People who suffer from food allergies know how important it is to avoid the allergens that they are sensitive to. Allergic reactions can happen quickly, and they can be life-threatening. Allergens in food sometimes occur in products where one least expects to find them. The benefits of allergy free foods include knowing exactly what is in the foods you consume.
Approximately 2 percent of adults and between 4 and 8 percent of children have allergic reactions to one or more foods. In the last decade there seems to have been an increase in the numbers of younger people with allergies. Each year, around thirty thousand Americans have food allergy responses acute enough to go to an emergency room. All this points to the fact that it is critical to control your food intake with regard to the substance or substances that produce the allergy.
Allergic reactions to food usually occur within a few minutes to an hour of the food being ingested. Symptoms can be as mild as an itchy mouth or as severe as anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal if untreated. There is no cure for food allergies, though children often do outgrow them, as adults also do sometimes.
Only eight substances are the cause of approximately 90 percent of allergic reactions. Included are tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, fish, milk, wheat, egg and soy. It is usually easy to avoid consumption of some of these, such as fish, and also shellfish. But, when an allergen is used as an ingredient in other foods, it may be harder to detect. Soy, milk, egg and wheat are commonly incorporated into various food products. Items such as Asian sauces and different candies may contain peanuts, which are very dangerous for some people.
An important United States law was passed in 2004, known as FALCPA. This act required food companies to clearly state on their labels if the product includes any of the 8 major allergy-causing substances. However, the law did not require the manufacturers to include information regarding possible cross-contamination of foods processed by equipment used for several different types of foods, perhaps including known allergens.
Cross-contact statements are being including by some manufacturers on their labels voluntarily, but there is still the potential for allergic problems to be incurred when buying food items manufactured for the general population of consumers. It may take only a very small amount of an allergen to cause serious problems for someone sensitive to it. Foods processed specifically with the needs of the food allergy sufferer in mind will have far less probability of containing unwanted allergens.
Obviously one may, if in doubt about a particular food item, contact the manufacturing company about ingredients included, or the possibility of cross-contamination with allergens. There is, however, a much higher comfort level knowing that a company manufactures foods specifically for those with food allergies. Among the benefits of allergy free foods is the greater degree of safety one can reasonably expect from foods processed this way.
Learn more on allergy free salsa and gluten-free breads.
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