Results tagged “food” from Allergy

About 20% of schoolchildren and adolescents in Sweden suffer from perceived food hypersensitivity (e.g. allergy or intolerance). Our knowledge of how child food hypersensitivity affects parents HRQL and what aspects of the hypersensitivity condition relate to HRQL deterioration in the family is limited. Thus the aim of this study was to investigate the parent-reported HRQL in families with a schoolchild considered to be food hypersensitive. The allergy-associated parameters we operated with were number of offending food items, adverse food reactions, additional hypersensitivity, allergic diseases and additional family members with food hypersensitivity. These parameters, along with age and gender were assessed in relation to child, parent and family HRQL.

Methods: In May 2004, a postal questionnaire was distributed to parents of 220 schoolchildren with parent-reported food hypersensitivity (response rate 74%). Two questionnaires were used: CHQ-PF28 and a study-specific questionnaire including questions on allergy-associated parameters. In order to find factors that predict impact on HRQL, stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were carried out...

ST. LOUIS — People with wheat allergies who have stayed away from beer now have a new option.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. today introduced Redbridge, which the company called the first nationally available sorghum beer. Starting today, Redbridge is available in restaurants and stores carrying organic products.

Sorghum is the primary ingredient in the beer from the makers of the nation's top-selling full-calorie and light beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Sorghum is a safe grain for those with wheat allergies. Anheuser-Busch is also marketing the beer as an alternative for those who choose wheat-free or gluten-free diets.

Many experts believe the current advice to parents to keep peanuts away from their babies may be making the problem worse.

In Africa, Asia and China, where peanuts are a staple food and routinely given to young children, rates of peanut allergy are lower than they are in the West.

Other research suggests the opposite - that early exposure to peanuts makes an individual more susceptible.

Parents are being asked to volunteer their babies for a major investigation into the causes of peanut allergy.

 

by Gloria Payne, DNJ

Did you know that almost 12 million Americans have a food allergy? About one out of every 25 American children under the age of 18 has a food allergy. Scientists have discovered that in the past five years, the existence of peanut allergy in children has doubled.

Did you know that there are approximately 150 to 200 food allergy-related deaths each year in the United States?

With the increased prevalence of food allergies, you probably will prepare food for someone with a food allergy, dine with someone with a food allergy or be a friend of someone with a food allergy.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Dec. 7, 2006)  - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to almond, peanut, or hazelnut proteins not to consume the Schär brand Wafers and Biscotti products described below. The affected products may contain almonds, peanuts, and hazelnuts, which are not declared on the label.

All Best Before dates and lot codes of the following Schär brand products, imported from Italy, are affected by this alert.

About 2.2 million school-aged children, or 4 percent of U.S. students, have food allergies, and 3.3 million Americans of all ages are allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.

But that number is rising rapidly. According to one study, reports FAAN, peanut allergies among young children doubled between 1997 and 2002.

Such allergies often carry the risk of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that can cause someone to stop breathing.

Allergist Jerry Shier says that he knows of no proven cause for the rise in food allergies in recent years, but says the best explanation for the increase is the "hygiene hypothesis."

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 30, 2006) - The public warning issued on November 24, 2006 has been updated to include additional allergen risk and product information. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to almond protein or peanut protein not to consume the Schar brand Snack - gluten free chocolate wafers with hazelnuts. The affected product may contain almond and peanut proteins which are not declared on the label.

All Best before dates and lot codes of this product described below are affected by this alert.

The Schar brand Snack - gluten free chocolate wafers with hazelnuts, a product of Italy, is sold in a 105 g package bearing UPC 8 008698 005286 on the back panel. On some packages, the UPC on the back panel may be covered up with a sticker. These packages have a white sticker on the front panel which bears a different UPC 8 00869 80528 6. Both the UPC are affected. The package contains three individually wrapped 35 g Snack bars.

DALLAS - T-H Foods is recalling some crackers that may contain undeclared milk and could be harmful to people with certain food allergies.

The Illinois-based company says its Crunchmaster Sesame Rice Crackers were distributed to Costco warehouses in Dallas and Sumner, Washington.The crackers were packed in a 6-count multipack that includes sesame and cheese flavors. The packages are labeled "Best Before date of Jun082007B."Consumers with questions should contact TH Foods at: 1-800-896-2396.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 29, 2006) - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Euro-Excellence Inc. are warning people with allergies to almond protein not to consume the Swiss Delice Classique Noisettes brand Fine Milk Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts described below. The affected product may contain almond protein which is not declared on the label.

The affected product, the Swiss Delice Classique Noisettes brand Fine Milk Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts, is sold in a 100 g package bearing UPC 7 616501 012478. All lot codes are affected by this alert. This product has been distributed in Ontario and Quebec.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

Scientists have identified a new gene in peanuts that codes for a protein with no apparent allergic effects, research that opens up the possibility of allergen-free GM nuts.

The identification of the new gene, called ara h 3-im, by researchers from the University of Florida offers some hope for estimated 2.5 million people in Europe and the US now vulnerable to the food allergy.

"If it is true that Ara h 3-im has lower allergenic properties than other Ara h 3 proteins, this study may provide the information necessary to produce a hypoallergenic peanut through silencing of the major allergens and selecting for the reduced allergenic polypeptides via mutational breeding and/or genetic engineering," wrote authors I-H Kang and M. Gallo.

JAPAN - More than 300 cases of allergic reaction to food served in school lunches occur annually, according to the first nationwide survey conducted by Sagamihara National Hospital and the School Dietician Conference of Japan.

Though the survey found no fatal cases, 4.7 percent of students who suffered were hospitalized, with 59 percent of primary and middle school students who had allergic reactions treated in hospitals.

The results illustrate the importance of measures to prevent allergic reactions to food in school lunches, the national hospital organization in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the Tokyo-based conference said.

The dietitian conference also decided to make a pamphlet about points to remember when providing school lunch to students with food allergies in the next fiscal year.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people with allergies to peanut or almond proteins not to consume certain Café Tasse Noir Praliné chocolate bars.

The agency warns some of the chocolate bars may contain peanut and almond proteins that are not declared on the label.

The importer is voluntarily recalling the affected product from stores, the agency said Friday.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the product, it added.

1. Keep finger food—candies, crudités—well out of reach of little hands.

2. Avoid serving nuts and using nut oils—sesame, peanut, etc.—while cooking because for children with severe nut allergies, oil traces left on countertops can set off a reaction, even without eating the food in question.

3. Know your ingredients. Be sure that you and whoever is serving food know the ingredients—all of them—of what's being served. They're not always obvious - milk can be hiding in veggie dogs and soy is contained in many prepared foods. if you're serving catered foods, be especially vigilant about ingredients.

DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say a pilot study suggests children allergic to eggs can overcome the allergy by gradually eating increased quantities of eggs.

Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center and theUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said study participants who took a daily dose of egg product during a the two-year period were able to increase their bodies' resistance to the point where most could eat two scrambled eggs without a reaction.

"Egg allergies cause a significant decrease in quality of life for many people, so this study is exciting in that it brings us a step closer to being able to offer a meaningful therapy for these people," said Dr. A. Wesley Burks, chief of Duke's division of allergy and immunology and a senior member of the research team.

• What is cows' milk protein allergy? A reaction to one or more milk proteins.

• What are the symptoms? Rash, wheezing, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and distress. However, these symptoms have many causes.

• What is the most common cause of food allergy? Milk. It affects a minimum of two to three per cent of infants. Other common food allergens are egg, peanuts and tree nuts.

The growing number of people suffering from allergies is due to changes in European diets over the past 30 years, says a new review from the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA²LEN).

But by targeting several key areas, particularly how children are fed early in life, including breastfeeding, their early diet and increasing the use of pre- and probiotics could have a direct positive effect on the subsequent development of asthma and allergies.

According to the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations, an estimated four per cent of adults and eight per cent of children in the 380m EU population suffer from food allergies.

The majority of family doctors are missing cows' milk allergy in babies despite it causing serious health problems, claims a new survey.

Four in five GPs are failing to make a correct diagnosis and even when they do spot it, more than half are wrongly recommending soy-based milk instead - which can pose a risk to long-term health.

The survey of doctors found most don't trust their own colleagues to make the correct diagnosis of cows' milk allergy - the most common allergic condition.

Most young children who develop an allergy to cow's milk eventually "outgrow" it within a few years. Experiencing respiratory symptoms with the allergy, however — such as wheezing or runny nose — strongly predicts the likelihood that the allergy will persist considerably longer into childhood. That was the finding of a study presented here at the 52nd annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

"We have known for a long time that food allergies can cause respiratory effects," said researcher Alessandro Fiochi, MD, from the University of Milan Medical School in Italy. "This is the first study that shows these symptoms can actually predict which children are most likely to have a longer-lasting problem with cow's milk allergy."

A CARLISLE mum became so fed up with the “tasteless, overpriced rubbish” offered to coeliac sufferers that she launched her own gluten-free café/takeaway.

Claire Singleton-Browne, who was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance 12 years ago, opened Claire’s Kitchen, on the Kingstown Industrial Estate, last month.

She came up with the idea after she and her son Matthew, 12, who is also a coeliac sufferer, found it virtually impossible to find good, gluten-free café and takeaway food in Carlisle.

Gluten is the protein found in wheat. Similar proteins which are harmful to coeliacs suffers are present in rye, barley and possibly oats.

by Roger M.Grace

There are various foods which, to the vast majority of people, can be enjoyed without ill-effects…but can cause havoc to the body of anyone with an allergy to them. Among these foods are milk, eggs, soy and wheat—as well as fish and shellfish, to which U.S. District Court Judge George Schiavelli of Los Angeles can personally attest. (Fortunately, his wife, Holli, is quite fond of him and does not slip cod liver oil into his oatmeal.) And, yes, the peanut, subject of this current batch of columns, is also a common allergen.

Peanuts have been consumed for centuries, and been a popular snack in the U.S. since the mid-19th Century, devoid of controversy. But they’re now in the news—and are being described by some as “dangerous.”

The Wall Street Journal reported last week:

“An estimated 1.5 million Americans, including some 600,000 children, experience allergic reactions to peanuts, ranging from hives to nausea to sometimes-fatal anaphylactic shock. With most of the annual 150 food-allergy deaths blamed on peanuts, many schools have created peanut-free zones or gone totally ‘peanut free.’