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Food Allergy Awareness Month
Food Allergy Awareness Month
May 1, 2027
May is Food Allergy Awareness Month!
Food Allergy Awareness Month takes place in May. During this time, it is important to raise food allergy awareness. ‘Celebrating Teal Moments’ during Food Allergy Awareness Month is a way to raise awareness. Wear teal to raise awareness of Food Allergy Awareness Month. Personalized Cause offers teal enamel awareness pins, teal fabric ribbons, and teal silicone awareness wristbands bracelets.
Wear Teal to Raise Awareness of Food Allergy Awareness Month
More than 50 million Americans have an allergy of some kind. Food allergies are estimated to affect 4% – 6% of children and 4% of adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food allergy symptoms are most common in babies and children, but they can appear at any age. You can even develop an allergy to foods you have eaten for years with no problems. For this reason, it is important to raise awareness during Food Allergy Awareness Month.
Signs of Food Allergies
The body’s immune system keeps you healthy by fighting off infections and other dangers to good health. A food allergy reaction occurs when your immune system overreacts to a food or a substance in a food. Your body identifies it as a danger and triggers a protective response. While allergies tend to run in families, it is impossible to predict whether a child will inherit a parent’s food allergy or whether siblings will have a similar condition. Some research does suggest that the younger siblings of a child with a peanut allergy will also be allergic to peanuts.
Symptoms of a food allergy can range from mild to severe. Just because an initial reaction causes few problems doesn’t mean that all reactions will be similar. A food that triggered only mild symptoms on one occasion may cause more severe symptoms at another time. This is an important concept to convey during Food Allergy Awareness Month.
Foods That Cause The Most Allergies
While any food can cause an adverse reaction, eight types of food account for about 90 percent of all reactions:
- Eggs
- Milk and Dairy
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Wheat
- Soy
- Sesame
Sesame is the 9th most common food allergen and is found in many popular dishes, including hummus, under the name “tahini.” According to the FDA, “Under the FASTER Act of 2021, sesame was added as the 9th major food allergen effective January 1, 2023. This information is included during Food Allergy Awareness Month.
Symptoms of an Allergic Food Reaction – KNOW MORE During Food Allergy Awareness Month
Symptoms of an allergic reaction may involve the skin, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system and respiratory tract. They can surface in one or more of the following ways:
- Vomiting and/or stomach cramps.
- Hives.
- Shortness of breath.
- Wheezing.
- Repetitive cough.
- Shock or circulatory collapse.
- Tight, hoarse throat; trouble swallowing.
- Swelling of the tongue, affecting the ability to talk or breathe.
- Weak pulse.
- Pale or blue coloring of skin.
- Dizziness or feeling faint.
- Anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening reaction that can impair breathing and send the body into shock; reactions may simultaneously affect different parts of the body (for example, a stomachache accompanied by a rash).
Most food-related symptoms occur within two hours of ingestion. They often start within minutes. In some very rare cases, the reaction may be delayed by four to six hours or even longer. Delayed reactions are most typically seen in children who develop eczema as a symptom of food allergy. They also occur in people with a rare allergy to red meat caused by the bite of a lone star tick.
