When Food Turns Fatal

The rise in allergies is stumping even the experts. Here's what you need to know.

• Allergies
• Your Medical Care
• Common Problems
• Healthy Home
• Family Life
• Children's Health

The Troublesome Eight

Allison Jubelirer is obsessive about anything that touches her lips. She reads every food label and is meticulous about avoiding forbidden foods. She questions everyone about the ingredients being used in cooking, and always tells the waitstaff she's deathly allergic to nuts and seafood. Sound melodramatic? Not when you have food allergies that can threaten your life. "I can never be too careful," says Jubelirer, a 28-year-old event planner in Chappaqua, New York.

Diagnosed with severe allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish at age three, Jubelirer knows she can never let down her guard. Even so, she still slips up. Several years ago, she and her future husband, Ari, were guests at a wedding in Milwaukee, where there were bowls of nuts on the table. She kept her distance.

Later, while dancing, she felt desperate for fresh air. "My eyes started swelling shut, my lips were tingling and my throat was closing up," she says. Within moments, she felt faint and wheezy. Dazed, she didn't use the self-injectable syringe of adrenaline (epinephrine) she had in her evening bag. Ari took her to the emergency room, where the doctor recognized the signs of anaphylaxis and gave her intravenous medication -- which probably saved her life.

Whenever she has a scary incident like this, Jubelirer tries to figure out what went wrong. She suspects that during a circle dance at the wedding reception, she must have grasped the hand of a guest who had eaten nuts earlier. Then she inadvertently touched her own nose or lips.

Food Allergies 101
Food allergies happen in 6 to 8 percent of children ages four and younger, and in about 4 percent of adults, experts estimate. Reactions vary from mild rashes to difficulty breathing, and account for 30,000 emergency room visits a year, while tens of thousands of other reactions are treated at home. These allergies also cause approximately 150 deaths each year from food-induced anaphylaxis, a sudden, severe, potentially fatal reaction.

More than 160 different foods have been linked to allergies, with eight of them causing 90 percent of these severe reactions. The troublesome eight are peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish (these allergies often persist into adulthood), and eggs, milk, wheat and soy (children generally outgrow these as their immune and gastrointestinal systems mature). "Part of the problem with these foods is that they are very common ingredients," says Jonathan Bernstein, MD, a professor in the Division of Immunology and Allergy at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Eggs, for example, "are the most difficult thing to omit in baking," says Carol Fenster, author of Cooking Free: 200 Flavorful Recipes for People With Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivities. "It's hard to find a suitable replacement to make baked goods look and taste the way they should."

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• 10 Easy Steps to Smarter Food Shopping
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