COVER STORY: MEDICINE

Fear and Allergies in the Lunchroom

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  • Posted By: R.Nelson @ 08/09/2009 2:25:25 PM

    Also, Identify children with food allergies in a pre-school setting. With pre-school around the corner and changing caregivers clearly identify young children with food allergies to keep them well. A resource ALERT CLOTHING COMPANY, as seen in the national magazine "Living Without" June/July issue. Bright,colorful t-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags with the message of food allergies clearly stated in a child friendly way (ladybugs, butterflies, fairies, dancing dinosaurs & cowboys...) 12 adorable designs in all. The company logo is on the back of each item for easy identification. The caregivers will be grateful! Check out www.alertclothingcompany.com

  • Posted By: llasidog @ 01/28/2009 4:44:52 PM

    The rise in food allergies is directly related to the vaccinations. Food is used in the manufacturing of vaccines. Minute particles of the food protein remains in the vaccine. This is a "secret ingredient" protected by trade law. Search on "patent vaccine peanut oil" and you will find many patents that contain every food oil imaginable. A fatal food allergy is a horror story. The best way to fix the problem is not to create it in the first place.

  • Posted By: R.Nelson @ 12/09/2008 5:02:08 PM

    Thank you for this informative article. If you have young children with food allergies check out http://www.alertclothingcompany.com Young children with food allergies need to be identified to keep them well. A medical identification bracelet alone could be overlooked; because, young children are moving and busy their hands are not always within sight, ALERT CLOTHING COMPANY is needed and new,designed with the child in mind! Bright, cheerful colorful, child friendly graphics (ladybugs, butterflies and fairies to rockets, dinosaurs and cowboys...) with the message of food allergies included on each t-shirt, sweatshirt and tote bag. The company logo is on the back of each item for easy identification as well. There is even a bright blue elephant with a yellow crown shooting stars that states,"NO nuts for me- thank you!". A parent cannot be present constantly (pre-school, place of worship, summer camp, field trips...) and a two, three or four year old cannot be depended upon to relay their food allergy message to all. According to (FAAN) The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network the numbers are 1 in 17 estimated to be about three million children ,under the age of three, have the highest incidences of food allergies. Peanut allergies have doubled over a five year period 1997-2002. Education is the key! In a busy pre-school classroom (or summer camp) teachers, volunteers and caregivers are thankful because food is an issue daily. The goal raise awareness, help the caregivers with the identification of food allergies, and have the child feel special too! ALERT CLOTHING COMPANY supports FAAN. Please pass this information along raising awareness can help so many children. Let's keep these children safe! Thank you for your time.
    My Best,
    R. Nelson

  • Posted By: caitmin @ 06/09/2008 10:57:55 PM

    Allergens in the food but what about the irritants and unnecessary chemicals in our skin care products. For parents of eczema sufferers its hard to keep up with whats in there. Thats why I always try to check out the ingredients at www.exederm.com just to be sure there are no eczema triggers

  • Posted By: josephlogan @ 11/01/2007 11:40:10 AM

    What could be the cause of the food allergy epidemic? How about genetically-engineered (GE) foods? Since their introduction into the US food market in 1996, an estimated 75 to 80% of all processed foods in the US now contain one or more genetically modified ingredients. In Europe and Russia, as well as almost all of the developed world, GE foods are banned or are strictly regulated. There is virtually no regulation or oversight in the US food market. In fact, US agribusiness continues to rush gene altered foods into our food supply without any testing or labeling of what foods contain GE products. There have been numerous studies that have identified possible health risks including food allergies, antibiotic resistance, and organ and immune system damage. In fact, the FDA said in 2001 (Fed|Register 22987) that, "Genetic engineering may transfer new and unidentified proteins from one food into another, triggering allergic reactions. Millions of Americans who are sensitive to allergens will have no way of idnetifying or protecting themselves from offending foods". It has been said that the US is allowing "one of the largest uncontrolled experiments in modern history and the lab rats are their children."

    The untold truth is the US food supply is significantly genetically manipulated, then the crops are inundated with enormous amounts of pesticides, the farm animals are given unnecessary and inordinate amounts of antibiotics (a practice that has been linked as the primary cause of the current antibiotic resistant bacteria plague) and the animals are also pumped up with growth hormones. Combine it with the GE producers' recent attempts to introduce legislation that would prevent packaging from listing which ingredients are genetically engineered to keep consumers from avoiding genetically modified foods. What consequences will our children suffer in the decades to come when the truth comes out that GE producers are working to hide by keeping us from choosing to NOT eat their products? Certainly smacks of big tobacco's decades of denying there was any harm from cigarette smoking, doesn't it?

    So when one wonders why there is a food allergy epidemic, the answer may be that our food supply is TOXIC

    • Posted By: NutritionMS @ 03/03/2008 10:57:05 AM

      Hi Joseph,
      I agree with you completely!!!! I am doing a research report on this very topic and would like to know if you know what source of data that documents the actual rise in allergies. I am doing a comparison of UK and US. thanks!!!!!

  • Posted By: Suetonius @ 01/14/2008 11:02:55 AM

    Look up the list of ingredients that FDA allows into our food and you'll find a long list of chemicals there and it is obvious that they (chemicals) entered the list by the pressure of the manufacturers' lobbyists. FDA is - after all - government and as such is prone to influences. Gosh, why McDonald's is still here if FDA cares?
    I got my child's eczema cleared after we gave up all prescription medicines (steroidal!!) and went with the herbal remedy from www.champori.com What a relief to know that alternative cures still exist !!
    SK

  • Posted By: garn @ 10/31/2007 12:02:03 PM

    "Teach your children who don't have food allergies to eat something other than pbj. Our kids are limited (not by choice). "

    Why should my healthy kid be forced to walk on egg shells because someother kid is allergic to peanut butter? That's not my problem.

    And from the article: over cautious doctors and allergy specialists saying that kids are being forced to avoid foods they really arent' allergic too. Gee, who would've thunk doctors afriad of lawsuits.

    • Posted By: aluminumfree @ 11/26/2007 4:47:41 AM

      Garn, if you are still reading, why do we all have to park farther away so that people who are diabled can have the good spots? Why do we all have to shoulder the extra construction costs for handicap entrances and facilities in buildings when we aren't affected? Why do we have to make allergic children safe at school? Heck, why do we have to pay for special education for the few that need it? Because it is the right thing to do, because their families pay for and use these facilities, too.

    • Posted By: mom of 2 with allergies @ 11/06/2007 12:24:59 PM

      That's really nice of you ~ aren't we all in this world together? Shouldn't we care about each other just a little bit more than that? Really...

  • Posted By: aluminumfree @ 11/26/2007 4:23:35 AM

    This article fails to mention the connection between vaccines and food allergy, as well as higher rate of food allergy in autistic children (25 - 30% vs 1 - 5% in normal kids). Aluminum in many vaccines and thimerosol in some flu vaccines are known to cause food allergy, asthma and eczema. The aluminum adjuvant in vaccines causes the immune system to react to the vaccine, inducing immunity. However, it is not specific to the vaccine and can react to anything in the body: an odd food protein, dust or even to the body itself (auto-immune disease).

    The aluminum in vaccines wasn't tested for safety for injection into babies, as it was grandfathered by FDA. Safety trials of vaccines often compare vaccines to side effects of other aluminum vaccines or, worse, to a placebo containing aluminum (Gardasil). The CDC uses data on ingested aluminum to justify its safety in vaccines, though it is known aluminum enters the body very poorly through the intestine (as little as 0.1 %) as compared to 100% through injection. The amount of aluminum injected according to CDC shot schedule at a well baby visit is several times (even corrected for body weight) an amount known to cause harm to preterm babies; in a New England Journal of Medicine study, babies who received very small doses of aluminum in contaminated IV solution, tested lower on cognitive tests and developed irritable bowel disorder (IBS).

    Several studies show that aluminum vaccines increase asthma in kids. The HiB vaccine is most associated with rise in peanut allergy. OSHA and EPA both regulate aluminum but FDA does not, despite mountains of evidence it is a potent neurotoxin and immune toxin.

    The American Academy of Pediatrics states that aluminum exposure in infants should be minimized. AAP studies show how higher levels of aluminum found in soy infant formula cause developmental delays and food allergies. Cumulative amounts of aluminum in shots given to babies from 0 to 12 months according to CDC schedule contain comparable amounts of aluminum to that absorbed from soy formula.

    Aluminum causes developmental delays, ADD/ADHD, learning disorders, seizures/tics, dementia, low muscle tone, brittle bones, loss of speech, poor coordination, swelling of the brain/increased head circumference, auto immune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, irritable bowel disorder, crohn's disease, celiac disease, gulf war syndrome, MMF), blood clots, and is associated with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's diseases. Children with autism have higher rate of these conditions and family history than normal children.

    Aluminum can be found in many foods kids eat, despite AAP warning it is dangerous to kids. Chicken nuggets, pancakes/waffles, food dyes, table salt, pickles, american cheese, sweets, flour tortillas, drink mixes, baking powder, and frozen pizza can contain added aluminum. It is also added to drinking water, though may occur here and in certain foods naturally.

  • Posted By: rwinkel @ 11/15/2007 9:48:09 PM

    "Breast-Feeding Cuts Food Allergy Risk
    WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding in the first three months
    of life appears to help shield children from developing food allergies.
    That's just one of a number of findings on food allergies scheduled to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Dallas."

    This is just one more in a long
    stream of findings demonstrating the immunological, nutritional,
    psychological and now intellectual deficits suffered by formula-fed
    babies. Yet there is no outcry, no call for banning over-the-counter
    formula, no legislative push for facilities to breast-feed and
    co-habitate in the workplace, no program of press releases attempting
    to undo the effects of over a century of medical trivialization and
    denigration of breast feeding. And above all, no institutional
    introspection or apology.

    • Posted By: bebecat @ 11/19/2007 2:27:37 PM

      A friend breast fed her two kids (never any formula) for 18 months. Both kids have various severe food allergies.

      Another breast fed her two kids (again, never any formula), for more than a year. One kids with severe food allergies and asthma. One without.

      And another never breast fed either of her two kids. One with food allergies, one without.

  • Posted By: momof3wonderfulkids @ 11/17/2007 3:35:10 PM

    I am also a mother of a son with not only peanut allergies, but also milk, soy, eggs and wheat. He is 15 months and we found out about two weeks ago. I breast fed him until he was 14 months old, he never had milk before this. So don't tell me that breast feeding is going to prevent children from getting allergies, that is not true! My other two children were formula fed babies and they neither one have allergies of any type. I think it is very mean of people without children with food allergies to be so insensitive, My son could die, DIE, if he were given any type of peanut. What would you feel like if it were your child? I have to worry about anything we do, from going to the store and putting him in a cart to going out to eat, not many places we can go and eat. You are just the type of people I worry about, when I have to send my child to school. Shame on you. That one percent of children you are talking about, is someone's child. He is my world, I would never be so careless to say I wouldn't do something because it supposedly doesn't affect me, I would never want to be the cause of someone else child possibly dying because I was careless and just didn't care. I hope you never have to experience something like this, because it is nervewracking, I worry constantly about his safety.

  • Posted By: bananie @ 11/17/2007 8:11:58 AM

    As the mother of a child with a life threatening peanut allergy, I took exception to the picture on the cover of the little girl wearing a gas mask. People with peanut allergies do not need to wear gas masks---however, nor would they hold a peanut butter sandwich with the pb almost touching their fingers as is the case on the cover. Children wtih these life threatening allergies already feel odd enough ----whether sitting at a special table in the cafeteria or having your parent accompany you to birthday parties or having to carry a fanny pack filled with medication everywhere you go ...the list goes on and on. Images like the girl with the gas mask may provide the shock value neccessary to sell magazines but they do nothing to help the allergic population. Such an image just furthers the notion that allergic people are peculiar and need to resort to extreme measures such as gas masks. My 8 year old saw the magazine and asked if he was going to have to wear "one of those things." Your pictures should convey reality--ditch the gas mask and also ditch the supposedly allergic child cavalierly holding the very foods that could kill her.

  • Posted By: IslandNation @ 11/16/2007 4:09:36 AM

    I have seafood allergies as well as a rather severe penicillin allergy. That said, I do NOT have 1/10 the number nor the severity of allergies that my father had. Ignoring my father???s litany, I firmly believe that genetics, hygiene/environmental factors, and changes to diet/chemicals all play a significant role. I grew up in a rural/suburban environment under a ???benign neglect??? policy. A mother who firmly believed little children should get outside, get dirty and have pets probably helped both my sister and I to reduce the genetic impact from my father. What is clear, though, is that dangerous allergies are rising at a very rapid rate in the US population and what must be a variety of causes has yet to be property explored. The fact that this is NOT happening in all other countries is very telling. Where I live overseas having any food allergy at all is quite uncommon, just like it was the US when I was young.

    Food allergies, your own or loved ones???, are a terrible trial. Perhaps taking a look at what has changed so much in our country as opposed to others might shed some light and why these life-threatening problems are rising so quickly.

  • Posted By: rwinkel @ 11/15/2007 9:51:45 PM

    "Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding in the first three months
    of life appears to help shield children from developing food allergies.
    That's just one of a number of findings on food allergies scheduled to be presen
    ted this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma a
    nd Immunology in Dallas."
    This is just one more in a long stream of findings demonstrating
    the immunological, nutritional, psychological and intellectual
    deficits suffered by formula-fed babies. Yet there is no outcry,
    no call for banning over-the-counter formula, no legislative push
    for facilities to breast-feed and co-habitate in the workplace, no
    program of press releases attempting to undo the effects of over a
    century of medical trivialization and denigration of breast feeding.
    And above all, no institutional introspection or apology on the
    part of medicine. A dandy business model.

  • Posted By: LAMOM @ 11/03/2007 3:34:17 PM

    Thank you for your article. My 7 1/2 year old daughter had 4 reactions in June and was in and out of hospitals all summer due to ONE BITE of an entree at a restauranat that had undisclosed peanuts in it. Thanks to the waiter and staff not listening to me- my daugher not only almost died and has been through hell this summer but now her allergy to peanuts is worse! After each anaphylactic reaction she has less and less time to get to her epi-pen and to a hospital! I can't work because I have to be so involved in her classroom, school and any activity she does. When does the restarant industry step up to bat? When can we people understand that peanut allergy's have now trippled with kids under 5. We have a whole team of allergistts and experts here in LA that on my daughters case. I know it is horrible to have a child with special needs or cancer or diabetes but to walk around with a totally normal, energetic, high functioning, fun loving little girl who can die in 5 minutes if she touches or is touched with a peanut or peanut butter is constant terror. No one in the family can be "normal" No one at school or her freinds can be normal around her. Every one around her has to be in constant high alert mode. It's our reality and it's insane. Anaphylactic allergies do not just affect the imediate family but about 30-500 people that come in contact with the child every day. Every class, team, troop, school is being prevented or asked to help keep that child safe. We can't put all these kids in bubbles and shelter them from living so all we can do is keep the chilkdren away from the allergens, carry the medications at all times, spread awareness, and get involved with organizations that aim for laws to protect these kids and help us get closer to a vaccine or cure. Thank you again for this great article! Anaphylacticallergy.com

    • Posted By: riva4 @ 11/12/2007 9:52:41 PM

      Thank you for your response to, not only the article but the whole situation. My son and nephew have severe food allergies and we are trying to get their schools to ban peanut and tree nuts entirely. The school system set up "allergy free" zones in the cafeterias. And one school actually got it banned from being served by the school cafeteria, but not from the other children who bring it from home. I am working with a local support group to try and get all nuts banned from school. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Newsweek--thanks for a great article!

  • Posted By: welkington @ 11/12/2007 4:01:18 PM

    A very interesting article about food allergies. However, I think you missed a couple of ideas that are currently being explored: 1. whether antibiotics given during the first year of life disturb the immune system and increase the risk of allergies later on; and 2. whether probiotics given to the mother - and/or the newborn infant - may reduce the incidence of allergies and asthma in high risk kids by helping to develop a healthy immune system in the gut in early life. Both ideas are related to the hygiene hypothesis.

  • Posted By: martymac3t @ 10/29/2007 6:01:13 PM

    I recently had a discussion on this very topic wiuth a pediatrician friend of mine. We, who are baby boomers, wondered why this deadly allergy to peanuts exists now, but didn't in the 50's through the 80's. Could it be that the peanut industry has inroduced a new species , and it that species that results in the allergy?

    • Posted By: belgiumite @ 10/29/2007 7:19:43 PM

      Martymac3T-
      There is a theory out there that this outbreak of allergies may be due to the fact that in the '90s the US began producing genetically-modified soy and corn, which now makes up the majority of soy and corn consumed in this country today. Many other countries have banned such products, or at least require specific labeling if the product is made from genetically modified foods. It does seem interesting that the peanut allergies doubled between '97-'02 (I think those are the years)- right after this change took place. Maybe that genetically-altered food has somehow are affecting our childrens' delicate immune systems, even possibly in utero? Whatever it is, I hope they figure it out soon!

      • Posted By: nogeneticallymodfoods @ 10/30/2007 9:49:53 AM

        I find it interesting how much easier it is to blame the parents of food allergic kids using the 'hygiene hypothesis' or the 'lack of breastfeeding philosophy', than to really look at potential causes such as genetically modified foods or a change in the intensity of chemical compounds in typcial plant food products due to global climate change. Those of you interested in finding blame with already iscolated families may change your opinions and start doing some real research once you've walked the path an allergic family must take.

        On the good side, my family has been strengthened by our son's food and strong environmental allergies. We don't eat out (generally unhealthy food anyway), we now eat mostly organic, non-genetically modified food, we spend much more time at home as a family and we don't take life for granted as is so easy to do when running the typical American rat race. My son has never had fast food. How many parents of toddlers can brag that success?

        • Posted By: AllergyKids @ 10/30/2007 3:24:15 PM

          At AllergyKids, we have also gone beyond the hygiene hypothesis to research the role that the recent introduction of novel proteins, allergens and toxins into our food supply have done to the health of our children - given that today, 1 out of every 3 kids now has asthma, allergies, ADHD or autism. If the system is failing our children, and industry funded 'experts' can't address recent changes in the food supply, then it's up to the mothers!

          • Posted By: nogeneticallymodfoods @ 11/11/2007 1:06:26 PM

            Thank you. AllergyKids was the first to open that field of consideration to me, and it makes a ton of sense. I am doing everything in my power to follow the theories you have introduced to my family... including growing my own food and seeking the seed source (no gmfs). And, I now solicit small, family food growers whom focus on growing organic, non-gmf foods. We moms will make a difference in not only our children's lives, but this country too. Perhaps our small, but consistent actions will resurrect the struggling non-corporate farmers of America a bit too.

    • Posted By: belgiumite @ 10/29/2007 7:25:26 PM

      By the way, here's a link to a blog explaining the genetically modified food theory. You can find more by googling "genetically modified foods and food allergies."
      http://www.achooallergy.com/blog/genetically-modified-foods/

  • Posted By: cindy and ben @ 11/08/2007 11:38:35 AM

    Why do none of these articles mention the decline in exclusive breast-feeding which seems to be co-temporaneous with this increase in the incidence of food allergies? Vast numbers of children are being given adult foodstuffs at very young ages, well before they would be introduced in a traditional society. Also, it seems that foods are introduced with an eye to convenience rather than appropriateness. Highly processed foods which are easy for the baby to eat UNASSISTED by the parent, are extremely popular. I hope parents consider that we were evolved to breast-feed exclusively for a long period of time and that the introduction of any adult foods probably included a lot of pre-chewing, which is a powerful disincentive for overly early weaning from the breast. Food allergies are dangerous and inconvenient, so any avenue of investigation which could PREVENT them before they develop should be considered.

    • Posted By: lalexander26 @ 11/10/2007 4:55:36 PM

      While I agree with you that vast numbers of children are being introduced to table foods at an inappropriate early age (a lot of them are instructed to do so by their pediatricians that are so uneducated about food allergies), I disagree with you that there is a decline in breast feeding. There was a decline in the 70's and 80's but breast feeding has made a huge comeback in the last couple of decades. I don't believe one should be so judgemental in placing blame on a non-breastfeeding woman. Just so you know, I breast fed both of my children. One of which is anaphylactic to dairy and dairy derivitives, multiple other food allergeis, EE, environmental allergies, and osteoporosis. My daughter lucked out and has only med allergies. Now, what a lot of breast feeding mothers do not know and are not told is that what THEY put in there bodies actually trigger these allergies in their little babies....just like it did mine.

  • Posted By: tpatti11 @ 11/09/2007 11:19:02 AM

    AT MY COLLEGE WE ARE WORKING ON A PRODUCT THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING TO THE MARKETPLACE FOR TESTING FOOD FOR INADVERTENTLY COMING IN CONTACT WITH FOOD ALLERGENS. WE WANT TO DO MARKET RESEARCH FOR THIS, COULD ANYONE WHO HAS A FOOD ALLERGY/CHILD/LOVED ONE WITH A FOOD ALLERGY PLEASE TAKE THIS TEST?!?

    THANK YOU

    http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=psyd3wVgIhO12hFmo4_2bzbA_3d_3d

    • Posted By: lalexander26 @ 11/10/2007 4:47:41 PM

      You would benefit tremendously by contacting the University of Nebraska. They test products for undeclared allergens every day. I proved twice that two different products indeed contained undeclared dairy.

  • Posted By: stacey2grow @ 11/09/2007 6:49:39 PM

    After reading this article I could see how I relate as I have food allergies too. I can also add that I am 25 years old and right now I can't eat avacados,kiwis and raisins of course up until I moved at age 22 I ate all of these foods regularly. Born in norther California now living in southern California I quickly learned that I can't eat these foods. I have to ask has anyone checked the anti-fungus/pesticides that they use on our food? I had others and a doctor confirm that this was the cause so to avoid getting sick I eat organic and no more problem. Why don't they look outside for the cause instead of inside they wont be so confused by the cause of allergies. I was also raised on a farm with animals and dirt and we grew a lot of food, now I eat from a store and have only recently developed allergies. thank you

  • Posted By: VANative @ 11/09/2007 3:32:54 PM

    My allergies/sensitivities to wheat, cashews, vinegar, black tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, milk and mushrooms are all candida-related. As are my inhaled chemical sensitivities, e.g. to scented candles, natural gas, etc. My reactions rise and ebb with my candida or "yeast' burden. I wish mainstream Medical Doctors would believe me!! After 14 years of trial and error and fighting candida, I think I know what's going on with my own body. I also think candida is behind autism and some forms of mental impairment -- ever heard of "yeast head"? I get it from wheat, vinegar, etc. It's like being drunk. Terrible condition to have and I get no help from medical community towards curing it. Thanks for the irrelevant Epipen you gave me, allergy Dr.!!

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