In this post I will talk about my intolerance, what the main symptoms of allergies and intolerance’s, information about all 14 Allergens, current news stories, society and companies, how hard it to find something that you can eat and how it is covered for by restaurants?
This post is very personal to me as I was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant when I was 17 years old 2013 this means I cannot eat anything that contains dairy products. This is because my body does not have enough Lactase enzymes to be able to break down the Lactose sugars that is found in dairy products (Minchin, M, 1986). Having this intolerance means that I have to be very careful when I go out although the rise in veganism has made it a lot easier for me as I know that I can go have vegan products instead of dairy products, this allows me to enjoy my favourite meals still when I go out for food. There are many products that are dairy alternative that I can eat which include vegan cheese, Soya milk, Lactose free products including cheese, yogurts, butter, dairy free butter or spread and dark chocolate as it is not made with milk. Have you ever had to go shopping and read every single label? When I was first diagnosed in 2013 a normal shopping trip that would only take an hour took five hours as I had to read every product and make sure that it did not contain lactose or milk. Now five year later shopping still takes longer than it used to, but I am able to do a shopping trip in 2 hours or less as I am now aware of what contains milk or lactose. Restaurants have allergy information either on a sheet that they can tell me what contains dairy or on the menu. The food that contains milk or dairy products and I cannot eat are: Goats milk, Sheep’s Milk, Cow’s Milk, Donkey’s Milk, Buffalo’s Milk, Butter, Cream, Yogurts, Curd and Whey as all these products contain lactose in them some contain less than others however I cannot eat any of these products (Skypala, I. & Venter, C. (Eds.), 2009).
Do you think it is right to charge more for products that are different for people with an allergy or intolerance?
A lot of companies charge more for the use of soya milk which I don’t choose to have. I have to have it because I cannot have proper milk. This is not my fault that I have a medical conditions, so I do not think that it right that they are allowed to charge money for it.
What are the main symptoms of an intolerance?
The main symptoms of an intolerance which most of them I suffer from are headache, migraines, fatigue, anxiety, hyperactivity in children, bloating and depression (Brostoff, J. & Gamlin, L, 1992).
What are the main symptoms of an allergy?
The main symptoms of an allergy are swelling of the throat, redness of the skin, swelling of the tongue and swelling of the lips (Brostoff, J. & Gamlin, L, 1992).
What are the 14 allergens?
These include: Cereals, Crustaceans, Mollusks, Eggs, Fish, Peanuts, Soy beans, Milk and Dairy Products, Nuts, Sesame seeds, Celery, Lupin, Sulphites and Mustard (Boye, J. & Godefroy, S. (Eds.), 2010).
The new things that have to be done by law is counter top notices are now expected to be in front of food in cafes, all food servers have to all have an allergens certificate (Boye, J. & Godefroy, S. (Eds.), 2010).
Some products that contain these allergens are:
Crustaceans which are anything that contains: Prawns, Crab, Cray Fish and Lobsters Mollusks these are products including Bivalves types which are: Muscles, Oysters, Scallops and Clams. Gastropods types which are: Limpets, Periwinkles and Snails. Cephalopods which are: Squid, Cuttle Fish and Octopus. Eggs these products are including: Cakes, Biscuits, Dried Egg Pasta, Egg in prepared Meat dishes, Fresh Egg Pasta, Egg Glaze, Sponge Fingers, Quorn, Nought and Egg in Gravy Granules. Fish these products are anything including: Cod, Tuna, Salmon and Mackerel (Boye, J. & Godefroy, S. (Eds.), 2010).
In recent years there has been 2 cases of people dying due to not enough allergy information provided. Theses are the only ones that are made public.
The first case is about a girl that died due to a failure in proper notices by Pret a Manger. A girl aged 15 died after having an allergic reaction to an artisan baguette that contained sesame seeds, there was 9 related cases and 6 that was to do with the artisan baguette in the year prior to the girl dying. This case came from the brand in a U.K. airport there were no signs in the fridge telling the girls what allergens were contained also there were no signs saying to ask the staff members as the brand had previously claimed. However, since this incident they have changed their allergy policy. In one of the previous cases ta woman nearly died due to the same allergy to sesame seeds. After 20 minutes into her flight the girl fell ill and died several hours later (N.A, 2018, September 25).
The second case that has been into the news recently is a girl of 15 died in Manchester after a takeaway, this case is based on a takeaway and the owners who were sent to prison for manslaughter, as they failed to notice the note that the customers put at the bottom of the order that said “Prawn, Nuts” this was to let the takeaway know that there was a couple of allergy’s. this was later found out that the kitchen was not kept in a clean manner and products that would not contain peanuts had been contaminated. The girl died in hospital 2 days later with irreversible brain damage. The takeaway was shut down however has since reopened with new mangers (N.A, 2018, October 26).
Reference list
Boye, J. & Godefroy, S. (Eds.) (2010). Allergy Management in the food Industry . Canada : John Wiely & sons Inc.
Brostoff, J. & Gamlin, L. (1992). The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and Intolerance (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Limited.
Minchin, M. (1986). Food for Thought A Parent’s Guide to Food Intolerance (2nd ed.). Oxford : Oxford Medical Publications .
N.A, . (2018, October 26). Megan Lee: Pair guilty of girl’s takeaway allergy death. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45994891
N.A., . (2018, September 25). Pret inquest: Baguette allergy alerts before girl’s death. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45637711
Skypala, I. & Venter, C. (Eds.) (2009). Food Hypersensitivity Diagnosing and Managing Food Allergy’s and Intolerance’s . Chichester: John Wiely & sons Inc.
Food Culture and Society with Steph Gregory 