Living with a nut allergy, and, subsequently, my little sister’s nut allergy drove my passion for baking, and, ultimately my decision to apply for the Great British Bake Off.
When I was five years old, I had an anaphylactic reaction, and was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy. Allergies were a lot less common in the early 90s, and there were very few baked goods I could eat….cue deciding to make them myself (sorry Mum!). I made the almightiest mess in the kitchen every weekend without fail. I started with simple bakes; with muffins and brownies, but then got more adventurous, leading to my rather distressed parents finding me deep frying doughnuts in their wok, full to the brim with oil, over naked flames!
While on holiday in Devon, my sister had her first reaction, to a bag of chocolate labelled ‘may contain traces of nuts’, we had no idea she had an allergy at this point and the experience was very scary. I was old enough (10 years old) to understand what was happening this time, and, seeing my little sister struggling to breathe was horrific. Lydia (my sister) was then also diagnosed with a nut allergy.
When we were children, schools and groups didn’t really understand allergy in the same way they do now. On a school trip to a chocolate factory, I was given a large sign to wear saying ‘nut allergy, do not feed’, this was not a lot of fun! I did however think it was brilliant when the school dinners contained nuts (in a pudding) so I was given a choc ice instead; I didn’t understand how dangerous it was that nuts were being handled in the school kitchens still.
Secondary school was a bit easier; I volunteered to make cakes for ‘Cake Fridays’ as often as possible, partly because I loved baking, but also so I wouldn’t be left out. Some teachers at this point were bringing in alternatives for my sister and I, which we were very grateful for. However, when the French trip came along, I was told I couldn’t go as they wouldn’t be able to cater for me, and I wouldn’t be able to join in with activities involving buying food from the markets. In general, schools are doing much better these days, but I still get messages from teenagers and parents of children who aren’t being accommodated for.
Feeling excluded is definitely a common theme with allergies. When I started university, there were lots of social events at cheap curry restaurants where I couldn’t eat anything. Not wanting to always sit them out, I would go along, but be continually explaining why I wasn’t eating anything and why I’d brought my own glass for the wine!
As an adult, there are still difficulties living with an allergy. For example, all the companies I spoke to about making a nut free wedding cake charged a premium for this making it even more expensive. In the end, my brilliant friends made our cake instead. I have made several free from wedding cakes for other people since.
Applying to the Great British Bake Off felt like a slightly pointless activity; they were never going to take someone with an allergy over thousands of easier to manage applicants. I was completely upfront about my allergy, and about what I could and couldn’t do from the start; I am ok with nuts in the same room (other than Brazil nuts) but I couldn’t bake with them or handle them myself. The team were brilliant, phoning me several times to check exactly what I could do, and then, I got the best call ever – to say I’d made it into the tent!
When I arrived at the famous tent, I was taken aside and shown the ‘nut tent’. This was a separate marquee set up with a wash station, fridge and storage for all my ingredients and equipment. This tent, along with the lovely ‘nut runner’, complete with customised t-shirt was a carefully monitored system to ensure my ingredients and bowls etc were never contaminated. Only the nut runner was allowed to clean down my bench after bakes (with separate products). The home economics and food production teams were so helpful in sourcing all my ingredients from trusted brands, and also making sure all the ingredients for the technical challenges were completely safe. There were also no nuts on site, in the catering or crew snacks. The medic on set was brilliant, fully equipped to deal with an anaphylactic reaction, and checked in with me regularly.
I cannot thank them enough for giving me the opportunity and making such a careful plan for me.
I am now focusing on producing a range of recipes free from nuts, but also dairy free, egg free and gluten free so everyone can join in!
Martha, aged 12 who has an allergy to peanuts and Holly, aged 17 who has allergies to milk (protein), nuts and avocado showed extreme courage as they spoke about their allergies to fellow pupils and teachers. The girls felt it was important to share their daily experiences and knowledge. The aim was to raise awareness and to educate the people around them about severe allergies, in the hope that anyone living with allergies would feel a little safer and less embarrassed.
The support the girls had from family members, friends, and teachers at St Ninian’s High School was amazing. Offers of help and encouragement came throughout the process. Paula, Martha’s mother, who is a volunteer for the Anaphylaxis Campaign, downloaded our Schools Allergy Awareness Resource Pack, which formed the base of the presentation.
Stephanie has come up with creative ways of teaching these subjects and has found materials to be her greatest friend. ‘I realised I needed visual tools to engage the children. I used glitter to highlight cross contamination by getting the children to put it on their hands and then shake each other’s hand to show how allergies can travel and why it is so important to wash your hands’. This great idea along with the PowerPoint and other activities sheets has enabled the children to learn all about allergies and how they can help not only other children who may be affected by these but also their teachers. ‘When there are thirty children in the class a teacher can’t keep an eye on all of them at once, teaching children the signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction enables them to notice if their friend is looking unwell and tell the teacher who can help’. 
First of all, how would Aadam store his life saving medication? Aadam knew that his medication needed to be stored at a certain temperature in an air tight container and opened each night to let fresh cool air into the flask; “I kept my adrenaline pen and anti-histamine in a flask, a really good flask”. Aadam’s mum Rozina had an idea to test whether or not the flask would work and with the help of the biology department at the school they put its ability to the test; ”I knew the biology department had an incubator, we decided to put the flask in the incubator at 30 degrees for 8 hours”, Aadam said. The test was a success and Aadam was over the first hurdle. Anaphylaxis Campaign always recommends speaking to your GP or pharmacist before you travel regarding your specific medication*
Aadam and mum Rozina looked into a few options including dehydrated food before finding Expedition Foods, a company that produced pre-packed trek food in a nut-free environment. The food was transportable and all Aadam needed to do was add water. Aadam and Rozina sat down before the trip and put together a calendar to mark out what Aadam would eat each day to make sure he was getting the correct calorie intake and having a good variety of tastes. Aadam also tried every meal before he went with mum Rozina saying “I wanted to see every meal he was taking pass his lips” Plan C was a success and Aadam was ready to go on a trek of a life time!
