Dan Krueger wrote:
> It seems like 10 years ago you never heard of a peanut allergy and there
> were no "produced in a facility that also processes peanuts" labels on
> food. Is this a fairly new allergy or did people always suffer from it
> until it was isolated?

I've suffered with varying levels of allergy to peanuts & soybeans since
I was an infant 33 years ago. Trying to get the school cafeteria to
understand that I had to have a real beef hamburger and not one that was
the usual beef & soy meal mixture was a constant problem.

Today, I can do a large bowl of hot & sour soup (with its tofu), or a
peanut butter & jelly sandwich, but not both in under 72 hours without
starting to look like a pink balloon. A single black bean is enough to
make my lips swell; an entire serving might send me into a fullon
anaphyactic shock if I went insane and ate them. Veggie burgers, which
I do like, generally contain enough soy to cause issues as well.

I don't think that peanut & soy allergies were as widespread when I was
growing up, but obviously they existed. The allergist I've seen blames
the use of soy-based formula fed to infants when I was a child who are
now having children of their own who are super-sensitized to certain
proteins that are common to both soybeans & peanuts.

Beth

--
Evolution takes no prisoners. -- Mandy, "The Grim Adventures of Billy &
Mandy"