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Food Allergies Are On The Rise

January 27, 2010 · Posted in Articles

In a recent article published on Oprah.com, author Fritz Lenneman sites the findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and showing that between 1997 and 2007, cases of childhood food allergies rose 18 percent. Another key finding from that article is that children with food allergies are two to four times more likely to have other related conditions such as asthma and other allergies, compared to children without food allergies.

There’s no question that food allergies are receiving more media attention and as a parent of a child with food allergies, I couldn’t be happier. To me, the more people know and read about food allergies, the better it is for kids and families like mine. However, I have to say I also can’t believe how many kids I know who are being diagnosed with food allergies and who are having reactions later. While some allergies are diagnosed very early, a few friends of ours have kids that are 4, 7, 9 who have recently been diagnosed with nut allergies. While these kids may not have been exposed to pistachios or almonds previously, they are reacting to the nuts now (or at least more cases are being reported now).

It really makes me wonder about food allergies in general. For example, my younger daughter has been eating foods that say “may contain traces of” and “may contain” tree nuts long before we knew she had a tree nut allergy. Does this mean she has a higher tolerance to tree nuts than others who also have the allergy?

As an allergic parent, this world of food allergies is just so confusing. How much is considered “traces of” and is that enough to cause a reaction? Its likely you will get different answers depending on who your Allergist is and what they believe. Should kids still eat those food they previously enjoyed even after knowing they now have an allergy? We’d love to hear from you about how you found out about the allergy and what has changed for you since then.

Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food Allergies, food allergy, Fritz Lenneman, Kids with Food allergies, oprah.com

Comments

4 Responses to “Food Allergies Are On The Rise”

Colette on January 28th, 2010 9:30 am

Allergy Mom, I don’t think it’s unusual for allergies to be diagnosed in older kids. In my case, even though I can look back and see that my child had food allergies from birth, we didn’t get a clear diagnosis until he was older. When kids have extreme and life-threatening symptoms, they are easier to diagnose.

As to the ‘may contain’ labels. This doesn’t necessarily mean your child’s allergy is less extreme. ‘May contain’ also means ‘may not contain’ — because this labelling only applies when the allergen was not intended to be included in that food.

My rule of thumb is — it depends how extreme your child’s symptoms are. If he goes into anaphylactic shock when there is a peanut in the next room, avoid all ‘may contain peanuts’ foods.
AllergyMom on February 1st, 2010 11:33 am

Thanks for your comments Colette. Its so interesting to me to learn from parents about their different perspectives about dealing with food allergies. One thing is for certain, each family I spoke with have a plan that works for them. And, that’s the most important thing. As parents of kids with food allergies, we cannot judge what another family does. We need to make the right decisions for our family based on the information we have and know that we are always doing our best to keep our kids safe.
Anne on February 1st, 2010 3:38 pm

I am still learning about Food Allergies. My daughter was diagnosed at 8 months old. She had a bad reaction to formula and we demanded she go to the allergist and she is allergic to Dairy, egg wheat and peanut. I am thrilled that Food allergies are getting more attention but I still do not think it is enough.
As for labels I am just confused. I can not find a straight answer anywhere. So I just stay away from everything, May contain, has been processed in, or contain trace amounts.
I do not know how much it would take for her to have a reaction. Maybe I am just being paranoid but that is what I am doing.
AllergyMom on February 2nd, 2010 9:52 am

HI Anne: Personally, I believe that you need to do what is right for your family and in all likelihood it will be different from what other families do. Each individual has their own comfort level with various products and labels and companies. And many Allergists will provide differing opinions on “may contain” and “been processed in”. One suggestion, you may want to call a particular company to ask about their cleaning and good manufacturing processes. If you are comfortable with their response, you may want to consider their products. Again though, its a personal decision. Keep at it, reading labels does get easier over time!