Well, I'm not an official study but can give my personal experience. I was BF for 6 weeks and then "graduated to big girl milk" --that is what was written in my pediatrician charts. I experienced hives within 3 weeks of going on cow's milk with pablum. By the time I was 2 yrs old, I lived with extreme hives, all over my body. The MD treated the hives, not the cause. My mother kept diaries of everything I touched or ate, and started figuring out the worst things. I was tested at age 12 for food allergies ( not an exact science), and of the 300+ foods tested for, I was a 3 or 4 postive for over 200 foods. I went on an elimination diet for 4 years and as an adult, am still allergic to strawberries, figs, grapes, and whole grains. That is, until the latex allergy developed over the past 19 years. I have learned much, but not from any MDs.?I began to react with a "coating" on my tongue when I ate bananas just a few years ago. ?Now I know that bananas are the fruit of a latex plant and this was an allergic reaction. I also have found many hidden sources of latex. One time I went into anaphylaxis after eating carrots at a Japanese grill. No other food except white rice and carrots, which I watched them cook on the grill. After the ED visit,? I went back and analyzed the restaurant. No gloves on site. But then I asked if they washed the carrots onsite, and they said no, they are pre-washed. When I contacted the carrot company in California, I learned they use latex gloves in packaging carrots. Same for packaged salads. Taco Bell and other restaurants buys pre-cut tomatoes and lettuce?which are often handled with latex gloves. So it may not be the food, but the food handling. My allergist refused to file a claim for disability because he said there is no way he can prove I am allergic to latex. I have had 22 anaphylactic reactions, but the ED documents them as "anaphylaxis of unknown origin".?My allerigist told me I could be reacting to? tea, coffee or seafood . Except I eat all these foods without a problem at home.?The

 last 3 reactions, I had to use?2 Epi Pens before I got to the hospital. I have to wash all food throughly, keep a notebook of manufacturers and the date and time I call, person I spoke with and the product that I called about, and still I worry that I might miss something. One large canned soup company used latex gloves in about 75% of its manufacturing facilities, so I have to call each time I want to eat soup, find out where it was canned and then call that place to see if they use gloves. If I eat soup made onsite at a restaurant, I have to ask the chef if each ingredient was washed onsite. It drives me crazy when people dismiss allergies as just an "annoyance" or not?taken seriously. I know at anytime I can die if I let my guard down. My children know, and have used the EpiPens on me so it is truly a family affair. I will never forget just before my son deployed to Iraq, we wanted to go out to eat. We had to go to 7 restaurants before we found one that I felt safe at. I kept encouraging my family to eat without me but my son was insistant that we eat together. I have spoken to nurses who have never documented skin rashes because they are afraid of losing their jobs or being moved to a nonclinic ( lower wage) job. I went into anaphylaxis after a PT walked by me after she used a fitness band--the latex particles were on her clothes and hair and?I breathed those. ?My recommendations to anyone whose child is experiencing any type of reactions is to document the food, time it is eaten, what else was eaten, how the food was prepared ( did the mom cut through the peel, in which case she could have contaminated the food with any chemicals on the peel), and manufacturer or distributor of the food.

Barbara Whitehead, BS, RLC, IBCLC
eastern NC

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