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Egg Free Diet

Disclaimer: This fact sheet is for education purposes only. Please consult with your doctor or other health professional to make sure this information is right for your child.

Eggs can be found in unexpected foods. Packaged foods containing eggs will list egg as an ingredient and should also contain an allergy warning such as "contains egg" or "may contain egg". Ingredient lists need to be read carefully.

Avoid foods that contain:

• Egg (white or yolk)
• Albumen or albumin
• Dried egg, powdered egg
• Globulin
• Livetin
• Ovalbumin
• Ovomucin
• Ovomucoid
• Ovovitellin

Foods that will contain egg are:

• Omelette, soufflé, frittata
• Meringue
• Pavlova
• Choux pastry eg. chocolate eclairs, cream puffs
• French toast
• Quiche
• Fritters
• Waffles
• Pancakes/pikelets

Foods likely to contain egg are:

Note: Some children with egg sensitivity may be able to eat baked foods containing small amounts of egg. Your doctor can advise you about this. Do not give your child egg containing foods unless this has been discussed with your doctor.

Egg substitutes / replacers for baking

It is possible to make cakes and muffins quite successfully by adapting recipes you use at home. The texture of the product may be a little different but the taste is good.

For one egg, substitute with one of the following options:

• 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon liquid (eg water, juice or milk), 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon yeast dissolved in ¼ cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam, apple puree, golden syrup or other fruit puree or jam
• 1 ½ tablespoons water, 1 ½ tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup water and 2 teaspoons gelatine - dissolve gelatine in warm water

For 3 eggs, substitute with one of the following options:

• Dissolve one tablespoon golden syrup in 300ml warm milk
• Dissolve one tablespoon gelatine in boiling water then add cold water to make one cup. Cool, then whip until light like beaten egg whites before use.

Commercial egg substitutes are another option. They are used in cakes and biscuits, pancakes and fritters but don't work if you are trying to make scrambled eggs or meringues. These products contain potato, tapioca starch and vegetable gums.

You can purchase these products from health food stores and some supermarkets.

1. Egg Replacer (Orgran), Egg Like® (Country Harvest) and No Egg&req; (Country Harvest) available from supermarkets
2. Egg White Replacer from Nutricia Australasia ph (02) 8875-0300

For more information

• www.chw.edu.au/parents/factsheets/#allergy
• Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
• FSANZ - Food Standards Australia and New Zealand for information on food labelling

Egg Free Recipes

A variety of egg free recipes are available in the PDF version of this document.

The Children's Hospital at Westmead Tel: (02) 9845 3585 Fax: (02) 9845 3562 www.chw.edu.au	Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick Tel: (02) 9382 1688 Fax: (02) 9382 1451 www.sch.edu.au	Kaleidoscope, Hunter Children's Health Network Tel: (02) 4921 3670 Fax: (02) 4921 3599 www.kaleidoscope.org.au