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Lake Forest, California - May 10 to
16, 2009 marks the twelfth annual Food Allergy Awareness Week. In honor
of this event popular food allergy author Linda Coss has released her
list of the top 10 things that parents of children with life-threatening
food allergies want:
#10: Delicious and Easy Recipes - For those who must eliminate
multiple and/or common ingredients, cooking can be an enormous challenge.
#9: To Be Able to Easily Dine Out - We understand that it is not
easy to prepare allergen-free food in the typical busy restaurant kitchen.
But it would be nice if we could easily get correct answers regarding
what's in the food.
#8: Nut-Free Flights - Airlines cannot control the food brought
on board a flight by their passengers, but why must they serve little
bags of peanuts? How about crackers, pretzels, raisins, licorice, tortilla
chips, or just about any other popular snack food?
#7: Empowered EMTs - In many parts of the country emergency medical
technicians do not carry - and are forbidden from administering - potentially
life-saving shots of epinephrine. This is ridiculous.
#6: Appropriate ER Protocols - Because up to 40-50% of severe
reactions are biphasic, those who go to the hospital for treatment should
always be kept under observation for at least 5 hours. Unfortunately many
emergency rooms discharge these patients as soon as they first stabilize.
#5: Understanding - We want the people in our lives to understand
that we are not a bunch of paranoid hysterical oddballs who are making
all of this up for the purpose of calling attention to ourselves and our
children. Life-threatening food allergies are a very real condition. And
yes, we really do have to take a lot of precautions to keep our kids safe.
#4: Knowledge - Currently the only treatment for life-threatening
food allergies is complete avoidance of the offending allergens. Since
food, and food residue, is everywhere, parents want to know exactly how
to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. What steps do they need
to take? What hidden dangers do they need to avoid?
#3: Clear Labels on Packaged Food Products - If there is a chance
that a product may contain an allergen that is not included in the ingredient
label, the package should say so. But if not, companies should not put
"may contain" verbiage on the package.
#2: Safe School Environments - Our kids are not learning disabled
and do not need "special education." But they do need a school
environment that is not covered with allergenic food residue, and teachers
who are prepared to recognize and treat an allergic reaction.
#1: A Cure - Most of all, we want a cure. A real cure - the type
of cure that would result in our children being able to eat whatever they
wanted to eat, without any risk of an adverse reaction.
Ms. Coss is the author of "How to Manage Your
Child's Life-Threatening Food Allergies," as well as two popular
food allergy cookbooks, "What's
to Eat?" and "What
Else is to Eat?" - both of which provide recipes for cooking
without dairy, egg, peanut or tree nut ingredients. All three books are
available at www.FoodAllergyBooks.com, at Amazon.com,
and at various retailers nationwide.
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