The FDA Just Keeps Getting Nuttier

A news report published today warns U.S. consumers about a possible salmonella outbreak affecting pistachios.

We avoid these tree nuts anyway--they're one of my daughter's "top 5" foods to avoid. But come on--what is going on? How can any of us feel safe to eat anything anymore, much less those of us with food allergies who rely so heavily on accurate labels and safe food practices.

The only silver lining is that this type of outbreak makes the non-allergic take time to think that foods can cause severe, immediate illness and even death. For some reason, that is not something people readily accept with regard to food allergies. But with salmonella? Many more people will be sitting up and taking notice.

Also, the fact that these outbreaks are being found in nuts? So ironic to me. Especially when I think of some of the more lame arguments we read/hear about that say we are making FA up in our heads. For ex., how many times have you all heard this one: "Allergies to nuts can't be real or at least so common. We didn't have nut allergies when I was in school."

Now apply the same "logic" to the recent salmonella outbreaks. Doesn't sound very good, does it? Just because something didn't occur in the past with foods doesn't mean it can't happen now.

The lesson is to eat minimally processed, whole foods as much as you can. Obviously, FDA practices need a major overhaul. And, ironically, it might be salmonella outbreaks in nuts that finally get some positive changes made.

Is It a Cold or a Seasonal Allergy: That Is the Question

I was all set to do my "kids are back at school" happy dance this afternoon after the youngest is back at afternoon kindergarten later today, but it looks like that will have to wait for another day or even two.

Yes, it's that time of year again. The trees are budding like crazy, the green shoots are coming up and is that a flower peeking out of the recent Chicago snowstorm? Lots of pollen in the air combined with crazy cold temps and snow has created chaos in my household. Three of us, my food-allergic daughter included, are suffering allergy symptoms and are on allergy meds for the past few weeks now. In my case, I'm fine after the trees finish "budding." The other two have ongoing symptoms all season. Seasonal allergies and asthma often coincide with food allergies, so many of you will have the same problem I'm about to describe.

My daughter appears to be either suffering really bad allergy symptoms or has caught the head cold that's going around. It's now time to experience my yearly dilemma: is it allergies or a "real" cold? Symptoms like stuffiness, sneezing, fatigue are pretty much the same for either a cold or seasonal allergies. Then we've got the whole "Is your throat itchy or scratchy? (A fine distinction, trust me.) "Do you have a fever?" And the dreaded "How do you feel today?"

My daughter is sick of answering these questions as well as experiencing these symptoms. She recently switched to Allegra (the other stuff was making her too sleepy in the a.m.) and seemed fine. But then she was up all last night sneezing with "an itchy throat." Is it a cold or allergies? Up until about an hour ago, I truly had no clue.

I'm right about 50/50 on this question, which means sometimes she is home from school with allergies and sometimes she is sent to school with a cold (which, believing in "health karma" I try very hard not to do. You know, if I don't send my sick kid to school, you won't either. I know it doesn't really work like that but it makes me feel better to think about it that way.)

Today, it looks like I was right about the cold. My daughter is upstairs passed out which would definitely not happen if she were not truly ill. She just doesn't sleep during the day--during the daytime hours, in fact, she resembles Tigger. Extremely bouncy, literally and figuratively.

The "allergy vs. cold" dance is just beginning as allergy season is just now moving into its heyday according to our allergist. And since I'm in Chicago, head cold season lasts pretty much all year long.

It's a game of odds...today it looks like guessed correctly that my daughter has a true illness. Or it could be that Allegra doesn't work for her? Or it doesn't work for her AND she has a cold? Or the pollen count is just really, really obnoxious today? I better polish my mother's intuition skills because I'm really going to need them now!

Allergy Info Weekend Coming Up in Chicago!

By now many of you have heard of the THRIVE Allergy Expo coming to Chicago April 18 and 19th at McCormick Place. This is the only allergy expo in North America!

The Expo will have a variety of presentations and info about doctors, treatments and allergy-friendly products. There will also be much time devoted to celiac disease and gluten-free living, as well as resources for dealing with environmental allergies.

As a special incentive to Nut-Free Mom Blog readers, you can receive a discount on tickets when you use code: nutfreemom (all one word) when ordering.

Click here to get the full schedule: http://www.thriveallergyexpo.com/

Plus, on April 18 in Chicago, FAAN will be presenting it's the annual FAAN conference: "Take Action to Prevent Reactions." It's a full day of info, networking and bonding with other food-allergic individuals and their families. This is the first year I will attend and I'm looking forward to it. I hope to see some of you there! FAAN members pay $85 per ticket--that includes all sessions plus lunch. You can get meals to fit a special diet if you give them 2 weeks notice. No kids under 11 allowed, though, so you'll have to find someone to watch the little ones, but I think it's worth it.

Apparently, Chicago is the place to be in April if you're interested in food allergies. FAAN is also hosting a conference in Tarrytown, NY on May 9th, so head there if you're an East Coast allergy parent.

Safety Tattoos for Nut-Free Kids!

Well, if ever I needed proof that nut allergies are on the rise and that nut-allergic consumers are on companies' radar screens, this is it. I just received a One Step Ahead catalog that contains "Safety Tattoos with a Purpose" for young children. In addition to tattoos that can be personalized to include kids phone numbers, they also sell tattoos that say "No Nuts, Please!" The tattoo has a peanut in a red circle with a line through it--the universal symbol for "not allowed."

What a great product for those of us with very young children who can't always communicate their allergy needs when out and about. I can envision using these on field trips or special outings with preschoolers or toddlers. The temporary tattoos then wipe off when they're no longer needed.

No one wants to single their kids out in a negative way, but products like this seem almost as fun for kids to use as they are useful. I don't know about you but my kids have always loved temporary tattoos.

Just a note: I tried to find these online but was unable to. However, when I called the customer service number they assured me that the tattoos are in stock as of today! The item number is 15164 for "Tattoos with a Purpose": specify the nut-free tattoos. The customer service number is: 1-800-279-8440. They are a busy company, so you may need to call a few times before you reach a live person! :)

Illinois House Passes Food Allergy Legislation for Schools

I was thrilled to read this news story about how food allergy legislation recently passed in the Illinois House of Representatives. Now the bill goes onto the state senate.

The bill will advocate that all schools need a food allergy action to follow for food allergy emergencies. Even though parents still would have a hand in their child's own food allergy action plan, there would be no need, if this bill passes the Senate, for Illinois parents to be trailblazers on policy simply because they want to send their food-allergic child to school.

I've had to be a "trailblazer" at school and luckily I've had good results for my efforts, but how wonderful if other parents would know that food allergies and action plans were already on the school's radar screen as a matter of course. That's a whole lot more than many of us have had up until now.

For info about who your state reps are, click this link and scroll down. You'll be able to find your district and reps.

Sample letters to send to reps and state senators can be found at FAAN's
"Advocacy" portion of their web site.

And if you're not an Illinois resident, how about proposing a plan like this to your reps?