Eating is an enjoyable experience for most of us, but it can be frightening and even life threatening for people with food allergies.

A harmful reaction to a food can be the result of a food allergy or a food intolerance. Allergies and intolerances are not the same. Food intolerances, such as lactose intolerance, are often due to an enzyme deficiency and cause problems with digestion. An intolerance does not involve the immune system. A true food allergy is the body’s negative reaction to a particular food protein. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly believes a food is harmful.

Any food has the potential to cause a reaction in a person who is allergic to that food, but only eight foods are responsible for 90 percent of all food allergic reactions. They are: milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds), fish and shellfish (shrimp, lobster).

The number of Americans with food allergies has increased in recent years from approximately 6 million to 12 million, and peanut allergies in children has doubled in the past five years. There are many theories, but the causes for this increase are not fully understood.

Food allergy symptoms vary widely and include tingling in the mouth, swelling of lips, tongue and throat, difficulty breathing, hives, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and loss of consciousness. Perhaps 150 to 250 Americans die each year from food allergy reactions.

For people who know they have food allergies, steps can be take prevent a reaction.

Avoid combination foods like soups and casseroles (hard to trace all ingredients)

Avoid buffet tables (potential cross contamination)

Avoid desserts (nuts may be in unexpected places)

Avoid inhaling vapors from cooking and baking of the allergen. For some peanut sensitive people, dust released from opening a peanut shell can cause a reaction.

Avoid using the same serving utensil for several foods, or allowing other opportunities for cross-contamination. Store, prepare and serve potential food allergens away from other food

It also is a good idea to:

Read ingredient labels. Identify ingredients that may cause a reaction. For example, people with a milk allergy must avoid foods that contain cheese, whey, rennet casein, artificial butter flavor, etc.

Ask about ingredients and cooking methods used when eating away from home.

Clean equipment/utensils that might have touched the allergen.

There is no cure for food allergies. The only way to avoid a reaction is a complete avoidance of the allergy-causing food. If you have someone with a food allergy over for a meal or snack at your home, don’t try to coax them to eat foods that they are allergic to. Those who have never had an allergic reaction to food might not realize what eating just a small amount will results in for the individual with the allergy.

More information can be found on the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) Web site, http://www.foodallergy.org/.

For more information or to make comments on the information contained in Coulee Consumer, write to La Crosse County UW-Extension, Attention: Coulee Consumer, 400 N. Fourth St., La Crosse, WI 54601, or call 785-9593.

.