WHEN you’re getting stressed about packing for your summer holiday, spare a thought for chef Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne who’ll be packing an extra special suitcase – full of food.

Lucinda’s sons (Angus, 10, and Robin, 8) are allergic to dairy and gluten, respectively, which means the families’ holidays are limited to self-catering destinations. Even then, they have to bring their own bread.

Food intolerances are thought to affect as many as 45 per cent of the population and, like so many families, Lucinda and her husband have had to adapt their lives to cope with their sons’ allergies.

“If Angus touches anything with dairy in it, and wipes his face with it, he has a full-on reaction. His skin comes up in great big hives, he sneezes, his eyes water, then he starts wheezing,” explains Lucinda.

“Our diet became much healthier, because we didn't rely on cheese and cream, but it was a lifestyle shift because you had to be very careful when you went out.”

Luckily, supermarkets have now jumped on the ‘free-from’ bandwagon.

“Over the last decade, allergy and intolerance awareness has improved enormously and there’s much more demand for allergen-free food, so we have seen prices come down” says Lucinda.

While the range of ‘free from’ products definitely helps, Lucinda says nothing beats cooking your own food from scratch.

She wrote How To Cook For Food Allergies after her second son, Robin, was diagnosed as gluten intolerant at the age of three.

Try these recipes for all the family...

• How To Cook For Food Allergies by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne is published paperback by Rodale, priced £12.99.