Back to National PKU News

The Low Protein Food List for PKU has been an indispensible resource for everyone involved in the treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU) since 1995. This third edition (2010) contains over 6,000 entries, the most extensive listing yet of foods that are potentially suitable for the diet, nearly double the number found in the previous edition. It includes many new foods found at health-oriented grocery stores, expanding choices for the diet. The book provides information on phenylalanine (phe), protein, and calorie content of foods based on serving portions, both in common measures and gram weights, in an easily searchable format. The handy "mg phe/gm food" column allows users to compare phenylalanine density of foods and make appropriate food choices for individual diet needs. People using an "exchange" system for counting phe will find exchanges are calculated for each food portion as well. The front section of the book also contains valuable information and tips for managing the PKU diet. Virginia E. Schuett is founder and director of National PKU News, a non-profit organization devoted to providing news and information to people living with or treating PKU since 1989 via a newsletter that is produced three times yearly. A nutritionist, she has been working with PKU-affected families since 1972. She is the author of Low Protein Cookery for PKU, Apples to Zucchini: A Collection of Favorite Low Protein Recipes (with co-author Dorothy Corry), You and PKU, and numerous articles and educational materials related to PKU.

Printed version of the Low Protein Food List for PKU

This is a soft-cover book, colored cover, black and white interior, 288 pages. $60 plus shipping and handling. Click here to view sample pages.

Note: The printed book does NOT contain Baby Foods. The Baby Foods list is available as a free downloadable file from the website. Click here to view the Baby Foods List Introduction: Important Information about the Data and the Baby Foods List: Data.

Note: Please see the Diet-Related Information section for changes (corrections and additions) to the Third Edition, Low Protein Food List for PKU.

Note: Please see the notes here for information for institutions ordering the printed version of the food list, for bulk order discounts on the printed version, and for financially needy families who cannot afford a printed version of the food list.

Computer Version of the Low Protein Food List for PKU is Now Available

We’re pleased to announce that the computer version of the Low Protein Food List for PKU is now available for purchase on Lulu.com for $55.

Important Note: After you purchase the book you will receive an email with instructions for how to register your purchase with National PKU News. We’re working on a method for providing updated versions at a discount for people that have already purchased the full price electronic version (and we need you to register to enable this process).

The computer edition is available in PDF format for Adobe Digital Editions (Windows, Mac, Select eReader devices). The future of the food list is directly tied to book sales so each purchase of the ebook is protected with Adobe’s digital rights management system which is enforced by the Adobe Digital Editions software.

The rights management system allows you to download the book to up to 6 computers or devices that have been authorized with your Adobe ID (which you will create when you install the Digital Editions software).

At this time, the only hand held devices that we are sure will handle the screen version of the food list are listed below. Once you download the food list from Lulu following the instructions, you also can add it to one of these devices as part of your 6 available downloads. We provide instructions (see links below) for downloading to all of these devices except the Sony eReader, for which we have no personal experience.

Important Note: The electronic version of the food list is designed for PC and Mac. It may be loaded on other devices, but is not optimized for those devices layout or performance characteristics and may be difficult to use. Specifically we would not recommend use on the iPad1 or iPhones/iPods older than the iPhone4. Later versions of those devices have been reported to work better than earlier, but still may not be optimal in terms of performance or layout.

Even for the later versions of the devices mentioned above, please be aware that there are limitations to using any hand held device compared to using the food list on your desktop or laptop computer. This is a function of the small screen size (which may make manipulation of the data awkward), and other unique characteristics of each device and its software. For example, the Search function may or may not work easily and you may need to page through the book or go to the Table of Contents or Index to find the page or section you are looking for and then "go to" that page to most easily locate the items you are searching for. Despite the limitations, you may find that having the food list on a hand held device is very worthwhile as an adjunct to having it on your desktop or laptop computer.

Hand-Held Devices Suitable for the Low Protein Food List for PKU Screen Version

Other hand held devices will be able to read the food list in the future. We will keep everyone informed as we find out about other devices suitable for the food list. (Note: We tried downloading the book to an Android phone but found that the food list was not readable due to the small type size and the type could not be expanded.)

To View a Sample Page