Food Allergies for Dummies

by Robert A. Wood, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with Jo Kraynak, Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2007

pg 28 - "The Brazil nut soybean debacle: In the early days of genetically engineered foods...scientists...inserted genetic material from Brazil nuts into...soy plants. Turns out that the component of Brazil nut that they inserted contained the nut allergen that triggers reactions in people with tree nut allergy....This plant was quickly removed from development.."

pg 28 - "The stuff in some foods that trigger reactions in some people are proteins - molecules constructed out of building blocks called amino acids."

pg 29 - "When people are unaware of the protein-immunepsystem connection, they concoct all sorts of theories about what actually causes food allergies. Some of these theories are valid to certain point, others rarely apply, and a few are just plain bunk."

pg 29 - "Can genetically engineered foods trigger allergies? They sure can..."

pg 31 - "Allergists have no allergy tests for most of these dyes and preservatives."

pg 33 - "A virgin immune system has no reason to launch an all-out attack on a harmless food. It has to be properly sensitized to the food first (through an initial exposure)."

pg 35 - "The medical community knows that allergies run in families,...but we also know that children in the same families - even twins - do not always share the same allergies."

[This is easily explained: The families that have food allergies are diligent and get all their vaccinations. The vaccinations are not all contaminated with the same food proteins since many different food products and oils are used to manufacture vaccines. - bfg]

pg 36 - "An important study shows that an identical twin has a 64 percent chance of sharing a peanut allergy with the twin sibling..."

[Children from the same family are more likely to be vaccinated at the same time with vaccines from the same batch. - bfg]

pg 37 - "We commonly see children who are born into allergic families where exposure has been virtually or completely eliminated develop the allergy. The mother may never have eaten peanut during pregnancy or breast feeding, all peanut has been banned from the premises, and incidental contact is highly unlikely, but the child still develops a peanut allergy."

[The child was vaccinated with a vaccine that used peanut oil in the adjuvant! - bfg]

pg 38 - "If you grew up in the '60s or '70s, you may never have heard the term "food allergy."..Perhaps your entire school had only one or two kids with food allergies if your school even had a kid with food allergies."

[In 1960, children received on average only 1 or 2 vaccines. - bfg]

pg 36 - "Over the last 20 years...the prevalence of food allergy appears to have risen sharply....Anecdotal and clinical evidence shows a significant increase in food allergy...most experts believe that the increase is real and not simply the result of increase awareness."

[In 1980 children received 8-9 vaccines. In 2000 children received 33 vaccines . 2007 - The recommended shots are: 48 doses of 14 vaccines by age six and 53-56 doses of 15 or 16 vaccines by age 12. - bfg]

pg 39 - "No evidence at this time provides reliable evidence that immunizations or antibiotics promote allergy development."

[Better take a new look. This time check out the ingredients that don't appear on the vaccine package insert - bfg]

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