Food Allergies

By Jessica Braun I realized that I had lost control of my life when I couldn't eat the lasagna. I started dieting around ninth grade. I have been in The Zone, eaten a Big Mac sans bun, and squeezed many lemons into my magical maple syrup-cayenne pepper elixir. I can recite the foods most beneficial to my blood type (liver, mutton, beet leaves) and can say with certainty that saving all your Weight Watcher points for a six-pack of Miller Light (18 points) instead of food never ends well.

Shelly Fisher's world is dominated by the unfashionable. Not people, but the illnesses and other medical conditions that plague them. Diabetes, heart disease, peanut allergies. There's nothing stylish about any of it. Except, perhaps, for the contributions the Villanova mother of three has made over the last nine years on her way to building an internationally known company. Hope Paige Designs L.L.C., operating out of cluttered third-floor space in a West Conshohocken office building, creates medical-identification bracelets with a twofold purpose: to save lives and be chic (or cool, depending on the targeted age group)

What would the season of turkey, jingle, dreidel and Kwanzaa be without its signature foods? No gobble gobble. No gingerbread cookies. No latkes. No sweet-potato pie. The holiday police would have grounds for an arrest. But some families would have no choice but to surrender. When the children have food allergies, holidays that are heavily defined by communal dining and sweet confections create a real challenge. Parents striving to maintain the spirit of the holidays - safely - have a place to turn thanks to Lynda Mitchell, of Plumstead.

FOOD ALLERGIES Is someone in your family allergic to milk? Don't automatically trust products labeled "non-dairy," warn Johns Hopkins University allergy specialists. They say that such foods may not be completely milk-free. Three children with cow's-milk hypersensitivity developed acute allergic reactions after eating tofu- and rice-based frozen deserts, made in dairy processing plants and contaminated with milk, and one child reacted to a hot dog, which contained hydrolized sodium caseinate - a milk derivative not listed on the label.

DOUG COLLINS, age 61, is an analog coach in a digital league, an association of players who best communicate in binary. Jrue Holiday is one such player, as Collins quickly discovered. In 2011, as the Sixers entered their first-round playoff series against the Heat, perhaps the league's best defensive team and easily its highest-profile squad. Collins realized the Sixers' only hope lay in productive possessions. He also realized that his 20-year-old point guard would have to play as many as 40 minutes every night.

"Going with the flow" is more than an expression in Jeffrey's life. His foster mother says it describes his compelling interest in movable things. He watches the water flowing out of the spigot in the sink, laughs out loud as water flows off his chest in the shower, and takes a handful of beads and watches them flow in a stream off the palm of his hand. He pulls up long blades of grass so he can watch them being lifted by the wind blowing away. It's all part of the flow that fascinates Jeffrey.

It was lunchtime at K.D. Markley School in Malvern, probably the most dangerous time of the day for 6-year-old Leslie Drinkwater. For Leslie, some foods are poison. One of them is peanut butter, the staple of elementary-school lunch bags. Leslie is deathly allergic to it, so allergic that her doctors say she shouldn't even smell it. She's also allergic to eggs. To further complicate things, a rare metabolic defect makes anything containing fructose - a common form of sugar - a killer for her. Her parents and the school have gone to extraordinary lengths to make Leslie's cafeteria visits safe.

Frankenfoods or the salvation of farming? The use of genetically modified organisms in our food is creating a worldwide furor. The debate is in full swing over the technology known as genetic engineering. On one side, we have the monolithic chemical companies, like Monsanto and DuPont, telling us that genetically modified foods are safe for both us and the environment. On the other side, we have some scientists and environmentalists calling for prudence and more research.

Some good news reported on peanut-allergy front Scientists are closing in on treatments for the most deadly of all food allergies, a sometimes fatal reaction to peanuts. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved "fast-track" testing for a drug to weaken allergic reactions to peanuts. In another lab, an experimental vaccine has shown promise in mice. The peanut allergy afflicts more than 1.5 million Americans, mainly children, and kills an estimated 100 people a year, though most reactions involve milder symptoms, such as hives or vomiting.

SPAM HAS LAST LAUGH It has been the butt of jokes dating back to the 1940s, but Spam continues to top all other luncheon meats in sales throughout the country. According to statistics, Americans eat 3.8 cans of Spam every second. During the late 1980s, Hawaii was the top consumer of Spam, inspiring the company that produces it - Hormel - to promote dishes featuring Spam and pineapple. Spam was created in 1937. Its curing process eliminated the need for refrigeration, so it became a staple in the mess halls for World War II soldiers.