Allergy Awareness Week

I am afraid that we were so caught up with the FreeFrom Food Awards last week that we had not really logged Allergy Awareness Week this week… So, better late than never – a brief alert:

Allergy UK are running an awareness campaign called Living in Fear to highlight the fact that those with sever allergies do genuinely live in fear – in fear of every bit of food that not only they may eat, but that everyone else eats too in case it migrates onto their food.

(Hailey of Allergy Adventures is one of the many people supporting the campaign.)

Their research suggests that two thirds of UK adults would have no idea what to do if someone suffered a serious allergic reaction and certainly wouldn’t know how to use an adrenaline injector – and that 44% of allergy sufferers live in dairy fear of a reaction.

To find out more about the research and the campaign check into their site.

You might also want to take a look at Ruth’s blog at What Allergy? If anyone knows about living with fear it must be Ruth, with life threatening allergies to peanuts, milk and celery, serious reactions (eczema and asthma) to soya and some herbs and sensitivity to wheat. But over the last year Ruth has done an amazing job of taking her allergies by the scruff of the neck and refusing to be ruled by them. Not always a comfortable thing to do – but she has done it. And what Ruth has learned is not to fear is the allergy or the allergens – but to fear ignorance about allergy, especially amongst those who need to know – waiters, chefs and restaurant managers for starters.

Awareness, awareness, awareness – if you know nothing else about allergy, just recognise that it is a serious condition and needs to be taken seriously. If it is not, the consequences can be fatal…