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Food allergies worldwide are on the rise with 2 million people, 8% of children and 2% of adults, suffering from them in the United States alone. While people can be allergic to any number of foods and food additives including fruits, vegetables, meats and dyes, the most common food allergies are to dairy, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. These foods are commonly referred to as "The Top 8" and cause 90% of all food allergy reactions. Due to this, food companies are required to list them on food labels in the U.S. (You can read more about the The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) below.) To find out more about the food(s) that you are allergic to, click on the links below:
Dairy Allergy
Egg Allergy
Soy Allergy
Wheat Allergy
Peanut Allergy
Tree Nut Allergy
Fish and Shellfish Allergy
Common Food Allergens:
How to Avoid Them
Many of the most common food allergens are often found in prepared, packaged foods. If you've already been eating with food allergies for a while, you know this means that you can't eat anything without reading the label. Even if you've already determined a food to be "safe" by carefully reading its label, you should know that labels change without warning and with those changes could come ingredients that you are avoiding. For example, one of my son's favorite snacks was a rice cake with Sunbutter (with a wheat free diet, a rice cake is the next best thing to a cracker!) Every time we went to the grocery store, I picked up a package of the same brand of rice cakes assuming they were "safe" since I had made that conclusion months before by reading the label. One day, for some reason, I actually read the label to be sure they were still "safe". At the bottom of the ingredient list was a statement about them being produced on shared lines with peanuts. Yikes! I learned my lesson the easy way. Don't learn it the hard way with a mild reaction or a trip to the ER. Read the label, always! To read more about food labeling laws, click here. For foods commonly containing your allergen and ingredients to watch for, click on your allergen below:
Dairy Allergy
Egg Allergy
Soy Allergy
Wheat Allergy
Peanut Allergy
Tree Nut Allergy
Fish and Shellfish Allergy
You are probably familiar with the term "cross-contamination" which is one of the causes of food borne illness (food poisoning). To prevent food poisoning, cooks are advised to keep raw foods, especially meats, away from cooked and ready-to-eat foods. This is because pathogens from raw foods can be moved to the cooked foods and ultimately make the person eating it sick.
Why the food safety 101 lesson? Well, the same care must be taken when preparing foods for people with food allergies. Just think of the allergen as the "raw food" or an even more vivid picture, a nice, big, raw chicken breast in all of its salmonella covered glory. Not something you want touching the rest of your food. Get the idea? Here are some tips for avoiding cross-contamination when eating with food allergies:
- Wash all utensils with soap and water before and after handling food allergen(s).
This includes pots, pans, knives, stirring spoons, cutting boards, etc. Many people may think it is good enough to just "wipe off" utensils. I have read of several cases of anaphylaxis that occurred because someone "wiped off" a knife with peanut butter on it to make a sandwich for a peanut allergic child. Unfortunately, this is a very common mistake. People who are not dealing with food allergies often don't understand why this is a problem. If you need to explain it to them, use the raw chicken analogy (you can even throw in the "salmonella covered glory" part from the section above!) I think most people would cringe at the thought of making a sandwich for themselves with a knife that just cut into a big piece of raw meat!
- Wash all surfaces where foods containing food allergen(s) were prepared with soap and water
This one goes right along with the utensils. Again, treat the allergen(s) the way you would raw foods to avoid cross-contamination.
- Wash hands often
This goes for during food preparation as well as eating foods containing allergens. For very sensitive individuals, contact of an allergen on skin can cause a reaction. My son has not had a serious reaction this way but he has had hives from being touched by someone eating one of the foods he's allergic to.
- Avoid the allergen altogether
This is, obviously, your call and depends completely on your comfort zone. In our house, we don't have peanuts or eggs because we've seen pretty severe reactions with both of them. We feel better just avoiding them altogether. Some people may not go that far but it is what makes us feel comfortable. My son also has wheat and dairy allergies but we do have those foods in our house.
Contact Food Manufacturers
When I started managing my son's food allergies, the new labeling laws hadn't taken effect yet. This meant that I couldn't count on the food labels to state in plain English the allergens contained in the product. Many ingredients were not clear such as "modified food starch", which often means wheat. I would then have to contact the company via phone or e-mail to find out if that product did, in fact, contain the allergen in question. With the new labeling laws, the top 8 allergens should be clearly listed but it is always a good idea to double check, especially if you are extra sensitive to an allergen. Something else to consider is cross-contamination during production. Many companies produce foods on the same line as other foods. Snack foods are a good example of this. Many snacks come in plain, cheesy, buttered and nutty varieties. You might purchase the plain one thinking they are safe because the label doesn't list any of your allergens. In reality, they might be made on the same line as the variety containing the allergens you're avoiding. Some companies do this and have very strict rules about cleaning the line in between different products and even testing the line to be sure it doesn't contain allergens. Others may not take such care. Companies are not required to make "advisory statements" such as "may contain traces of...", therefore, you will need to determine what degree of risk you are comfortable with when purchasing foods.
Finding your comfort zone can be a long process. We learned of my son's food allergies after he had anaphylaxis to egg when he was less than a year old. To see such a severe reaction caused by something that I had fed him really shook me up. I was literally afraid to feed him anything. At that point, I had no comfort zone. As the saying goes though, "knowledge is power" and finding your comfort zone is powerful, too. Feeling comfortable with what you are dealing with comes with time and information. Check out the Food Allergy Resources page for organizations and websites that can help you get the information that you need to find your comfort zone.As you gather information and gain experience managing the food allergies that you are dealing with, you will gradually become more and more comfortable. Your comfort zone will most likely change as time goes on. It will more than likely determine the following things: - Whether you contact food manufacturers about cross contamination possibilities
- Whether you have foods containing certain allergens in your home
- Whether you go to a family gathering where foods containing your allergens will be (this sounds extreme, I know, but some food allergies are just that serious).
Above all, always remember to trust your instincts. Don't let anybody make you feel as though you are making a big deal out of nothing. Food allergies can be very serious and you know what you need to do to keep yourself or your child healthy. Find your comfort zone and trust it!Back to the Top of Common Food Allergies Page
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) took effect on January 1, 2006. This law requires food manufacturers to list on the food label any of the top 8 allergens that it contains in plain language. This can be done in parentheses after an ingredient containing the allergen. For example: casein (milk) or albumin (egg). Or top 8 allergens can be identified in a statement starting with "contains" and listing the allergens included in the food. The law does not require food manufacturers to include "advisory labeling" or include statements like "may contain peanuts". For very sensitive individuals, it is important to call the manufacturer to determine if the food is free of cross contamination with allergens not listed on the label. Also, fresh foods such as raw fruits and vegetables do not require such labeling. For more information about FALCPA, visit the
U.S. FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition website.
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