Beware! Allergens abound at most eateries. Photo: Dan4th/ Flickr

Hanna Raskin's first waitressing job was at a small Greek diner in Michigan. In the 15 years since, she's worked at a chop suey joint in Mississippi, an exclusive Arizonan country club, a vegetarian eatery and an Irish pub. She currently picks up odd shifts at a seafood eatery in the North Carolina mountains, where she cracks crab legs for helpless tourists. This is the second in a series of posts.

My mother, who has a severe shellfish allergy, hasn't tasted seafood since the Eisenhower administration. Since she hasn't a clue whether crustaceans are salty, sweet or sour, she suspects they're lurking everywhere on the menu: "Now, does this cheesecake have any shellfish?" she'll ask her very patient server.

As a kid, I cringed at my mom's fastidiousness. Because really, who would put shrimp in granola? But with chefs now fusing ingredients at a breakneck pace and food allergies multiplying at an unprecedented rate, my mother isn't the only one asking. Twelve million Americans suffer from food allergies, and they're demanding that restaurants accommodate them.

I've always been thankful that I'm not allergic to anything. I breathe a sigh of relief every time I get to say "not that I know of" when the doctor asks if I'm allergic to anything. At the same time, I've always felt really bad for people who do suffer from food allergies. Lactose intolerance? You poor thing! What? You can't eat wheat/bread? I just don't think I could make it.

I realize that if you are one of the people who can't eat certain foods you get used to it and take it in stride. And of course, food labels are enormously useful in helping people avoid those dangerous foods. Even though there are more, manufacturers are required to list the top eight, which are responsible for 90% of allergic reactions. I'm sure all of these look familiar to any careful label reader!

1. wheat
2. soy
3. peanuts
4. tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc)
5, milk
6. eggs
7. fish
8. shellfish

For all of you out there concerned about food allergies I would like to tell you about Cherrybrook Kitchen. They make natural baking mixes; frosting, cookie, cake, and pancake mixes that are wheat-based and gluten-free. They are also vegan, kosher, and peanut, dairy, egg, and nut free.

Patsy Rosenberg was addicted to chocolate cake. Hey, that's not something that bad is it? Well is wasn't, until she developed food allergies. She started reacting first to chocolate, then seafood, nuts, and any dairy and egg products. Doctors told Rosenberg that she could no longer eat any of these foods or else risk a life threatening allergic response.

She tried to stay away from all the foods that she reacted to and finally got fed up. She started playing around in her kitchen trying to create cakes without eggs and dairy products and after many failures came up with a few good recipes. She took cakes to parties and got such a good response that she decided to start Cherrybrook Kitchen.

The mixes have gotten some good press from Parents and Family Circle magazine, as well as some of the specialy mags. Now their mixes can be now be found in national chains, such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Kroger, Super Target, and Giant Eagle, for a total of around 3.500 stores nationwide.

Whole Foods has just put out a recall on its Whole Treat Organic Vanilla Ice Cream Bars Dipped in Chocolate due to undisclosed almonds. This isn't the first time Whole Foods has recalled an ice cream product due to undisclosed ingredients. Last August they issued a recall on their frozen chocolate and vanilla soy products that contained undeclared milk. In the past they have had other food recalls such as when jars labeled peanut butter actually contained almond butter, as well as a few others over the years.

I'm glad that companies are quick to make food recalls for allergies and possible contamination, such as the spinach scare of the last few months. People with allergies, young children, the elderly, those who are pregnant , and people with immune system problems should keep track of food recalls to stay safe. To stay abreast of allergy related food recalls you can visit the Food Allergy website and the Kids With Food Allergies website. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration site has up to date info on all types of food and drug recalls.

If you're lactose intolerant, you know all about nausea, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. So while you might stay away from dairy products, you can still get calcium and vitamins from fish, dark green, leafy vegetables, and tofu. But you're an adult. As pediatrician Dr. Ari Brown asks, "How many kids, especially toddlers, eat broccoli, green leafy vegetables, rhubarb or tofu?"

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, even lactose-intolerant children should eat some dairy every day to help maintain daily recommended levels of calcium and vitamin D. Aside from the fact that it might be difficult to get lactose-intolerant kids to eat canned anchovies, dairy products are a more adequate source of the nutrients needed bone growth and development.

The AAP recommends that children drink about 4 to 8 oz. of milk with meals or other foods throughout the day. As children get older, aged cheeses and yogurt can be added to the diet because these foods lack the sugar that can make milk hard to digest.

Think that you're going to break out in a severe case of itchy hives, and gasping for air if you have a food allergy? Not always. While some severe food allergies, like allergies to tree nuts, may cause dramatic reactions, there are other signs to food sensitivities. The Guardian lists seven other signs that you may have a food sensitivity:

• Oral itching and tingling - Itchiness is a common symptom of food allergies, but when it appears in the mouth in the absence of other more severe reactions (like wheezing), it may be an indication of oral allergy syndrome (OAS). OAS is not well known, but seems to be a common response to raw fruits and vegetables like carrot, celery and apples. I've never experienced it with those foods, but I do sometimes feel a little itchy when I eat a mango.
• Headaches and migraines - Culprits can be monosodium glutamate (MSG), other food preservatives, amines (which are found in chocolate, mature cheese and red wine) and food coloring
• Respiratory distress - Often due to sulfites, which are preservatives found in dried fruits, prepackaged salads and canned foods
• Digestive malaise - I have no idea what it means, but "frothy" diarrhea indicates lactose intolerance, and other digestive problem like bloating, gas and diarrhea could indicate gluten intolerance.
• Skin complaints - Some forms of celiac disease will have no digestive problems, but will appear as itchy blisters on the skin
• Cravings
• Tired all the time

The Seattle Times brought up a good point with an article about dealing with dietary restrictions in social situations. In restaurants, it is a relatively simple matter to let your waiter or the chef know that you have food allergies or would prefer to have your dish without, say, cilantro. But food issues can be more problematic when dining at the home of friends or acquaintances.

It is always acceptable to let people know when you have allergies - preferably in advance - but what about food preferences? Should you tell the host that you follow the Atkins diet and your significant other doesn't eat any dairy products and hates onions?

Unfortunately, there is no one real answer, but since most hosts and hostesses want people to enjoy the party and the food they prepare, it can be easier to mention some things up front, than to refuse all food at the dinner. As a general rule, it is a good idea to politely mention "big" things, such as whether you are a vegetarian or vegan, but if you really have a laundry list of foods you just don't like, be willing to compromise and pick some out. To play it safe, offer to bring a dish (or two), which will not only take pressure off the host/hostess, but will make sure there is something you can eat.

Can you believe that the cake on the front cover of this book is gluten free? Is everyone - whether you have allergies or not - drooling? 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes is, as the title suggests, a cookbook of entirely gluten-free recipes that work. It's a great resource for both celiacs and for people who have friends and family with celiac disease. The recipes cover every meal of the day and primarily consist of made-over recipes that will reintroduce old favorites (now gluten-free, of course) back into your kitchen. There are many different muffins, cookies, cakes and even recipes for sandwich loaves because when authors Donna Washburn and Heather Butt asked families what kinds of gluten-free recipes they were interested in seeing, these were some of the favorites that they named. They're comforting foods and the book lets celiacs keep them that way.

In addition to the recipes, which are accompanied by wonderful photographs, there is an extensive guide to alternative flours and techniques for using them, which will enable cooks to adapt some of their old favorites to a new dietary standards.

There's a lot of banning of foods going on these days - first sodas from school campuses to help fight childhood obesity, and now...nuts. With the seeming increase in peanut and other tree-nut allergies, schools, restaurants and airlines are banning foods that contain peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and other tree nuts.

I understand the idea behind "banning" say, sodas from schools. Sodas and junk foods are blamed for the decline in nutrition and increase of childhood obesity, so they must be removed from school campuses, where the target audience is likely not able to make wise, informed choices. They are children.

But peanuts? I do not particularly love peanuts, almonds, walnuts, or things that contain them like peanut butter. And I certainly understand the severity and gravity of nut allergies. In schools, removing nuts might be a good idea based on the same idea with sodas - that children with allergies don't always know what they're eating. However, it seems somewhat extreme to ban these foods from restaurants and airplanes, as if adult consumers weren't smart enough to make the choice not to eat something that is potentially life threatening to themselves.

If you have a peanut allergy, don't you know that you do? If you have a peanut allergy, you are careful about what you eat and don't have a problem asking what's in a certain food. If you have a life-threatening allergy, you're probably carrying an epi-pen, too.

 

It would appear that the constant rise of food allergy sufferers may not actually be that bad. According to a WJZ.com most "allergies" have been based on just one test, either a blood test or a skin test, when in fact a wider picture should be considered. Such tests are very sensitive and should be compared to what the patient finds when they eat a particular food.

So the burden should be on the sufferer - they should make full notes on what they are eating and the type of reaction they suffer. This info should then be used by the Doctor who pools all the data together to make the correct diagnosis. It's very rare for a person to be allergic to more than two or three different foods.

Most allergies revolve around fish, shellfish, nuts, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, soy, and milk. Many people especially children, outgrow food allergies. About five percent of kids have food allergies but only two percent of adults. So the Doctor needs to look at the results over a long time period so they can see if things are evolving. There is also a distinct difference between sensitivities to food with actual allergies. Knowing what the symptoms of allergies are is important to distinguish between them.

[Iimage from Learn about Allergies]