Allergy Friendly Snacks {Gr8Box Review}
My oldest son was only 14 months when he started having problems with food allergies. He had digestive issues and skin problems, allergic shiners and eventually it even affected him behaviorally. My son also has autism.
From what I’ve read, food allergies are not uncommon with children on the Autism Spectrum. My son had to avoid milk and a few other foods for years but I wasn’t worried about his allergies until one day, shortly after he turned 7. During his first grade year, I would allow him to buy lunch about once a week – after I carefully looked over the menu and found a lunch item he could eat. Because of his autism and sensory processing disorder, he was an extremely picky eater, and his teacher felt this would help him avoid some pickiness and obsessiveness surrounding food.
At the time, he was in 1st grade in the local public school. One day, their power went out, before lunchtime. Although, I had told his teacher he was (mildly) allergic to peanuts – they served him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because the hot lunch wasn’t going to happen that day. Thankfully, his reaction wasn’t worse, but he ended up covered in hives a few hours later and almost completely out of it. The hives lasted for several hours and his allergist ran a full allergy panel to see what was going on. His allergies had turned very bad – he wasn’t just allergic to most of the top 8, we were told his next run in with peanuts could be life-threatening. He was also allergic to soy, other legumes, corn, tomato, and bananas.
Soy and corn proved to be the hardest to throw out of his food … because those are usually hidden in most processed foods. I realized a hard truth once I moved past my own fear of him coming into contact with these allergens. I realized something that is easy to overlook: kids are kids and it is fun for them to have some candy on holidays and snacks for their lunch. Small children don’t always understand what an allergy is – but they know when they can’t participate in common celebrations among their friends. It is also extremely frustrating that it is common to socialize over food … lunch, snacks, dinner … so much of our life revolves around what we eat. I knew I needed to find some snack food that my son could eat and find it fast. I’m thankful to say that after much searching (and label reading) I was able to find some pre-packaged food that he could eat.
I’m here to tell you if you have a kid allergic to so many things, it is a difficult journey but it isn’t an impossible one. I recently heard about a new subscription service called Gr8Box. Gr8Box is a monthly box that gets mailed directly to your front steps and is packed full of snacks which are free of the top 8 allergens. I wish Gr8Box was around at the beginning of our journey, it probably would have saved me so much frustration.
Free of the Top 8 Allergens
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Tree nuts
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
I was super impressed by the cute box and packaging that it came with. It was fun to open! 
Once I opened that box, I saw that it was packed very well which means that your products are shipped with care and will end up intact once they make it to your house.
The next thing I noticed upon opening my box is the sheer amount of items that were stuffed into the box. There is a lot of stuff and it’s fun stuff! We have tried Enjoy Life products in the past, in fact, their granola bars have been a staple in our family. We also love Sun Butter … but the other products were new to us and I love that I now have new things to try and hopefully fall in love with!
I received the April box full of fun products including:
- (2) Creamy Sunbutter Tubs (perfect for on-the-go)
- 1 Pack of Pur Spearmint Gum
- (2) YumEarth Sour Beans
- 1 Pack of Freeyumm Honey Apple Oat Bars
- EnjoyLife Double Chocolate Crunchy Cookies
- Nots Cajun Flavor Sunflower Snack
- Organic Gemini TigerNut Raw Snack
- (2) Columbia Gorge Delights (Apple Raspberry)
Inside the box, I also received information about the products and coupons.
These Apple Raspberry treats were a hit with all my kids. We split them in half so they could each get a taste. They truly enjoyed them and asked me to get them again. I loved the ingredients … or should I saw lack of ingredients? There are 3 ingredients and they all come from fruit.
My husband and I decided we are huge fans of this gum. My kids love to chew gum and I don’t like them having aspartame (or sugar!) every time they want a piece. Pur Gum is aspartame free and was super yummy!!!
Overall, I’m quite impressed with Gr8Box. If you deal with food allergies in your family, it is a fun and safe way to find and introduce your kids (or yourself) to new allergy friendly foods. I know the fear and frustration of having a child with food allergies, first hand. I also know how difficult it is to leave your home or to socialize with other kids and other families for fear that your food allergic child will be picked on or worse… get sick from the food he is allergic to. If you are in that boat, I think Gr8Box is a great product and one that can actually change your life!
I received a sample of Gr8Box in exchange for my honest review. Please see my disclosure policy.