Eating with a food allergy- Peanuts

This weekend at one of my favorite events of the year, The Decatur Book Festival, i listened to an author discuss her book Don't Kill the Birthday Girl. The title stems from a common statement made in her childhood due to her multitude of food allergies. You see she is allergic to a long list of foods but her allergies are so severe a lone hug or a kiss from a relative who had recently indulged in the "real" birthday cake that contained dairy, could actually kill the her.

Therefore her birthday parties consisted of her special cake and then another cake for the rest of the guests. Once the cake for the guests was served it was if a force field had to be created around her to prevent an allergic reaction.

This discussion of food allergies got me thinking about  my own food allergy, peanuts. I get all kinds of questions about my allergy when people first learn about it. The most common ones i hear are

"When did you find out you were allergic? " (i've always known, i don't remember not knowing)

"How allergic are you?" (allergic, that is kind of like asking how pregnant are you) and

"What happens if you eat a peanut?" (i'll die, any other questions?)

These answers usually raise a few eyebrows, sometimes as if I am not telling the truth, especially when i give the i'll die answer.

Cute peanuts....

When i was growing up I was the only person i knew that had a peanut allergy and never met anyone else that shared my ailment. Now peanut allergies are fairly rampant among young children and many initiatives are being developed both at schools and by grassroots organizations to raise awareness regarding the seriousness of this allergy. But in the 1980's there was no such awareness and nothing that even remotely resembled an epi-pen. Sometimes i think it is a miracle i lived through elementary and high school with all the baked goods that trickled through the school and lack of preventative measures for children with allergies.

Bad peanuts...

Based on the author's testimony regarding her issues dealing with food allergies I got to thinking about my own experiences. Ironically enough (and contrary to the issues of kids today) i don't remember it being terribly difficult to deal with my allergy while in school. I basically always asked if cookies or brownies had peanuts (or peanut butter) in them and then either gingerly tasted the treat or steered clear. Perhaps there were more behind the scenes efforts from my teachers or my mother to encourage parents not to send peanut laden treats to school, but I was unaware of them. Perhaps it was because i attended a small school and everyone knew of my allergy and simply didn't send peanut butter cookies or brownies to school, but again, I'm not sure. I simply remember it not being a huge issue.

I like putting pictures of The Peanuts here as the pictures of actual peanuts make me nervous.

Needless to say i never felt my inability to eat peanut butter sandwiches deprived me as a child and since i don't really have a sweet tooth i was not too upset about missing the occasional brownie or cookie. In addition to the questions above sometimes people ask me if i've "ever just wanted to eat a peanut butter sandwich?", which is a question only a person without a food allergy would ask and "if i'm allergic to all nuts"? The answer to both is, no!

You see, peanuts are actually legumes and grow underground, so they are technically not nuts. Therefore most people that are allergic to peanuts are not allergic to nuts, and vice versa. In response to the other question, I've never had peanut products and not being able to have them is not like fighting off a midnight craving for ice cream. I don't want a PB&J and I cringe anytime someone mentions peanuts, peanut butter or peanut oil. I can't even bear to put pictures of them on this post. In fact, if there was ever a cure for food allergies, i wouldn't eat peanuts, i would just be happy not to have to continue to be ultra-careful about everything i eat.

In my experience, my food allergy has been more difficult to deal with the older i have gotten. Again, this may simply be based on the environment in which i am living, but i find myself being more careful now than i ever was in my childhood. Two things that have changed about my environment are 1. that i live in big city with lots of food choices and 2. we are now living in a  foodie culture where entire networks are devoted to food and restaurant style cooking.

These lifestyle changes affect my allergy because not only am i exposed to many different varieties of food from all cultures, I am also exposed to chefs and home cooks that are experimenting with ingredients that were once exotic or difficult to find. For example did any of you have chicken satay in the 1980's or know a restaurant that fried their food in peanut oil? Me either, however today those are common occurrences in your everyday restaurant (or wedding reception or party).

Growing up i basically ate American fare with some Mexican and Italian food thrown in for good measure and admittedly lived in a small town with few choices when it came to eating out. Now i can have any type of ethnic food i choose and anyone can go to the local grocery and buy peanut oil, which most likely became popular with the fried Thanksgiving turkey.

However, just as i was thinking that my allergy had been relatively easy to manage I remembered some incidents that certainly had the potential to be worse than they were. For example not long after i moved to Atlanta i went to a party at a local restaurant where a buffet was set up. Being the voracious eater i am i was first in line at the buffet and acquired my plate full of food. After finishing round one I went back for seconds and dessert. I got a small piece of cheesecake and subsequently ate it. At this point in my life i knew to stay away from any brown desserts as they are most likely to contain peanut butter, but i did not know to stay away from the tongs that the brown desserts might have touched. As soon as i ate the cheesecake i knew something was wrong.

This looks yummy for you, but signals danger for me!

Not wanting to alarm the table or ruin everyone's evening I immediately starting drinking more of my beer, thinking the alcohol might kill the foreign substance in my body. I then went to the bathroom and washed out my mouth and finally had to swallow my pride and tell my friend Melissa to take to me home. That was the night I learned :

1. buffets are not my friend
2. people don't know how to use the appropriate tongs for the appropriate dessert
3. even a trace of peanut butter on a tong can cause a reaction and
4. don't get seconds

Not long after that i went to Louisiana for a holiday and was having dinner with my friend Karen and her family. Her son was about 3 years old at the time and didn't want to eat the traditional fare. Therefore he ate a PB&J sandwich. As i was getting ready to leave Conner kissed me on the cheek. Uh-oh, who knew this would cause an allergic reaction? I had to high-tail it home to get some benadryl because i didn't even know epi-pens existed. The reaction seemed to continue to get worse and at one point i thought i was going to have to go to the hospital. Truthfully that is what i should have done.

That was the day i learned:
1. kisses (even on the cheek) from someone that has recently eaten peanut products could be deadly.

Benadryl is my friend!

There have been other incidents too. Like the one at a Chinese restaurant where some peanut sauce got on a dumpling i ate (put in my mouth and spit out) and my lips swelled bigger than a Beverly Hills housewife. That time i actually had to use my epi-pen (of course it was at home) and was later scolded by my allergy doctor for not going to the hospital. That was the day i learned:

1. never to leave home without my epi-pen (i had gotten one by this time)
2. to be very careful of brown sauces when eating dim sum
3. even if you don't ingest the peanuts it can be deadly and
4. to always go to the ER when you use your epi-pen.

I learned another lesson the time i spent almost the entire flight to Europe in the bathroom because who knew airlines use peanut oil to preserve their hot food? I felt certain i would die right over the middle of the Atlantic because no matter how many times i punched that call button, no one came. Eating on a plane has never been the same since.

Luckily these incidents have been few and far between. Mostly my allergy involves me avoiding certain foods due to the possibility of them containing peanut products, me always asking the eye-brow raising question of "what type of oil do you fry in" at restaurants and me doing research before eating at a restaurant to see if they have peanut products on their menu. Naturally higher end restaurants are typically more accommodating of patrons with allergies and ethnic restaurants where there is a language barrier signal danger for me.

I've succumbed to the fact i could never be a bona-fide food critic because i could never taste anything with peanut products and become accustomed to people not understanding the seriousness of food allergies. I've discovered most people think a food allergy is like those nasty spring allergies where people who are allergic to pollen develop a cold they fight off with OTC drugs and after a week or two of feeling like they are living in a tunnel, they are all better. They don't realize food allergies are deadly.

In fact my friends and family fall into one of three categories when it comes to their level of understanding.

1. those that have known me for a long time, know about my allergy, and never serve anything with peanuts when they know i'll be in attendance. Sometimes they even look out for me when we are eating together and many times become the smeller or taster to determine if an item has peanuts.
2. those that completely do not understand and say things like "how allergic are you?" implying that i could eat a peanut or two and be ok or "why don't you just take a benadryl?" at which point i know they need a biology 101 lesson or think its ok to have peanut products around as long as i don't eat them.
3. those that i have told millions of times, but yet can't seem to remember i am allergic to peanut products. They give me peanut butter balls for Christmas, make peanut butter cookies and bring to my house, let their kids eat peanut butter cookies and then expect me to hold and play with their kids and their nasty peanut butter hands and faces. They've even been known to give me peanut butter candy for Halloween or Easter.

Listen, i know not everyone can know about my allergy and unless you eat with me the discussion has probably not come up. But when you have known me for 5 plus years, we've shared numerous meals together and and subject has been broached numerous times, i do expect you to remember i don't want a peanut butter pie for my birthday.

A Bruster's Ice Cream Cake will do!

In my quest to deal with my peanut allergy there have been other issues, too. At one point i was convinced my crazy ex-boyfriend was going to kill me by putting peanuts into my food. Another time i went to a gumbo cook-off and noticed a sign next to one of the pots that said "contains peanuts". Who puts peanut butter in gumbo? That day i realized:

1. don't date psychopathic ex-cops with a mesomorphic body type, well i knew that before the cookoff, but anyway...
2. i could not eat at any cook-offs or similiar food tasting events

While someone here had the sense to label the bowl most people would not. I realized i could have died that day because I typically looked for peanuts in the obviously places (cookies, brownies) but never looked for them in gumbo. In fact that reminded of a story some years earlier when a boy died after eating chili with peanuts in it. Again, who puts peanuts in chili?

Probably one of the biggest issues i have is peanuts on airplanes. As soon as i bring this up the inexperienced air traveler chimes in and says "they don't serve peanuts on planes anymore." I am here to tell you they do. I get sick almost every time i fly and cringe anytime someone sitting next to me orders peanuts. After getting sick so many times, i have become that crazy lady that wipes down the armrest and tray table before using it. I can't tell you how many times i have pulled down the tray table in anticipation of my drink and found it littered with peanut dust and sometimes even leftover peanuts. I am not sure how often these planes are cleaned, but i know from experience they are not cleaned between each flight like they are supposed to be.

I got so sick of getting sick, before one flight i decided to alert the airline to my allergy. First of all this is not easy because you cannot do it online and cannot attach it to your frequent flyer profile. You can request a vegetarian meal online, or a wheelchair, but even with the recent interest in peanut allergies there is no pull-down menu for peanut allergy. Finally i called the airline to alert them but when it came time to check-in i noticed i could not check in online. When i got to the airport, i also could not check in at the kiosk. Therefore i had to stand in the looonnnggg line of people with "problems" to simply check in. I almost missed my flight and was greeted by a flight attendant who said "uh, how allergic to peanuts are you?".

Love Delta, hate ASA!

I really didn't know how to answer that question since the plane had obviously not been cleaned and I thought it was policy for the airline not to serve peanuts if anyone on the plane alerted them to an allergy. After what i had just gone through to check in, i thought that was the least they could do. "I mean", she said as if i was ruining her day "i'm just trying to figure out if you are allergic to the dust or just the nuts". I still didn't know how to answer that without being completely rude, at which time she just exclaimed, "I guess i just won't offer them".

Of course i called and complained but also learned it was easier for me to board a plane with handy-wipes, nose spray and Allegra than it was to ask the airline to care. I wish airlines didn't serve peanuts as is seems to be a small price to pay to save lives, but it is such a part of our culture to have peanuts on airplanes and such a huge money maker for peanut farmers that is likely to never happen.

I understand there is a fine line between imposing my allergy on others, but smoking used to be allowed on airplanes too. Get over it and get used to eating pretzels and biscott cookies (these are good). If you want peanuts bring your own, at least that will cut down on the peanut dust on my tray table, arm rest, Sky Miles magazine, seat, pillow, overhead bin, bathroom door and window shade.

Yes, there are things you never think about until you have a food allergy. You ever eat at Cold Stone Creamery? not me, that cold stone they would use to mix my ice cream was also used to mix the ice cream of the person before me that ordered reese's peanut butter cups. (see previous post about food trucks)

All in all managing my food allergy is a small portion of my life and not an issue when i eat at home, cook my own food or eat at trusted restaurants (that have no peanut products on the menu). But it can instantly become a big issue when peanut products appear in unexpected places or when you are learning where dangers may lie.

As a forensic science instructor I always tell my students, you never know what criminal attempts were foiled based on preventative measures, you only know what criminal attempts were successful. The same goes for food allergies. I am sure many more incidents could have occurred but didn't because i chose not to eat a cookie or eat at a particular restaurant or friends decided to make the cheesecake rather than the peanut butter pie for the party.

Yea! for cheesecake!

Think of it this way, food allergies kill just like gunshots do, but we have laws against shooting someone. We still don't have laws requiring restaurants to alert patrons to potential allergens and we still serve peanuts on planes knowing millions of children (and adults) are allergic to them. I am not saying you should not be able to eat your peanuts, i am saying this is a public health issue, just like smoking and while you can smoke all you want, you can't do it on a plane because of the known dangers to others. Let's apply the same reasoning to peanuts.

Happy Eating! hold the peanut products please!

PS- When i started this post my intention was to bring more awareness to food allergies as the talk at the DBF got me thinking about my own. I did not intend it to be a rant about serving peanuts on airplanes, it just turned out that way. :)