doughnuts and muffins, French Toast, pancakes, and waffles. Some crackers such as Zwieback contain egg protein.
- Beverages: Avoid cappuccino-style drinks, Orange Julius, root beer, Ovaltine, eggnog, and malted beverages.
- Desserts: Probably the most common category of food that contains egg ingredients. Read labels carefully for brownies, cakes, cookies, cream or custard filled pies, ice cream, icing and frosting, pudding, marshmallow and pies with meringue.
When cooking or baking, you can often use other ingredients to substitute for eggs. These typically work best in moist baking products and do not work well if the recipe calls for more than three eggs:
- Approximately 1/2 banana (mashed), 1/4 cup of applesauce, or one to two tablespoons of fruit puree (such as apricot) can substitute for one egg in recipes, particularly cake mixes.
- In cookies, spice cakes and chocolate cakes, try adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to 1/2 cup of sour cream in place of one egg.
- One teaspoon baking powder and one tablespoon of vinegar can be combined with one tablespoon of a liquid to replace one egg in recipes.
- Combine 1 package of unflavored gelatin and 2 tablespoons of warm water just before adding to a mix to replace one egg.
- 1/4 of a cup of silken tofu works well as an egg substitute in heavy, dense products such as brownies and pancakes.
- Depending on product, one to two teaspoons of a commercial egg replacer such as Ener-G, Orgran No-Egg, or Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer can be used to replace each egg. Remember that egg substitutes marketed for those following a heart healthy diet do contain real eggs. Typically, they are egg whites (yolks removed) with yellow food coloring.
Eating out with an egg allergy can be a challenge unless you are prepared ahead of time with the restaurant menu and ingredient information. Many national chains provide this information on their website, along with nutritionals such as calories, fat, and sodium.
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