I am very allergic to palm oil, or anything that has an additive(usually vitamins and milk) with severe diarrhea almost instantly. I first connected it will eating Tim Hortons doughnuts or pastries. and simply avoid them completely. Next was Superstore's bread products, almost all contain palm oil, by label. As these products are sent to the stores already frozen, the staff are not always sure what the products contain. I stick with Sobie's and have had no problem with their bread products. Chinese restaurants often use palm oil, so I have found one that does not. Also all margerine contains palm oil, and at Denny's restaurants, it is used on the grill. In USA it is less common, as they use soy oil or canola.,

Hockey Gal... careful with Benedryl, it's now flavoured with cinnamon and cloves. I guess it helps keep the kids from drinking the stuff for a high, but in your case, it could kill you.

For Rick in ON, lactose intolerance while very unconfortable is not an allergy - your system is simply not producing the lactase required to breakdown the lactose for digestion and so the lactose ferments and causes bloating, pain and a multitude of other horrible symptoms. I feel your pain. My son was diagnosed with lactose intelorance as a young child but later developed a cow's mik allergy. Goat's milk works well. Good luck to you.

For those of you who whine about the 7:1000 with peanut allergy making you can't send your kids to school with a good ol' fashion healthy alternative peanut butter sandwich - guess what, unless you get it straight from the peanut with nothing added, it's processed with a bunch of crap you have no clue about bec the sugar and oil they add to it is not so pretty (never mind most kids wouldn't touch natural nothing-added peanut butter). With all those little extras added to make it more palatable, it's lost the healthfulness you claim. Don't get me wrong, it's not a health hazard either (as long as you're not allergic, of course), but before you whine, you should think of the consequence when you've been made aware of an allergic person in your environment.

Allergic people get throught their day asking themselves what they can eat rather than what they can't - the world is not their table. So suck it up and don't be so self-centered. Parents of allergic children are not looking for attention - no Munchausen disease here, we just like our kids alive and healthy. It's hard work educating ourselves, never mind when people such as you make it a mission to make yourselves the victims of others misfortune.

Thank you hockeygal for posting about cinnamon...I too am allergic, but I have often wondered if it is really cassia which is used to doctor up cinnamon...and also the only ones who believe me are those who have witnessed the attacks. Watch out for prepared BBQ sauces they contain cinnamon.

Most food related allergies are linked to the size of the protein molecule in the food being
consumed.
There was a great book out a few years ago, The Unhealthy Truth About the Food We Eat.
Because GMO foods now are very common we are developing more food allergies
out of the blue.....it's because of the proteins introduced through the genetic modification,
fish proteins into tomatoes etc....the list goes on and on.
Trouble breathing is one thing but I would warn all to pay very close attention to
stomach cramping.....in my case it did lead to vomiting which made my food allergy apparent, but before that episode I basically questioned the cramping and then paid
it no heed.
I now carry an epi pen for avocadoes, kiwi's and bananas.........these foods have a protein
that is similar to my most obvious allergy....latex.
I am a health care worker, latex was obious to me from the get go....but apparently my allergy, one which has all the related food reactions is rare.

I do not have allergies from the foods mentioned in this article. My interest is to be aware what is the cause of allergies. My understanding from searching the internet is that the cause is a leaky gut that allows proteins from to pass from the intestines into the bloodstream and the immune systems reaction will cause the allergic reaction. Wheat apparently is the leading cause of a permeable gut, do a self experiment to see if eliminating wheat will cure your allergies. The importance of food choices is underestimated. Besides the allergies that are immediate there are chronic inflammatory reactions that cause arthritis and heart disease. Understanding how the body functions is essential to health'

Sesame allergies rank in this list, but not gluten allergies? Perhaps the author needs to do better research. Celiac Disease occurs in 1 in 133 people in this country, and that number is getting bigger.

try being allergic to GARLIC. My oldest daughter is and has to carry an eppi pen. Just about everything has garlic in it. It is used as a preserative and it is in most spices even though it is not mentioned. It appears as the health and food group in Canada thinks that oneone is allergic to garlic once it has been processed.

If you have trouble breathing or swallowing time is off the essence (we kinda need to breathe)! Quickly scarf down some Benadryl and get yourself to the hospital ASAP.
Also it should be mentioned: swollen eyes. Swollen eyelid, upper eye and even eyeball. These can also occur as a result of food allergies.
I'm one of the lucky(?!) ones who developed allergies as an adult. I get to be allergic to some tree nuts, fruits, cats and pollens. Oh joy.

I do have a peeve about my allergist. Upon discovering (the hard way) I was suddenly allergic to nuts; I was only tested for the four nut types I had consumed to find the culprits(s). I asked if I can be tested for other nuts to rule them in/out but was told the way to test if I'm allergic is by; get this.... eating them. Yes, that's just what I want to do, play Russian Roulette. One close call to the hospital wasn't enough. I should risk my life to find out if a nut is safe or not. Thanks doc.

I never had any allergies until a few months after I'd been on antibiotics. I know for a fact that the antibiotics weakened my immune system and I later developed allergies...

Anyone else allergic to coca nut?

My son is severely allergic to sugar, has to be a on strict sugar-free diet, except the natural sugars found in fruit & vegetables - prior to it being refined, or he cannot function, his memory retention is reduced to nothing and his emotions boiling over at all times. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to find many products without sugar of some nature in it. Sugar of different varieties are used in almost everything, even “plain” cereals, bread, and many things you wouldn’t think even contain sugar. There are very little options for snack foods or treats for my son or they are unbelievable expensive because they are marketed as a “healthy alternative”. School is a complete nightmare, because teachers give out candy and goodies as rewards, so even when he achieves such rewards, he does not get rewarded, so he stops trying and then they complain that he doesn’t do his best. I offer alternatives, but the teachers don’t like it because it is too much work, or say that if they treat him differently that it will single him out and that leads to bullying. He is already teased because he is thin, but he is thin because he doesn’t eat crap, my son eats a lot, and is extremely active, healthier than most due to his allergy, but it makes him miserable because he's different. Sugar becomes an addiction, it leads to obesity, leads to tooth decay, lowers the immune system among many other things, but people don’t think of it that way, because after all, it’s just sugar. I challenge people to go one month without consuming sugar of any kind other than that found in fruits & vegetables - prior to it being refined.

So the most common anaphylatic allergen only affects 17 in 1000 Canadians. Why then is there such a huge nut-free motion across this country when it only affects 7 in 1000? Honestly, I feel for you if it is your kid but frankly I am tired of not being able to send healthy alternatives to school in my children's lunch for the sake of a few.
It's not wonder childhood obesity is on the rise - no tree nuts, no peanuts, no fish. The only options left are processed crap.

I have severe reactions to additives that they put in food. MSG and other preservatives and food coloring. I find the best way to deal with this is not to eat any processed food. I cook all my food from scratch.. Before I got diagnosed at Sunny Brook Hospital I would swell up and be unable to breath and would require an adrenaline shot to reduce the swelling so I could breath. Not fun at all.. Zorro I hope you never have a allergic reaction. I had a friend that died form peanut butter allergy poor guy had not time to whine...

I am allergic to only two sea foods,scallops and crab,,,
Yet I can eat every other kind of sea food,,I find that kind of strange.
I eat clams,shrimp lobster and any find of fish
but i can't have scallops or crab

My allergy is to oils, and first started with Palm Oil, then it has spread to other oils, Peanut, Sesame, and Soya and sometimes Canola. Try to find a product that does not have Palm Oil, Palm Kernel in it. Only 3 chocolates I can eat, Peanut Butter cups, Smarties and chocolate M&M's. I have to check everything I purchase in the store for these oils. Companies are using Palm in place of cream or other oils in products in order to save cost of the product. I'm to the point I make/bake everything from scratch in order to avoid the canker sores within 20 minutes of allergy attack, swollen tongue, throat and nasal swelling to like I have strawsl. To avoid going to the hospital, I have done the quick go to Safeway to buy a liquid antahistmine and drink it while out in the parking lot. I do have the Epipen as well. In the last 5 years I've gone from allergy attack maybe 1 every 3 months, to avoiding it daily. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE WITH THE SAME TYPE OF ALLERGY PROBLEM?

3.2% have food allergies? I-2 in 10 parents would claim their kid has food allergies. They love the attention it draws their child and makes them feel special.

what about lactose intolerance???

I know this was a food discussion, but what about food additives? How many people are allergic to MSG and don't even know it? I was lucky - I had a great doctor who worked with me to uncover this because at the time, there was no test. By the way - MSG is a preservative, not a flavour enhancer. If you want the same so called flavour-enhancing qualities that MSG supposedly delivers, add a pinch of salt. I have tested this and it works.

I am allergic to cinnamon. It is hard to get people to believe that you can be allergic to something like this, until I flash my medic-alert bracelet and epi-pen!

This article was was published today - My shellfish/crustacean allergy is right there at the top.

I bet you more people have allergies to fruit,with all the cr.ap they put on our trees. I know more people that get itchy throats and swollen throats from the fruit we eat then any of the mentioned in the article..Just saying..

No food allergy but lots of problem with the crap that's put in our foods...