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New Laws, Precautions Help Protect People With Most-Severe Food Allergies

Posted on: Monday, 23 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By Jason Newell and Annette Wells, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.

Jan. 23--For people with food allergies, deciding whether something is safe to eat has long meant scavenging through small-print ingredient lists for technical words such as "casein,""albumin" or "semolina."

Not anymore.

A new federal law makes it easier to spot ingredients that might trigger an allergic reaction. Food products that contain any of the eight most common allergy-causers must now list them in the ingredient label in plain English or in the respective cases above, "milk,""eggs" and "wheat."

"Prior to this new labeling law, the people who had allergies had to worry a little more," said Suzanne Kellon, manager of nutrition care at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland. "This should make foods safer for people who have allergies."

The law, which took effect Jan. 1, applies to any food product that contains protein derived from milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat or soybeans.

Together, these foods account for 90 percent of all allergic reactions in the United States.

Food allergies affect about 2 percent of American adults and 5 percent of infants and young children, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That's about 11 million people just 1 million shy of the population of Los Angeles County.

Approximately 30,000 consumers require emergency room treatment, and 150 Americans die each year because of allergic reactions to food, according to the FDA.

Of the eight most common food allergens covered in the new law, peanuts are the most deadly, causing an estimated 125 deaths in the U.S. each year.

The recent death of a 15-year-old Canadian girl who went into anaphylactic shock after kissing a date who had just eaten peanut butter drew international attention to the problem.

Allergies occur when the immune system mistakenly believes a harmless substance, in this case food, is toxic, said Luis Saca, chief of allergy and clinical immunology at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana.

In its haste to fight and protect the body, the immune system creates specific antibodies to that particular food product. So the next time a person eats, say, a peanut, those antibodies are released, triggering a cascade of symptoms such as wheezing, hives and stomach problems.

While the new law is intended to make it easier for people to avoid eating foods that will cause an allergic reaction, in some cases, simply paying attention to food labels isn't enough.

People with severe allergies to peanuts can't even be in a room where they are being eaten -- a reason most airlines have stopped serving them. There's a chance peanut oil could rub off eaters' hands and onto seats, handrails and luggage compartments.

Even some U.S. school districts are working with parents and staff to keep children with food allergies safe. Some campuses in San Bernardino County have initiated peanut-free zones.

"The health and welfare of students is of utmost concern to us," said Christine Ridley, health-services coordinator for San Bernardino County schools.

In 2002, to protect several of her students allergic to the protein-rich peanut, Dona Merced Elementary Principal Laura Banta asked the Central School District in Rancho Cucamonga to forbid peanut products on her campus.

Although her request was followed by some criticism from parents who didn't think their children should have to suffer because of a few students' allergies, the district created a food-allergy response program.

Sharon Leyva, director of child nutrition for that district, said steps are taken whenever a parent alerts the district of a child's allergy "from custodial services all the way up to administration and transportation if the child rides the bus to school," she said.

Banta leads at least two special assemblies each year to talk about food safety and to urge students to wash their hands before and after eating. At least one of her students has a severe allergy to peanuts and must have anything around him or her free of peanut products.

"It's an unusual circumstance. And death from a food allergy is theoretically possible," said Allen Schwandt, chief of adult allergy services at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Kimberly Bagwell whose two sons, ages 3 and 6, and husband are all allergic to peanuts has learned firsthand just how severe allergic reactions can be.

"My oldest son almost died at a restaurant in Loma Linda because of eating one bite of a peanut butter cookie," the Highland woman said. "Luckily, Loma Linda University Medical Center was within distance and they revived him. ... I constantly worry about him, his brother. They can't be like normal kids and eat everything."

FDA officials expect the new labeling law will be especially helpful to children who must learn to recognize the presence of substances they need to avoid.

Under the law, the technical terms for each ingredient will continue to appear in the ingredient list. The simpler terms can either appear within that list or in a separate sentence beginning with the word "contains," such as "Contains milk and eggs."

Food labeled before Jan. 1 is not required to be relabeled or removed from shelves -- which means, for an undetermined time, people with food allergies will still need to closely examine labels for the technical terms.

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To see more of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailybulletin.com

Copyright (c) 2006, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

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