Mother always told you to eat your fruits and vegetables. Sometimes, Mother was wrong. A less severe form of food allergy, called oral allergy syndrome, is a reaction to proteins in common raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. It’s called “oral allergy” syndrome or OAS because its symptoms are usually limited to the lips, mouth, [...]

Tree nut allergies are one of the most common and fast-growing types of food allergies in North America today. When someone with a tree nut allergy ingests their allergen, even a trace amount, that person is at risk of a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis. An anaphylactic reaction includes more than one of the body’s [...]

The only current treatment for this allergy is to avoid all traces of peanuts and peanut butter or other peanut-containing products. If your allergic child (or you) eats peanut with a known allergy, the drug epinephrine (adrenaline) will be needed to halt the reaction. But using the epinephrine auto-injector is an emergency situation only, it’s [...]

Food allergies can affect anyone. Here are a few actors and athletes who have achieved great success despite living with a food allergy. Peanut Tennis player Serena Williams NHL player Tom Poti, defenceman for the Washington Capitals Singer Alex Kapranos, Franz Ferdinand Freestyle aerials champion Steve Omischl Tree Nut Singer Clay Aiken NHL player Tom [...]

Consider the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s list of the top 10 food groups that cause the most frequent and severe allergic reactions. Nine of the names will be familiar to most Canadians — peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish and shellfish, soy, wheat and sesame seeds. But the tenth name on the list may surprise: [...]

Allergies to peanut are one of the most common and severe types of food allergies. When someone with a peanut allergy ingests peanuts, even a trace amount, that person is at risk of a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis. An anaphylactic reaction includes more than one of the body’s systems, such as the respiratory tract, [...]

As the mother of a dairy-allergic 8-year-old, I am often asked: “How can anyone be allergic to milk?” From an early age, we’re taught that milk is good for you. It’s hard for people to fathom living without it, and then you explain that the allergy is not just to cow’s milk, but to a [...]

In May 2008, kindergarten pupil Ethan Johnston had a frightening anaphylactic reaction to yogurt when a dribble of a classmate’s snack splashed onto his lunch. Yet, incredibly, these days, Ethan drinks a milkshake every evening before bedtime at his home in Camrose, Alberta. How can this be? The 7-year-old, who still doesn’t even like the [...]

On a normal day, Olivia Piluso is a typical teenager – albeit a very busy one. She takes part in gymnastics, dance, swimming and walks the neighbourhood dogs. But on a recent winter’s day, this peanut-allergic girl felt like much more than an average teen. “I felt like a celebrity,” she says. That day, Olivia [...]

Even when she’s not in front of a microphone, Shelagh Rogers is exactly the woman you hear hosting on CBC Radio One program: smart, witty, kind-hearted, and deeply passionate about Canadians. But with her work comes a lot of travel and socializing. And as she tells journalist Jennifer Van Evra, that’s tricky for Rogers, as [...]