It’s bad enough that we need to convince people in our lives that food allergies besides peanut can create life threatening reactions too.  But what happens when even allergy researchers believe that certain food allergies are not as serious?

A friend of mine recently had a terrifying ambulance trip to the hospital when her daughter accidentally ingested chocolate milk,rather than the soy milk she should have had.  Despite epinephrine, the child was losing consciousness as her blood pressure dropped dangerously low during an anaphylactic reaction.  Thankfully, there was a happy ending to the story and the child is now doing well (her mother is traumatized, but that’s another story).

When my friend emailed me about the dairy incident, she also sent me the link to a Canadian study that indicated researchers were only looking at peanut, nut and shellfish allergies because milk and egg weren’t as serious.  Now, statistics indicate that the most deaths are caused by peanuts, nuts and shellfish but I think my girlfriend and people who deal with other food allergies that have caused an anaphylactic reaction would beg to differ.

Unfortunately, I’ve been misquoted or taken out of context enough in the media to realize that the quote by the researcher may not be 100% correct.  But the result is the same:  numerous people reading the article around the world have their incorrect beliefs about the severity of other food allergies justified.

And, if like me, you’ve rushed to the hospital when you or your child has reacted to kiwi, dairy, egg, chickpeas or any other seemingly “mild” food allergy like eggplant, beef or chicken, you know firsthand that any food allergy must be dealt with seriously, whether others around you believe it or not.

It’s time to stop thinking about food allergies in terms of “mild” or non life-threatening.  We even do it ourselves sometimes, especially if we’re dealing with numerous food allergies, some of which may not have demonstrated anaphylaxis.  But we do ourselves and everyone around us a disservice.  If researchers and allergists can’t predict how a person may react next time they have exposure, how we can communicate that an allergy is only “mild”?

Everyone must know that food allergies are unpredictable and all capable of blossoming into a life-threatening reaction, no matter what the most recent reaction.  I can live with over-prepared but I know I’d never forgive myself if I’m under-prepared and someone pays for it with their life.