Talking Allergies

"To Whom it may concern,


I was disappointed after reading the article Life on the Knife Edge: Kids With Severe Allergies, By Sarah Teitel in your December 2006 issue of Todays Parents. I had thought that a Canadian magazine would have been able to find a Canadian family to interview.

Living in Canada presents it's own challenges as we have yet to create a label law such as the USA put into effect January or 2006. The USA have a clear label law where ingredients must be identified by common name not as scientific name as is still the case in Canada. Restrictions around the operation of ambulances and Paramedic services can be different and even the way schools are made to operate (at least here in Ontario, where we have Bill 3 -Sabrina's Law, yes, someone had to die to make a change).

As much as the article was interesting but not very informative for Canadians, I was most upset that you did not even mention the support that we have here, instead you offer an American link. A visit to the Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation website and I was able to find many links of Canadian foundations including Anaphylaxis Canada which is a national registry and who helped in the creation of Sabrina's Law (a law that many parents of food allergic children in other provinces are hoping to duplicate). A visit to MedicAlert offers Allergic Living a magazine on coping with food allergies and an excellent forum support group.

I feel that your article does a disservice to those Canadians who are facing the challenges of creating a safe environment for their children.

We need information that relates to our unique Canadian perspective. The fact that your interviewee was once from Toronto is not enough. According to Anaphylaxis Canada "A conservative estimate is that 2% of the population (approximately 600,000 Canadians) may be affected by potentially life-threatening allergies. The incidence may be higher in children and it has increased dramatically in the last decade.".

Could you not have found one to interview?