Caterers Catering To People With Food Allergies

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network's Welcoming Guests with Food Allergies reveals:

It's been reported that between 6 to 8 million American children are suffering from food allergies, a number that's increased 18 percent since 1997, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control. That means roughly four (4) out of every one hundred (100) children have a food allergy of some sort.

Knowing that common food allergies cause people to forgo peanuts and peanut butter, and dairy and wheat/gluten, as a professional caterer and event planner, I've become hypersensitive to this fact.

A person having an allergic reaction to egg can start showing signs of anaphylactic shock: hives, unstoppable runny nose and projectile vomiting. Other symptoms can develop in seconds or minutes and can include dangerously low blood pressure, swelling in the face and throat so severe it can block the airway, fluid in the lungs and abnormal heart rhythms.

Jabbing the black tip of an EpiPen or the red tip of a Twinject Auto-Injector into the thigh, holding it there for the required 10 to 15 seconds will more than likely cause the reaction to subside.

What is a food allergy?

A food allergy is an immune system response to a food that the body mistakenly believes is harmful. Once the immune system decides that a particular food is harmful, it creates specific antibodies to it. The next time the individual eats that food, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals, including histamine, to protect the body. These chemicals trigger a cascade of allergic symptoms that can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and/or cardiovascular system. Scientists estimate that approximately 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies.

FAAN's Do You Have a Food Allergy? brochure, distributed at health fairs throughout the country, is available thanks to a grant from the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI). Download a copy (.pdf ~ 30kb).

What are the common symptoms of a reaction?

Symptoms may include one or more of the following: a tingling sensation in the mouth, swelling of the tongue and the throat, difficulty breathing, hives, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and even death. Symptoms typically appear within minutes to two hours after the person has eaten the food to which he or she is allergic.

What is the best treatment for food allergy?

Strict avoidance of the allergy-causing food is the only way to avoid a reaction. Reading ingredient labels for all foods is the key to avoiding a reaction. If a product doesn't have a label, individuals with a food allergy should not eat that food. If you have any doubt whether a food is safe, call the manufacturer for more information.

Is there a cure for food allergies?

Currently, there are no medications that cure food allergies. Strict avoidance is the only way to prevent a reaction. Many people outgrow their food allergies, although peanut, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish are often considered lifelong allergies. Research is being done in this area, and advances are being made. Click here for research information.

Should I stop eating a food if I think I'm allergic to it?

Removing a food from your diet can leave you with an unbalanced diet, which may cause other health problems. Seek a doctor's assistance before making significant changes in your diet.

What is the best treatment for a food allergy reaction?

Epinephrine, also called adrenaline, is the medication of choice for controlling a severe reaction. It is available by prescription as a self-injectable device (EpiPen® or Twinject®).

What is the difference between food allergy and food intolerance?

Many people think the terms food allergy and food intolerance mean the same thing; however, they do not. A food intolerance is an adverse food-induced reaction that does not involve the immune system. Lactose intolerance is one example of a food intolerance. A person with lactose intolerance lacks an enzyme that is needed to digest milk sugar. When the person eats milk products, symptoms such as gas, bloating, and abdominal pain may occur.
A food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to a certain food. The most common form of an immune system reaction occurs when the body creates immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to the food. When these IgE antibodies react with the food, histamine and other chemicals (called "mediators") are released, causing hives, asthma, or other symptoms of an allergic reaction.

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Sat Feb 14, 2009 - 1:46 pm ET
Video ABC News - Pollution Problems

KVUE-TV Austin AFP/File - Children born in heavy traffic areas could be at greater risk of developing asthma due to genetic changes brought on by pollution and acquired in the womb, a new study suggests.

In a study of umbilical cord blood from New York City children, researchers found a change in a gene called ACSL3 that is associated with prenatal exposure to chemical pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are byproducts of incomplete combustion from carbon-containing fuels, resulting in high levels in heavy-traffic areas.

Exposure to PAHs has previously been linked to diseases such as cancer and childhood asthma.

Researchers say this finding provides a potential clue for predicting environmentally related asthma in children - particularly those born to mothers who live in high-traffic areas like Northern Manhattan and South Bronx when pregnant.

The genetic alterations are called epigenetic changes, which may disrupt the normal functioning of genes by affecting their expression but do not cause structural changes or mutations in the genes.

"Our data support the concept that environmental exposures can interact with genes during key developmental periods to trigger disease onset later in life, and that tissues are being reprogrammed to become abnormal later," said Shuk-mei Ho, University of Cincinnati researcher and lead author of a paper on the results published in the Feb. 16 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.

The researchers analyzed umbilical cord white blood cell samples from 56 children for epigenetic alterations related to prenatal PAH exposure in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. The mothers' exposure to PAHs was monitored during pregnancy using backpack air monitors.

The researchers found a significant association between changes in ACSL3 methylation - a gene expressed in the lung - and maternal PAH exposure. ACSL3 also was associated with a parental report of asthma symptoms in the children prior to age 5.

"This research is aimed at detecting early signs of asthma risk so that we can better prevent this chronic disease that affects as many as 25 percent of children in Northern Manhattan and elsewhere," said Frederica Perera, co-author on the paper from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

More research is needed to confirm the findings, the scientists said. If the study is confirmed, changes in the ACSL3 gene could serve as a novel biomarker for early diagnosis of pollution-related asthma.

"Understanding early predictors of asthma is an important area of investigation," said study team member Rachel Miller of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. "because they represent potential clinical targets for intervention."

The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and private foundations.