(The following column first appeared in the Barrhaven Independent, an online publication based in the suburb of Barrhaven in Ottawa, Ontario. Karen Eck wrote it as a response to an editorial the Independent published criticizing strategies used by one particular local school for dealing with severe dairy allergies.) I am the leader of the Ottawa [...]

I’m only 11 years old, but already I’ve dealt with a lot. I am allergic to nuts, fish, shellfish, all legumes, bananas and spinach. I’m also allergic to many antibiotics, and have environmental allergies, asthma, eczema, and exercise- and heat-induced reactions. Life hasn’t been easy, and I’ve ridden twice in an ambulance. But I’ve also [...]

With many years in the publishing industry, I thought I’d seen it all when it comes to negative or one-sided reporting. Then I read a story in the December issue of Chatelaine magazine entitled, “It’s Just Nuts.” This one made my jaw drop. The article is at once breathtaking in its cynicism about the rise of [...]

Christina Desforges became known the world over as the girl who died from kissing her boyfriend who had eaten peanut butter – specifically, nine hours before she collapsed, he’d had two pieces of toast spread with peanut butter. Allergic Living was the first to report (Spring 2006 issue) that a coroner would find, however, that [...]

The following article was first published in the Victoria Times-Colonist of British Columbia on April 16, 2007 Thirteen-year-olds aren’t meant to have obituaries. The recent one for Carley Kohnen read that “she passed away tragically at Summit Park, Victoria.” Carley, who was allergic to dairy products and peanuts, attended Lansdowne Middle School. The bubbly teen [...]

There’s some absorbing and provocative reading in Allergic Living’s new Spring 2007 issue. A good way, we thought, to kick off a new publishing season. In the article “Fear of Food,” we start with an issue that some of you living with food allergies will recognize: the sudden fear of even “safe” foods. It’s a [...]

Writer Janet French could relate to the anecdotes of the allergic employees she interviewed for “On the Job With Allergies” in our new Winter issue. Janet works in a newsroom – a literal hive of activity, where reporters often grab a bite to eat on the run between interviews and media conferences. She is allergic [...]