Seven years ago, life deviated from its expected path when my daughter, then 13 months old, had a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. Stella’s eyes swelled, her face was covered in hives and she coughed continuously — and all from carrying a jar of peanut butter. Up until this moment, I had never heard of food allergies, and what I did know I scoffed at and dismissed.
This all changed after we saw an allergy specialist, who carried out a skin prick test to confirm Stella’s food allergy. We were hit with another blow. Stella also had an allergy to egg — which explained the angry patches of eczema on her cheeks that refused to budge, despite rigorous treatment. And the fit of vomiting she had on her first birthday when I allowed her, her first taste of egg fu yung.
Stella is one of the 6-8 percent of young children, and the 2-4 percent of adults, who have a food allergy. So it’s more than likely you know someone affected.
There are more and more children like her who are developing food allergies, and several overseas studies have found there has been a doubling of peanut allergy in the last decade.
There is very little study of food allergy in New Zealand, although one study trying to get off the ground is looking at how it affects different ethnic groups. A preliminary finding in its pilot study is that Maori and Pacific Islanders have far higher rates of food allergy and eczema than either Asian or European.
Dealing with a food allergy is not easy and it’s not a matter of simply avoiding the food you’re allergic to. Peanuts, for example, are used in so many foods and turn up in the most unexpected places. Next time you go shopping, read the label in the packet of biscuits, cereals, chips, or even a jar of pasta sauce, and you will most likely see the words ‘many contain traces of peanuts’. This means the product most likely contains small amounts of peanut and, for someone like Stella, it could trigger an allergic reaction.
Life is one of constant vigilance. Before eating a food, Stella (and we parents) needs to read every food label every time and eating something made in a café or restaurant is a lengthy process of speaking with the chef, finding out what ingredients are contained in the food, and have all the kitchen utensils been washed in hot soapy water to ensure all traces of any food used previously on these has been removed. I think you get the picture that spontaneity is not a part of our life.
Like any other Pacific Island or Maori family, food is the centre of all celebrations (and we like to celebrate a lot) and I am happy to say both my own and my husband’s extended family have been truly great when it comes to Stella’s allergy. Aunties and cousins will always let me know exactly what the ingredients are in their dishes, so Stella is never caught out.
On top of the numerous avoidance strategies, we always need to be prepared in case of an accidental exposure. This simply means that wherever she goes, Stella has to carry a medical kit, which includes an EpiPen — a pen-shaped instrument that automatically injects adrenaline when it’s pressed against her leg. Adrenaline is the only treatment for anaphylaxis, which is the most severe form of allergic reaction. Anyone can administer the EpiPen if Stella has an anaphylactic reaction, so I run through this with any adult who is looking after her. The challenge is doing this without scaring her friends’ parents into never inviting her to play again!
One thing about dealing with food allergies is that there is always an unexpected turn. Only several months ago Stella’s was diagnosed with a soy allergy after complaining of tingling and swollen lips after eating ham. This was confirmed when she had an anaphylactic reaction after eating a sausage.
The soy allergy did knock us and it means I spend an enormous amount of time cooking everything from scratch, but we do have a much healthier diet. What has hurt most is that it’s ruled out KFC and chop suey! You can imagine how that impacted on our Sunday to’ana’i!
What is an allergy?
A food allergy is an immune system response. In a normal person, the immune system is designed to attack viruses and parasites, but in a person with a food allergy the immune system mistakes the food for an invader and attacks it.
Symptoms include hives, or welts, swelling of the eyes, lips and tongue, stomach ache and more severe symptoms such as a difficulty in breathing and a sudden drop in blood pressure.
These last two symptoms are very serious, and described as anaphylaxis (pronounced ana-fill-axis) and need to be treated with an injection of adrenaline.
What are the common food allergies?
Eight foods that are responsible for 90 per cent of food allergies: peanuts, tree nuts, egg, milk, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. Any food, however, can cause an allergic reaction. Most food allergies are outgrown in childhood, but peanut, fish and shellfish allergies tend to be lifelong.
Why are allergies on the increase?
No one really knows why allergies are on the increase, but there are a number of different theories. One of the most popular ones is the ‘hygiene’ hypothesis. This claims that we live in a cleaner environment, where our immune systems no longer have to fight off viruses and parasites. So our immune system looks for another target.
A new theory is now questioning how much of what we eat, when we eat and what we are exposed to in our environment could have a part to play.
For more information on allergies, go to Allergy New Zealand’s website www.allergy.org.nz.
Inga Stünzner is the publisher and editor of Allergy Today magazine and works part time as information officer at Allergy New Zealand. You can call her on 09 623 3912 or email inga@allergy.org.nz.