Allergies, Asthma and Food Intolerance: It's NOT All in Your Head (continued)

Take Action to Protect Your Family 

1. Cook from scratch with organic, whole foods. The same industrial kitchen that makes peanut cookies for a national brand,  also likely bakes chocolate brownies, creating opportunity for widespread cross-contamination. You can bet most processed conventional foods contain at least one genetically modified ingredient, too. The organic label gives us the best assurance of GMO-free foods, produced without synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

2. Keep notes. If your child experiences an adverse reaction within a couple of hours after eating a food, write down the food consumed, symptoms, and call your doctor. Avoid eating the suspect food again.

3. Keep your gut bacteria healthy. Both pre and probiotics can help "down-regulate" allergic response. (16)

4. Read food labels and contact manufacturers if you have questions about ingredients. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act  requires food manufacturers to list the eight leading allergens their product contains. (17)

5. Be an advocate. Work with like-minded organizations to lobby for the labeling of genetically modified foods. Talk to your child's pediatrician, and educate  teachers, relatives and friends' parents about food allergies. Ask for their help in keeping your child and the school environment safe. Most fatal anaphylactic reactions occur in school settings. (14) Be prepared, but know you are not alone on this journey! 

The following organizations can help:  

ELL, Inc.

School training services, label tips, party planning, and how to report a mislabeled food.  http://ellfoundation.org/

Allergy Kids

The goal of AllergyKids is to inspire parents to protect the health of their children with food allergies. As the first independently funded food allergy organization, AllergyKids highlights previously undisclosed research addressing the recent introduction and engineering of allergens, proteins, food additives and dyes into our food supply. As AllergyKids examines the impact of these novel proteins and allergens on the health and well being of women and their children, we are able to bring you leading independent research.
www.AllergyKids.com

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

Resources and news for consumers and professionals.
www.aaaai.org