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nut allergy fears becoming hysterical: bmj
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fears over the dangers of peanut allergy, a potentially deadly allergy for certain people, are becoming sensationalist and hysterical, according to a harvard professor. a level-headed approach is needed before the situation spirals out of control, wrote professor nicolas christakis from harvard medical school in the british medical journal . the food industry is already bound by certain regulations, depending on the country, to highlight possible allergens in a food product, such as the eu’s labelling directive 2000/13/ec. but prof christakis said that such an approach, however well intentioned, may actually “fan the flames, since they signal to parents that nuts are a clear and present danger. “this encourages more parents to worry, which fuels the epidemic. it also encourages more parents to have their children tested, thus detecting mild and meaningless ‘allergies’ to nuts. and this encourages still more avoidance of nuts, leading to still more sensitisation. “the cycle of increasing anxiety, draconian measures, and an increasing prevalence of nut allergies must be broken,” he said. peanut allergies are rising in humans, with an estimated 2.5 million people in europe and the us now vulnerable to the food allergy. there is no current cure for food allergy and vigilance by an allergic individual is the only way to prevent a reaction but a peanut allergy can be so severe that only very tiny amounts can be enough to trigger a response. current recommendations in many countries, such as the uk and the us, for would-be mothers are to avoid peanuts during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and infancy. however, a recent study comparing incidence of peanut allergy in jewish children in the uk and israel (where no such recommendations exist) showed that children in the uk were 10 times more likely to suffer from peanut allergy than their israeli counterparts. findings in the journal of allergy and clinical immunology showed that 69 per cent of israeli children were consuming peanut, while only ten per cent of the children in the uk were eating peanuts. mass hysteria? “measures to control nuts are instead making things worse in a cycle of over-reaction and increasing sensitisation, ” said prof christakis. one example cited in the bmj article involved the evacuation and decontamination pf a school bus in the us following discovery of one peanut on the floor. the school bus was full of ten year olds, who could arguably have been told simply to not eat food off the floor. the "gross over-reaction to the magnitude of the threat" is very similar to mass psychogenic illness (mpi), said prof christakis, previously known as epidemic hysteria. outbreaks of mpi involve healthy people in a flow of anxiety, most often triggered by a fear of contamination, he said. being around individuals who are anxious heightens others' anxiety. lightning bolts are equally as dangerous in attempt to add perspective, the harvard professor notes that 150 people die each year from food allergies in the us. on the other hand, 100 people die from lightening strikes, 45,000 die in automobile accidents, and 10,000 are hospitalised for traumatic brain injury from playing sport. “we do not see calls to end athletics,” he said. “there are no doubt thousands of parents who rid their cupboards of peanut butter but not of guns,” he added. “and more children assuredly die walking or being driven to school each year than die from nut allergies.” source: british medical journal 2008; 337: a2880 “this allergies hysteria is just nuts” author: n.a. christakis
Source :Food Safety, HACCP, Food Quality, Food Microbiology, Hygiene
Date :
10
December
2008
Category :
Dried Foods
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use of a common symbol to indicate the presence of individual allergens in food and personal care products could help allergy sufferers identify products to avoid – especially in multi-lingual communities, say specialists from imperial college. incidence of allergy has been increasing. in the uk some 1.8 per cent of children now have peanut allergy; in the us, 8 per cent of children and 4 per cent of adults have a food allergy.
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gradual exposure to peanut may put an end to peanut allergy, if results of a small study from cambridge are followed by similar positive results. scientists from addenbrooke’s hospital in cambridge exposed four peanut-allergic children to gradually increasing quantities of peanut protein, and found that all the children can now tolerate about 800 mg grams of protein, which is the equivalent to five peanuts, per day.
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avoiding peanuts in infancy and early childhood may increase the risk of developing peanut allergy, says a joint british-israeli study. children in the uk, where recommendations are to avoid peanuts during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and infancy, were 10 times more likely to suffer from peanut allergy than their israeli counterparts, according to a new study published in the journal of allergy and clinical immunology .
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outgrowing allergies to milk and egg may no longer be the case, as new research from the us suggests the allergies are more persistent than first thought. over the course of 13 years, researchers from the johns hopkins children's center followed 800 patients with milk allergy and nearly 900 with egg allergy, and found that the allergies persisted well into the school years and beyond.
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the uk's food standards agency should ensure appropriate consideration is given to allergens by the european commission, as part of if its review of food labelling, say peers. however the house of lords' committee on science and technology has expressed concern that allergen labelling, as part of the on-going eu review of food labelling requirements, is not be specific enough.
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patients with kidney disease may be at danger from a ‘hidden threat’ of phosphorous additives found in processed and fast foods, says a new study from the us. writing in the new issue of the journal of the american medical association (jama), ohio-based scientists report that additional phosphorous, such as sodium phosphate or pyrophosphate, may be too much for a compromised kidney to expel.
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Coca.Cola
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PEPSI
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Mcdonald
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Nestle
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Mars
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Baskin & Robins
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Nutrika
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Mumika
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Chika
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