Approximately 15 million people in the United States have food allergies. Roughly 4 percent of people age 18 or older – more than 9 million adults – have food allergies. Results from a 2009-2010 survey of more than 38,000 children indicate that 5.9 million children, or 8 percent, have food allergies. That’s 1 in 13 children, or roughly two in every classroom.
As parents of a child with food allergies we have been very aware of what our son consumes. My wife is way more on top of things than I am but I still have to be aware all the time. Our son has dairy, eggs and nut allergies so he is limited on what he eats. Think about it, what do you eat every day that has any of these food groups in it. What is cooked in peanut oil. What is cooked with eggs and milk or a product of eggs and milk in it It can be quit challenging finding processed food that he can eat.
My wife has spent most of his life preparing his meals at home and to take to school. When he has gone on scouting campouts we have gone with him. Again my wife has had to prepare his meals to take with him. When we go to restaurants we have asked to see the containers that they used to prepare their food with to see what the ingredients are and sometimes that’s not enough. The rolls you get with your meals might not have milk in the ingredients but they swipe butter across the top to give it a nice brown topping.
When you go to friends or families homes to visit and eat you have to make sure your child doesn’t get anything that will cause a reaction. Because if they don’t have kids with food allergies they don’t even think about it.
Now as our son has grown he has taken on the lions share of looking out at what he eats. He learned at a very young age to ask if it has milk eggs or nuts in it. Fortunately he doesn’t have a severe case like a lot of people do. My heart goes out to those parents that can’t let their kids anywhere near foods that would cause a reaction. Some examples are peanuts, seafood even some fruits.
Its a daily struggle to keep yourself or your kids safe. But for some parents its a matter of life and death.