Do you feel strange after you eat some kinds of foods?  Do you get itchy or feel funny in your hands?  Are you getting hives or swelling up? If so, then maybe you have allergies.  This is very common and many people go through the same problems that you may be experiencing with many different foods.

There are around twelve million Americans that will suffer from the problems of food allergies.  Most of the allergic reactions that many people go through are mild but there are many that will have to seek treatment from an emergency room each year because of the reactions from the foods that they eat.  There are over two hundred deaths caused from food allergies each year.

Many studies show that there are at least eight percent of children that have allergies to some type of food.  The numbers are a little bit smaller for adults and are only around four percent.

Many times children will outgrow the food allergies that they are born with.  However, some will have them well into adulthood and will have to deal with the effects for a lifetime.

While I owned and ran my own Day Care (when MY kids were young), I happened to take in a male child who had multiple allergies; strawberries, cheddar cheese, and nuts of any kind.  This poor child had been bounced around a few other day care centers before coming to me because it IS a little more difficult when dealing with groups of children to have one with special food needs.  Of course, it probably didn't help that this child was also "deathly" allergic to insect stings of any kind and an "epipen" needed to be carried even when going to the mailbox to pick up mail.

While my boys had no food allergies at all, I had come in contact with others that had food allergies and felt pretty prepared to take this child on (even though the cheddar cheese allergy drastically cut into the macaroni and cheese meals that all the kids begged for!).  It was a big eye opener for me!   Of course, I was on the watch out for any kind of nuts in any food I cooked, but I had never needed to look at labels to see if it was prepared with peanut "oil" or ANY other kind of nut oil.  It really opened my eyes.

Just recently, I remarried.  My husband is deathly allergic to mushrooms!   Spaghetti sauce, prepared italian food, packaged flavor packets, there are mushrooms in LOTS of foods even if you don't see chunks of it floating around in whatever food it is.   Food allergies are definately nothing to fool around with when it affects the health of a family member or friend.

Having packaged foods, eating in restaurants or going to a friend’s home can be a problem for those with food allergies.  It is hard to say what is added to the food that we do not prepare ourselves, and let's face it, how embarrassing is it to ask your hostess "what did you put in the food I'll be eating?".  Of course, once you explain to her WHY you are asking and that you could become ill, or in some cases, violently ill, from eating certain foods, I've found most people are quite willing to share how they cooked items and that they show great concern.

With the increased problems of peanut, chocolate, and mushroom allergies, most packaged foods will have what is included in the ingredients right on the label.  They will say if there is peanut oil or if they are processed in a factory that has had peanuts in it.

There is no cure for food allergies and the only thing that you can do to avoid foods that cause the reactions and to be careful. You have to watch what you eat and be sure of the ingredients that are included in the preparing of them.  You do not want to have a reaction that you cannot deal with and that will make you deathly sick.

For more information on this common ailment, google "common food allergies" and find out what foods might cause problems with people.