For those of us who have food allergies we are very aware of what is in our foods because we're reading labels of EVERYTHING we eat. As a vegetarian my first red light is meat (although I'm okay with animal products like eggs, milk, cheese, etc.), my next red light are tropical fruits (like pineapple, mango, kiwi, etc.) because I have a food allergy to them, but other than that it's just good to know what kind of poison I'm consuming (okay, okay, if there are too many chemicals I tend to put it back, but on occasion I'll go ahead and get something because let's face it... it's yummy).
As far as my food allergy I've only had a few instances where it has been a problem. I first realized maybe my reaction after eating pineapple isn't just a bug was when I was in high school. As a kid my mom would make a pineapple upside down cake 3-4 times a month. I'm not sure why I didn't eat it, but on the occasions I did, I'd get violently ill that evening, but would be fine the next day. Because we weren't sure why I was ill I'd skip school the next day thinking it was a 24 hour flu or something. Looking back now had I realized it was from the pineapple upside down cake I think I would have eaten more... then again, my parents would have known too and I would still be sick and then be hit with a double whammy and still have to go to school the next day.
When I was in high school I ate a pineapple chunk at Disneyland during a hot day. I became ill at Disneyland and the whole ride home. We chocked it up to maybe the pineapple was bad from being out in the sun. Then while at a friend's birthday sleep over I had pineapple pizza... where again I became ill and lets face it, being the one who got sick at a sleepover is not something you want to be remembered by in high school. It was quite embarrassing. After that I realized while eating the pizza my tongue felt tingly and maybe that wasn't normal. I told my mom about this and she said it wasn't normal. After talking to the doctor he said it was a food allergy and to stay away from it, so I have.
While on a missions trip in Japan I had mango and had the same reaction of the tingly tongue and fortunately stopped eating and didn't get to the ill stage. It's one thing to be ill at Disneyland and a teen sleepover, but ill in another country is not on my bucket list!
Well, at 29 years old, I'm fully aware of my allergies and do a good job of reading labels to ensure there isn't anything I don't want to eat or can't eat. While at Costco with my sister the other night she ordered a Chicken Bake and bites in to enjoy her dinner when she realized there was bacon in the Chicken Bake (she doesn't eat pork). I told her to read the labels (well, in this case the ingredient list) very carefully. She kept telling me it was my fault because I suggested she eat the Chicken Bake. I told her she's an adult and can read her own labels. We do our shopping and find a new food product that is like a Lunchables for adults with hummus and crackers, meat stick and crackers, trail mixes, seed mixes and a little chocolate for dessert. We figured we could split the pack that came with 4 boxes, two with hummus and crackers and two with meat stick and crackers. I glanced through the label, but didn't throughly read the label figuring I would later and we could split the pack even more if there was something either of us didn't want.
The next day I grab my box and head off to work. My friend bought me an unexpected lunch, so I figured I'd save my box lunch for dinner before the meeting. I sit down to enjoy my box lunch (now box dinner) and the hummus and crackers were so delicious. I'm really excited about my new box lunch and I'm thinking of how often I'd like to take them to work. I eat my trail mix with dried cranberries and think the cranberries are a bit sweeter than normal, but they are so yummy I don't think twice about it besides how yummy they taste. The nuts were coated in a spice so there was a bit of a kick, but not too much I can't handle my trail mix. I then start eating my seeds and remember I didn't read the label of any of the little packs, so I read the seed label: toasted edemame, pepitas, toasted watermelon seeds - awesome all foods I can eat. I go to the trail mix: jalapeno spiced almonds and peanuts, dried cranberries, and dried mango - mmm... so that's why the dried cranberries were so sweet they were mixed with mangos.... MANGOS... OH SHOOT, MANGOS!
I instantly start looking for signs of a reaction, but realized in the past once past the tingly tongue it takes an hour or so to become ill... my meeting was in about an hour. I'm then thinking do I chance it and go to the meeting and hope I don't get sick? I've never had dried mangos, will I have the same reaction as the fresh stuff? I text my boss to let him know what just happened and I might not make it to the meeting or may have to leave early if I do make it, but right now I feel okay. Twenty minutes pass and I my eye itched. I went to scratch it, but realized this was a reaction. I looked in the mirror and noticed my eyes were a little puffy and red. I send another text to my boss and let him know I'm not going to make it. I'm heading home. As I'm driving all I can think of is Will Smith's face in Hitch when he eats shellfish without knowing he's allergic. I call my mom and she tells me she put the medicine on the counter in the bathroom, but she's leaving for her meeting. I get home take the pill and still feel itchy all over. When my sister got home about 10 minutes later before even telling her what happened she comments on how red my skin is... of course I now have a rash all over my body, but all I can do is wait and hope the medicine kicks in faster. At this point I'm feeling a little funny in my head, but figure it's the medicine. When an hour passed and I was ready to go to bed I realized it was the medicine and called it a night (at this point the itchiness had started to lessen, but I still had the rash and puffy eyes).
In the middle of the night I woke up and realized the medicine was still in me because my head felt really funny. I went to roll over and my arms felt really funny too. I then remember thinking, or maybe even said it out loud, "My arms feel funny. They are like spaghetti. I have spaghetti arms." All the while waving my arms around as if they were spaghetti being stirred in a pot of hot water. After waving my spaghetti arms around for a bit I finished rolling over and went back to sleep.
This morning I'm realizing I should always read the label of every food I'm going to consume BEFORE I consume any and all foods. After all, like I told my sister, I am an adult and it is my responsibility to read my own labels.
