Using coupons is a fantastic way of saving money; however, this can often be difficult in households where multiple allergies are present. Food allergies are becoming increasingly common and more than two million people within the United States suffer from these. There are eight common food allergies, which are collectively responsible for around 90% of all food-based allergic reactions. The presence of any of these proteins must be listed on the ingredients for the product. However, when planning shopping using coupons, it is often difficult to tell from the coupon whether the products that you have coupons for contain allergens.

Allergies are most common in children, with eight percent of American children suffering from one or more food-based allergy, while two percent of adults do. The eight most common food-based allergies are:

• Milk: here the person is allergic to proteins within the milk, mostly when and casein proteins
• Eggs: a person may be allergic to proteins that are only present in the yolk, or the white or both portions of the egg. This allergy is common in children
• Peanuts: this allergy is a reaction the peanut protein, and can cause anaphylaxis
• Tree nuts: tree nuts include a range of different types of nuts, including cashew, walnuts and almonds. As the proteins differ between types of nuts, a person may be allergic to a specific tree nut but not others
• Soy: soy and wheat allergies can cause a range of different symptoms, but generally not anaphylaxis
• Wheat: this is a significant component in bread, so people allergic to wheat must find an alternative to traditional bread
• Shellfish: this includes shrimp, lobster and crab, and generally one will be allergic to all types of shellfish rather than a specific one
• Fish: there are many different types of fish, and it is best to avoid all if an individual experiences an allergic reaction to one type

While finding coupons for shopping in general is easy, and there is often more to choose from that you could ever hope to browse, this is not the case when you need to avoid food with allergens. If you have a family with multiple allergies, it is often best to shop for food that contains no allergens at all. One very useful site to start your search is Food Allergies on a Budget. This website focuses on the difficulties and needs that a family faces when having to manage food allergies. They have a section for coupons and recipes that are allergen free, and offer a daily newsletter, which contains a number of coupons for allergen-free products.

Another site that contains a number of coupons is Thrifty NW Mom. This contains many of the same coupons that were on the website discussed above, however once difference is that this website lists them in an easier to read manner, and also contains a number of coupons specific to Target stores. As the author notes, it is possible to combine these coupons with coupons from manufactures for the same product to get bigger savings.

These sites are the best ways to find coupons for products that do not contain allergens, however, the number of products that do not contain allergens is still small, and it is a matter of searching around to find exactly what you are after. One recommendation that many of these sites make is printing coupons even if you are not certain that you are interested in the product, because it is often possible to combine an in-store special with a coupon, making a purchase worthwhile that was not previously.

While there are not many locations to find coupons for allergen free products online, these sites provide a good start and can significantly help the process of shopping for a family that has multiple food allergies. Because the authors of these sites have families with food allergies themselves, they are a good source of information, and are likely to remain updated, as the authors need the information for their own families also.

This post was written by Ella Davidson of couponing website, Coupons. The site offers trustworthy and up-to-date couponing information as well as retailer coupons and deals.