Scientists think that a vaccine against food allergies will be available within the next ten years. In the past, 1 in 70 people were reported to have food allergies to items like peanuts, tree nuts like Brazil nuts and cashews, and other serious food allergies. Then doctors started reporting numbers in the 1.6% range. Recently the numbers of people reporting food allergies seem to be in the 5% range. These numbers seem to be increasing, or are they?

Well food allergies may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists are on the verge of being able to create hypo-allergenic versions of the food molecules that cause allergies. These can then be combined with inflammation reducing compounds, to form a safe vaccine to use to desensitize people, and so prevent allergic response. It may take awhile, but our next generation of kids may not have to worry about what their friends are eating for lunch, or kissing someone who ate peanuts earlier that day.

Ever wonder where all of our nuts come from, especially considering that they are easily found in just about every market you could wander into?

• Cashews are grown throughout the tropics, but most come from are India and East Africa. They are never sold in the shell because there is an extremely caustic oil between the inner and outer layers which must be burned off before they can be sold.
• Almonds originated in the Mediterranean, but California now produces 80% of the world's supply.
• Macadamia nuts are native to Australia and were brought to Hawaii about 100 years ago. Commercial production began around 1920 and most of the world's macadamias are now grown on Hawaii.
• Walnuts are the third most popular nut in the US and California produces 2/3 of the world's crop.
• Pecans are native to the Mississippi valley and are the only nut native to the US. Georgia is the largest producer of pecans.
• Hazelnuts, also known as filbert, are primarily grown in Turkey, where 75% of the world's supply comes from. Almost all the US grown hazelnuts are from Oregon's Willamette valley
• Pistachio production is the largest in Iran, which accounts for about 40% of the international crop. The US is the second largest producer, with almost 30% of the crop, 98% of which is grown in California.
• Peanuts are not really nuts, but are legumes and members of the pea family (only included here as they most often grouped with nuts). China is the largest producer, with almost 40% of the world crop. India has almost 25%and the U.S., the third largest producing country, has only 6%. Roughly 2/3 of the global peanut crops are processed into peanut oil.
• Brazil nuts are resistant to cultivation and are still primarily harvested from the wild in South America.

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You know those cans of "mixed nuts?" They're the ones that have the pull top lid and inside there's supposed to be this mix of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, and walnuts. The thing is, more than half the contents are those teeny tiny peanuts that have that annoying red skin that tastes like toilet paper, and the rest of the less-than-half is everything else. And right there on top, if you happen to be the lucky person to actually open the can, are the all of two giant, deliciously oily Brazil nuts. The thing is, you never eat the Brazil nuts because, well, they're like basically solid pieces of nutty fat.

Well! Make sure that next time you open that can, steal those Brazil nuts for yourself because the giant nuts have 544 micrograms of the mineral selenium per ounce, and recently released research (November) says that low levels of selenium contribute to osteoarthritis. We don't want osteoarthritis now, do we?!?

And if you're shy about popping nuts straight up (I'm not), you can make Brazil nut-crusted pork chops, a fruitcake with Brazil nuts, or cookies.