Food Allergy: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

The problem that I decided to bring up today is food allergies and intolerance. Probably each of us at least ones in their lives did think or asked themselves if he or she has a food allergy on any of the food products. What is food allergies in general? A definition of a food allergy is a reaction of the body's immune system to otherwise harmless substances in certain foods (Center, 2012). In the meanwhile, scientists say that food intolerance is different from food allergy as it necessarily doesn’t involve the immune system. Food allergies have different reactions on different people, while some might be only uncomfortable, for others it might be life threatening triggering anaphylactic shocks (Clinic).

As per the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) true food allergies are not as common as many people believe. However, they are more common in younger children. One report on KCBS radio indicated there may be a link between mothers who ate peanuts during pregnancy and their children’s subsequent allergies. About 90% of these allergies

The hour-long production, titled “An Emerging Epidemic: Food Allergies in America”, is narrated by actor Steve Carell (whose own daughter is food-allergic) and tells the stories of people who manage life-threatening food allergies every day. These stories highlight what it’s like to live with life-threatening food allergies, while detailing how people are working to raise awareness in their communities. Several renowned allergy experts are interviewed in this video about the rise of food allergies, the science of the disease, and the progress of research toward food allergy treatments and a cure. One word of caution: there are some scenes discussing severe reactions and, in one case, a boy is shown on life-support tubes. While an excellent documentary, I wouldn’t recommend it to be seen by young