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Culture makes people understand each other better. As part of celebrating different culture we all cooked our culture food and took it to work place and shared it with our friends. While we all were eating, suddenly one of my colleague has gone ill. Her face was swollen, she showed signs of breathing difficultly and she felt dizzy. We called ambulance for her. Later we found out that she was allergic to Cashew nuts. One of our food contained cashew nuts. She never tried cashew nuts before. So she never get the chance to know that she was allergic to cashew nuts. If she had known already, she could have avoided it.

What is allergy?

A damaging immune response by the body to a specific  substance, especially a particular food, pollen, fur, or dust, to which  becomes hypersensitive.

Food allergy

A food allergy is when the body's immune system reacts unusually to specific foods. Allergic reactions often mild, but some times be very serious. In young children, common food allergies include milk and eggs. In adults allergies to fruits and vegetables are more common.

Food intolerance

food intolerance, also known as non-IgE mediated food hypersensitivity or non- allergic food hypersensitivity, refers to difficulty in digesting certain foods. Its important to know that food intolerance is different from food allergy. Food allergy triggers the immune system, while food intolerance does not.

Which foods can cause allergy?

In Europe food allergens are monitored and assessed by clinical scientific experts through European Food Safety Authority. They advised on which foods need to be labelled on pre packed foods. They are 14 allergens

• Cereals containing gluten

• Crustaceans like prawns, crabs, lobster, Cray fish

• Eggs

• peanuts

• soy beans

• milk

• Fish

• Nuts( almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia nuts or Queensland nuts)

• Celery

• Mustard

• Sesame seed

• Sulphur dioxide/ sulphites

• Lupin

• Molluscs like clams, mussels, whelks, oysters and squid

Symptoms of an allergic reaction

When someone has an allergy, they can have many different physical reactions when they are exposed to allergens. The type of reaction and the severity will depend on the individual and the severity of their allergy. Very small amounts of allergens, such as nuts, can cause severe adverse reactions including potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.

Typical reactions can include

• Flushing of the skin

• Skin rashes and hives that can be severe and last for several weeks

• Abdominal pain, diarrhoea or constipation

• Nausea and / or vomiting

• A sudden fall in blood pressure causing weakness, dizziness and even unconsciousness

• Swelling of the throat and tongue

• Difficulty in breathing and swallowing due to constricting of the airways

• Severe asthma

• Anaphylactic shock

• Death

Anaphylaxis

The most severe and dangerous reaction to an allergy is when the body goes in to anaphylactic shock. An anaphylactic shock happens when the sufferer's blood pressure very quickly drops to a very low level. The person will experience swelling around the throat and usually redness in the face. They will have difficulty in breathing, combined with feeling of severe distress. The cause of the reaction is triggered by a sudden release of chemical substances from the cells in the blood and tissues where they are stored. The released chemicals act on the blood vessels and cause problems involving the airways and circulation. Potentially minute quantityof an allergen can have a profound effect on the sufferer. Some people have such a serious response that they can die in a matter of minutes.

You may have been on an aeroplane where the pilot announces that they have a person with a severe nut allergy. They will then stop serving the peanuts for example, and ask that all passengers refrain from eating any nut based products. The reason is that even the smallest traces of dust from nut can cause a severe reaction and you can imagine the distress to both sufferer and other passengers if an incident happens at 30,000 feet height with no access to the emergency services!

Epipen

People who are in danger of such severe rations should normally carry an Epipen, which is a rapid injector of adrenaline that can help prevent the anaphylactic shock from fatal.

In UK there is a new guidance for businesses those who provide food. This guidance provide customers who need to avoid certain ingredients because of food allergy or intolerance and also new allergy labelling legislation in place as well.

Dear friends,  Hope this will help you in future If you may need it. Remember there may be allergens hidden in flavourings and the ingredients of sauces, so always make sure you find it out before eating!

Thank you for reading! Please correct mistakes if you find any, Thank you!