Hi Folks,
I have been thinking a bit about the association between consuming
nuts or nut products, and anaphylactic shock resulting from allergy
to these.
The reason being that, thinking back to say 10 or more years ago, I don't
recall this being an issue. People just ate nuts and you never heard of
anyone suffering from it.
Nowadays, not only do you see deaths reported, but even bread or cakes on
sale in the shops may carry warnings that they cannot be guaranteed
totally nut-free, as if it were something sufficiently likely to be a
general worry. It is my impression, based on memory, that this has
acquired its high profile mainly within the last 5 years, certainly
within the last 10.
So my question is: Supposing my impression is right (if it's wrong,
people are welcome to put me right). Then why has this high profile
arisen so recently?
What has changed?
Is it due to recently establishing a specific connection?
Are investigative procedures applied to such cases better able than they
were to establish the cause?
Have nuts or nut products themselves changed recently so that allergy
is more likely to arise?
Is allergic reaction to nuts becoming more common for some other reason?
Or has nothing changed, and the real issue is improved safety labelling?
(But in that case, why just nuts?)
I would be most interested to learn of pointers to relevant sources,
and to hear from anyone who knows answers to any of these questions.
Best wishes to all,
Ted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 21-Jun-99 Time: 15:16:47
------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|