Food Allergies

CHICAGO - Food allergies affect about one in 13 U.S. children, double the latest government estimate, a new study suggests. The researchers say about 40 percent of them have severe reactions - a finding they hope will erase misconceptions that food allergies are just like hay fever and other seasonal allergies that are troublesome but not dangerous. Overall, 8 percent of the children studied had food allergies; peanuts and milk were the most common sources. That translates to nearly 6 million U.S. children.

Dear Amy: Eighteen months ago, I got involved with an online role-playing game. I hooked up online with a wonderful woman named Cathy. We love each other and have exchanged letters. Despite the distance, it is a wonderful relationship - she lives on the other side of the world. Recently, my online girlfriend has had a spat with one of our online friends in the role-playing game. Cathy admits she's jealous of how much time I get to talk with this other online friend, Laura. I told her there's nothing between Laura and me. Laura is too sarcastic and cynical for my tastes to start with, not to mention that she's with someone else.

Beware of the Food and Drug Administration's new ruling that apparently exempts most genetically engineered food products from special testing. It may well endanger the food supply. The new policy won't adequately protect people who have restricted diets or food allergies. Under federal law, FDA has the option of regulating genetically engineered food by treating it as if it were an additive. This would require high standards of safety and place on manufacturers a heavy burden of proof that foreign genes and their protein products in food would not injure consumers and not reduce food's nutritional value.

SEGAL'S COMPLIMENT. Protective, demanding, self-sacrificing, upward- striving mothers have gotten a bad rap, according to a psychologist, who says, "Three cheers for the 'Jewish mother.' " Julius Segal writes in Parents magazine that there is little evidence that such mothers - who obviously aren't all Jewish - "were all that bad for her kids. On the contrary, her instinct for on-the-spot responsiveness to the needs of her little ones, starting from birth, appears to have been profoundly wise.

Four of the five people in Keith Patridge's family suffer from environmental allergies. His wife, Melissa, has asthma, as does one of their sons, and another son has food allergies. Patridge himself, 44, developed allergies as an adult - and found little that could keep them in check. "Twelve years ago, it was very difficult to find products that help people to control their environment and keep allergies under control," said Patridge, who started his own store and catalog, Allergy Free Living in Concordville, to provide allergic people with gear.

HEALTH FRAUDS Before you send away for that miracle-cure product, consider this. One of 10 people trying "quack remedies" suffers harmful side-effects, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has compiled a list of the top 10 health frauds. In order, they are: Fraudulent arthritis products, spurious cancer clinics, bogus AIDS cures, instant weight-loss schemes, fraudulent sexual aids, baldness remedies, nutritional schemes, chelation (arterial cleaning) therapy, unproven use of muscle stimulators and needless treatments for nonexistent yeast infections.

Life could not have been more wonderful for Kathy Tague DiGirolamo. She had found a perfect match in her husband of three years, Rob. She was on her way to achieving a long-held dream of becoming a teacher of poor children. She and Rob were enjoying a new home in Hatfield. And they had gone to the British West Indies for a vacation - a second honeymoon. It was there, at the age of 29, that DiGirolamo died suddenly on Nov. 13, under circumstances that have frightening implications for the millions of adults and children who suffer from allergies to food.

Lisa Montgomery talks fast, really fast. She holds a day job as a packaging products sales rep. She cares for three dogs, two cats and a parrot. Lately, she has been visiting her ailing mother a lot. How does the dynamo from Royersford do it all? By means of a raw-food diet, Montgomery says. She believes that the diet cleanses the body and nurtures the soul. But the raw-food connection doesn't end there. Montgomery, 51, hosts a Web site and monthly potluck dinner in her home, featuring dishes such as her signature three-nut pesto "pasta.

The Internet nearly killed Amy Kunkle's Philadelphia business when an ill-advised Groupon offer drove her thousands of dollars into a hole. But this week, the Internet also helped save it. Kunkle owns Mount Airy's Food for All Market, a cafe and shop at 7127 Germantown Ave. Food for All serves a special niche: people wary of certain foods - nuts, soy, eggs, wheat, and others - that cause them allergic reactions. It's a market Kunkle, 36, knows firsthand. She and her son Gabriel, 8, both carry emergency pens to inject themselves with epinephrine in case they react to an allergen.

It's not only ghosts and ghouls from the other realm that trick-or-treaters must watch out for this Halloween weekend. The costumed crowd must also be alert for the human hobgoblins, in the form of candy-spiking wackos and inattentive motorists. Safety experts have a laundry list of tips for tykes and teens out looking for treats tomorrow night. Philadelphia police also have a warning for all those devils thinking about causing trouble during tonight's Mischief Night darkness: Don't even try it. There'll be lots of extra cops on the streets, up to 50 percent more in some districts, including foot patrols, bike cops and plainclothes officers, ready to nab lawbreakers.

The Internet nearly killed Amy Kunkle's Philadelphia business when an ill-advised Groupon offer drove her thousands of dollars into a hole. But this week, the Internet also helped save it. Kunkle owns Mount Airy's Food for All Market, a cafe and shop at 7127 Germantown Ave. Food for All serves a special niche: people wary of certain foods - nuts, soy, eggs, wheat, and others - that cause them allergic reactions. It's a market Kunkle, 36, knows firsthand. She and her son Gabriel, 8, both carry emergency pens to inject themselves with epinephrine in case they react to an allergen.

CHICAGO - Food allergies affect about one in 13 U.S. children, double the latest government estimate, a new study suggests. The researchers say about 40 percent of them have severe reactions - a finding they hope will erase misconceptions that food allergies are just like hay fever and other seasonal allergies that are troublesome but not dangerous. Overall, 8 percent of the children studied had food allergies; peanuts and milk were the most common sources. That translates to nearly 6 million U.S. children.

Prominently displayed in every classroom in the House at Pooh Corner in Germantown is this chart: Ben: peanuts Audrey: blueberries and strawberries Marley: squash Mateo: fava beans Tahir: seafood Elie, Lola, Raj, Solveig, Zuri: dairy Elise: milk, soy Sarah: eggs These are the reported food allergies of 12 out of 55 Pooh preschoolers. "This is a relatively new phenomenon," says Teri DiCesare, owner and director of Child's Conceptions Day Care Center, which operates Pooh.

Dear Amy: Eighteen months ago, I got involved with an online role-playing game. I hooked up online with a wonderful woman named Cathy. We love each other and have exchanged letters. Despite the distance, it is a wonderful relationship - she lives on the other side of the world. Recently, my online girlfriend has had a spat with one of our online friends in the role-playing game. Cathy admits she's jealous of how much time I get to talk with this other online friend, Laura. I told her there's nothing between Laura and me. Laura is too sarcastic and cynical for my tastes to start with, not to mention that she's with someone else.

Lisa Montgomery talks fast, really fast. She holds a day job as a packaging products sales rep. She cares for three dogs, two cats and a parrot. Lately, she has been visiting her ailing mother a lot. How does the dynamo from Royersford do it all? By means of a raw-food diet, Montgomery says. She believes that the diet cleanses the body and nurtures the soul. But the raw-food connection doesn't end there. Montgomery, 51, hosts a Web site and monthly potluck dinner in her home, featuring dishes such as her signature three-nut pesto "pasta.

Four of the five people in Keith Patridge's family suffer from environmental allergies. His wife, Melissa, has asthma, as does one of their sons, and another son has food allergies. Patridge himself, 44, developed allergies as an adult - and found little that could keep them in check. "Twelve years ago, it was very difficult to find products that help people to control their environment and keep allergies under control," said Patridge, who started his own store and catalog, Allergy Free Living in Concordville, to provide allergic people with gear.

The doctors and scientists streaming into the booth at the allergists' convention were amazed at what the middle-schoolers had wrought. The concept captivated them. It was a handheld scanner that could instantly translate confusing food labels to reveal potentially dangerous ingredients. For the 11 million Americans with sometimes lethal food allergies, it could prevent injury or even death. That it was invented by a bunch of kids barely into their teens only fueled the fascination last month for the annual meeting of the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology.

It's not only ghosts and ghouls from the other realm that trick-or-treaters must watch out for this Halloween weekend. The costumed crowd must also be alert for the human hobgoblins, in the form of candy-spiking wackos and inattentive motorists. Safety experts have a laundry list of tips for tykes and teens out looking for treats tomorrow night. Philadelphia police also have a warning for all those devils thinking about causing trouble during tonight's Mischief Night darkness: Don't even try it. There'll be lots of extra cops on the streets, up to 50 percent more in some districts, including foot patrols, bike cops and plainclothes officers, ready to nab lawbreakers.

Life could not have been more wonderful for Kathy Tague DiGirolamo. She had found a perfect match in her husband of three years, Rob. She was on her way to achieving a long-held dream of becoming a teacher of poor children. She and Rob were enjoying a new home in Hatfield. And they had gone to the British West Indies for a vacation - a second honeymoon. It was there, at the age of 29, that DiGirolamo died suddenly on Nov. 13, under circumstances that have frightening implications for the millions of adults and children who suffer from allergies to food.

Beware of the Food and Drug Administration's new ruling that apparently exempts most genetically engineered food products from special testing. It may well endanger the food supply. The new policy won't adequately protect people who have restricted diets or food allergies. Under federal law, FDA has the option of regulating genetically engineered food by treating it as if it were an additive. This would require high standards of safety and place on manufacturers a heavy burden of proof that foreign genes and their protein products in food would not injure consumers and not reduce food's nutritional value.