Over a year ago I was contacted by a certifying agency for food labels. They had been involved in lab testing for creating gluten-free certifications for food products and saw a huge opportunity in dairy-free certification. However, when I asked them about liability issues, they point blank stated, “that shouldn’t be a problem since milk doesn’t cause life-threatening reactions.” After hanging up the phone, I sent them Sabrina Shannon’s story, just one milk allergy tragedy among many, but the most publicized one. I never heard from them again.

But it wasn’t until a recent article that quoted a milk allergy mom that I thought to bring this story forth. A WebMD report on the need for better food allergy guidelines briefly introduced me to Matt Mitchell, a 20 year old college student who has had several close calls due to a lifelong milk allergy. Seven years ago, he spent Christmas in the ER after consuming dark chocolate that was made on equipment that was also used to process milk chocolate. Unfortunately, the ER visits haven’t come to an end for him either. His mother, Lynda, reported that just last month he had another incident due to trace amounts of milk. In the article, Lynda stated, “I call milk allergies the Rodney Dangerfield of food allergies. They don’t get the respect that peanut allergies get because most people confuse them with lactose intolerance. But just like peanuts or shellfish, a milk allergy can be life threatening.”

May, 2010 – Kids art should depict the diversity of life found in our oceans - Surf Sweets®, the country’s leading brand of organically sweetened, totally delicious gummy candies and jelly beans, announced the second annual Surf Sweets® Art Contest Celebrating World Oceans Day.  June 8th has been officially designated as World Oceans Day by the United Nations.

The Surf Sweets Art Contest is held in partnership with The Ocean Project, an organization that promotes events and activities to celebrate World Oceans Day around the world to help make people more aware of our connections to and the importance of the world’s oceans in our everyday lives. This year’s World Oceans Day theme is “Oceans of Life”, a celebration of the great diversity of life found in the world’s oceans. Working with over 1,000 partner aquariums, zoos, science museums and other educational organizations, The Ocean Project is the largest network ever formed to focus on ocean conservation.

The Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) has launched a new national advocacy campaign “Give It Up” in conjunction with this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 9th through May 15th. The “Give It Up” campaign encourages children, parents, family and friends to show support for the millions of Americans with food allergies by abstaining from eating a favorite food during the week. Campaign participants are invited to join FAI’s Facebook community and are also encouraged to contact their elected officials to raise awareness about the need for a cure for food allergies.

I know what some of you are thinking - we are already half way through Food Allergy Awareness Week. True, we are a bit late in posting this announcement, but that doesn't mean you are too late to join in, or too late to win an iPad. Oops, what was that I just mentioned? A contest? Oh yes, read on ...

The “Give It Up” Facebook page encourages supporters to share photos and/or videos on how they are “giving up” a favorite food.  One lucky person will win an Apple iPad, and the entry deadline is May 31, 2010 (yes, there is time!).  Individuals and schools can even download an eCertificate that can be personalized and printed, showing their participation in the cause.  To join FAI’s Facebook page and learn more, visit www.faiusa.org. Here are some examples of what campaign participants are doing to “Give It Up!”...

How many people have food allergies? That is an argument for another day. But, the latest findings do show that infants with a milk or egg allergy may have an increased risk for developing a peanut allergy later in life.

The preliminary results are from a study by the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. They studied over 500 infants, ranging from 3 to 15 months of age, with milk or egg allergies as confirmed by immunoglobulin E tests. None of the subjects had a known peanut allergy at the time of enrollment in the study.

However, further observation found that more of the infants had elevated levels of IgE antibodies to peanuts than anticipated, and that some of the infants had such high levels that they may already be allergic to peanuts without their parent’s knowledge.