Check out www.AllergyKids.com

[Guest guest]

Hi from Sue,

This was in the Sacramento Bee today.

Hope you enjoy...the resources for

tagging things, etc.

Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action

Moloney for The New York Times

ON ALERT Robyn O’Brien, at home with her children in Colorado, advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods.

comments (241) Sign In to E-Mail or Save This Print Single Page Reprints Share

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By KIM SEVERSON

Published: January 9, 2008

Lafayette, Colo.

Skip to next paragraph

Related

Times Health Guide: Food Allergies

Moloney for The New York Times

IMPASSIONED Robyn O’Brien with her daughter Tory at home in Lafayette, Colo.

Readers' Comments

What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food allergies?

Read All Comments (241) »

ROBYN O’BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn’t started checking the rearview mirror to see if she’s being followed.

But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders if it’s only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food allergies.

Ms. O’Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear she designed.

Her story is one of several in a new book, “Healthy Child, Healthy World” (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors, parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.

Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young children tumbling in and out, Ms. O’Brien, 36, seems an unlikely candidate to be food’s Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken Ms. O’Brien under her wing).

She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master’s degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a financial analyst.

Ms. O’Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then, about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The baby’s face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. “What did you spray on her?” she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a severe food allergy, and Ms. O’Brien’s journey had begun.

By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to identify children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even the little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she unveiled, strategically, on Mother’s Day in 2006.

The $30,000 Ms. O’Brien made from the products last year is incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the health of America’s children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up to her and parents everywhere to stop it.

Her theory — that the food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children — is not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy groups.

That only feeds Ms. O’Brien’s conviction that the influence of what she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a few dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese to Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds to H. Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener aspartame.

Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms. O’Brien has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the Internet for any hint about why their children have food allergies.

“You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my spirit ... and I thank YOU,” a father who had lost his teenage daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.

Ms. O’Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as much nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything genetically modified, artificially created or raised with hormones. Don’t eat food with ingredients you can’t pronounce.

Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up.

“It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story,” she said over lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. “These big food companies have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don’t want to hear that this has actually happened.”

But has it?

Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some believe.

Ms. O’Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out that such figures are drawn only from doctors’ notations on death certificates.

“It’s a soft number, and it might well be an understatement,” said Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric gastroenterology at the Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food allergies. But she doesn’t think food allergies are increasing dramatically.

Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to the popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming rates, Dr. Gleghorn said.

Many health professionals, though, agree that something is changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer micro-organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems.

“But this alone cannot account for the massive relative increase in food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma,” said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and immunology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the second-largest pediatric research facility in the country.

1

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Tips

To find reference information about the words used in this article, double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

Past Coverage

SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007) Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005) IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April 17, 2005) VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files (February 10, 2004)

Related Searches

Food Add Alert

Allergies Add Alert

Children and Youth Add Alert

Medicine and Health Add Alert

[Guest guest]

Its a shame that the general state of health in the country has gone

down the tubes. But don't worry, lets vaccinate away and we don't

need to do any long term studies to determine if vaccines are

responsible. Bloated face from an allergy, here have some Benadryl.

Seizures, here are a bunch of drugs. Allergies, here's Claritin.

Then they put these grotesque pharma ads on the TV all the time. Has

anyone looked at the commercials on TV lately? I don't see warm fuzzy

pictures anymore, I hardly see any babies and toddlers in diapers.

There used to be a lot of baby ads a few years ago, all those pull-

ups, and diapers, baby soaps. Did something happen to them or am I

suffering from selective perception problems?

Gayatri

>

> Hi from Sue,

> This was in the Sacramento Bee today.

> Hope you enjoy...the resources for

> tagging things, etc.

>

> Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action

>

> Moloney for The New York Times

> ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado,

advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods.

>

>

> a.. comments (241)

> b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This

> c.. Print

> d.. Single Page

> e.. Reprints

> f.. Share

> a.. Del.icio.us

> b.. Digg

> c.. Facebook

> d.. Newsvine

> e.. Permalink

>

>

>

> By KIM SEVERSON

> Published: January 9, 2008

> Lafayette, Colo.

>

> Skip to next paragraph

> Related

> Times Health Guide: Food Allergies

>

> Moloney for The New York Times

> IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in

Lafayette, Colo.

>

> Readers' Comments

> What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food

allergies?

> a.. Read All Comments (241) »

> ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started

checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.

>

> But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders

if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from

exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose

collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food

allergies.

>

> Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical

wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier

Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear

she designed.

>

> Her story is one of several in a new book, " Healthy Child, Healthy

World " (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors,

parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.

>

> Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young

children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely

candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken

Ms. O'Brien under her wing).

>

> She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch

at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed

Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master's

degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a

financial analyst.

>

> Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the

kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then,

about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The

baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. " What did you

spray on her? " she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a

severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun.

>

> By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to identify

children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop

sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even the

little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products

and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she

unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.

>

> The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is

incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining

room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of

childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the

health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up

to her and parents everywhere to stop it.

>

> Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with

additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing

increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children - is

not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy

groups.

>

> That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of what

she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a few

dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and

cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H.

Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener

aspartame.

>

> Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona

carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms. O'Brien

has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the Internet

for any hint about why their children have food allergies.

>

> " You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my

spirit ... and I thank YOU, " a father who had lost his teenage

daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.

>

> Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as much

nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything

genetically modified, artificially created or raised with hormones.

Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.

>

> Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children

started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor

attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up.

>

> " It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story, " she said over

lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. " These big food companies

have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and

they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to

hear that this has actually happened. "

>

> But has it?

>

> Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that

their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are

passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children

with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies

seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some

believe.

>

> Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable

studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to

8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions

tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older.

>

> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of

deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent year

for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out

that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death

certificates.

>

> " It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement, " said

Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for

Health Statistics.

>

> Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric

gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in

Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has

noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food

allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing

dramatically.

>

> Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true

allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to

inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to the

popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming rates,

Dr. Gleghorn said.

>

> Many health professionals, though, agree that something is

changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of

genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many

researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer micro-

organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems.

>

> " But this alone cannot account for the massive relative increase in

food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma, "

said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and immunology

at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-largest

pediatric research facility in the country.

>

> a.. 1

> b.. 2

> Next Page »

> Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »

> Donate to the Neediest Cases today!

> Tips

> To find reference information about the words used in this article,

double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with

a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

> Past Coverage

> a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find

Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007)

> b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005)

> c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April

17, 2005)

> d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files

(February 10, 2004)

> Related Searches

>

> a.. Food Add Alert

> b.. Allergies Add Alert

> c.. Children and Youth Add Alert

> d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert

>

[Guest guest]

I read a Newsweek article a month or so ago - said they are working on a peanut vaccine!  SO kids wouldn't have allergic reactions.  What a crock.NoraIts a shame that the general state of health in the country has gone down the tubes. But don't worry, lets vaccinate away and we don't need to do any long term studies to determine if vaccines are responsible. Bloated face from an allergy, here have some Benadryl. Seizures, here are a bunch of drugs. Allergies, here's Claritin. Then they put these grotesque pharma ads on the TV all the time. Has anyone looked at the commercials on TV lately? I don't see warm fuzzy pictures anymore, I hardly see any babies and toddlers in diapers. There used to be a lot of baby ads a few years ago, all those pull-ups, and diapers, baby soaps. Did something happen to them or am I suffering from selective perception problems?Gayatri>> Hi from Sue,> This was in the Sacramento Bee today.> Hope you enjoy...the resources for > tagging things, etc.> > Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action > > Moloney for The New York Times> ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado, advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods. > > > a.. comments (241) > b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This > c.. Print > d.. Single Page > e.. Reprints > f.. Share > a.. Del.icio.us> b.. Digg> c.. Facebook> d.. Newsvine> e.. Permalink> > > > By KIM SEVERSON> Published: January 9, 2008> Lafayette, Colo.> > Skip to next paragraph > Related> Times Health Guide: Food Allergies> > Moloney for The New York Times> IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in Lafayette, Colo. > > Readers' Comments> What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food allergies?> a.. Read All Comments (241) »> ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.> > But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food allergies. > > Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear she designed. > > Her story is one of several in a new book, "Healthy Child, Healthy World" (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors, parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.> > Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken Ms. O'Brien under her wing).> > She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master's degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a financial analyst.> > Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then, about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. "What did you spray on her?" she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun. > > By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to identify children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even the little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.> > The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up to her and parents everywhere to stop it. > > Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children - is not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy groups. > > That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of what she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a few dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H. Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener aspartame. > > Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms. O'Brien has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the Internet for any hint about why their children have food allergies. > > "You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my spirit ... and I thank YOU," a father who had lost his teenage daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.> > Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as much nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything genetically modified, artificially created or raised with hormones. Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.> > Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up. > > "It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story," she said over lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. "These big food companies have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to hear that this has actually happened."> > But has it? > > Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some believe.> > Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older. > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death certificates. > > "It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement," said Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for Health Statistics.> > Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing dramatically. > > Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to the popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming rates, Dr. Gleghorn said.> > Many health professionals, though, agree that something is changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer micro-organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems. > > "But this alone cannot account for the massive relative increase in food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma," said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-largest pediatric research facility in the country.> > a.. 1 > b.. 2 > Next Page »> Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »> Donate to the Neediest Cases today! > Tips> To find reference information about the words used in this article, double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry. > Past Coverage> a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007) > b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005) > c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April 17, 2005) > d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files (February 10, 2004)> Related Searches> > a.. Food Add Alert > b.. Allergies Add Alert > c.. Children and Youth Add Alert > d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert>

[Guest guest]

trade peanut allergy for autism? Then you only thought they had an allergy. Also coming out with a quit smoking and drinking vaccine. We'll be wonderful people won't we. Just leave it to the vaccines. God bless you and be with you and lead and guide you daily.

-------------- Original message --------------

I read a Newsweek article a month or so ago - said they are working on a peanut vaccine! SO kids wouldn't have allergic reactions. What a crock.

Nora

Its a shame that the general state of health in the country has gone down the tubes. But don't worry, lets vaccinate away and we don't need to do any long term studies to determine if vaccines are responsible. Bloated face from an allergy, here have some Benadryl. Seizures, here are a bunch of drugs. Allergies, here's Claritin. Then they put these grotesque pharma ads on the TV all the time. Has anyone looked at the commercials on TV lately? I don't see warm fuzzy pictures anymore, I hardly see any babies and toddlers in diapers. There used to be a lot of baby ads a few years ago, all those pull-ups, and diapers, baby

soaps. Did something happen to them or am I suffering from selective perception problems?Gayatri>> Hi from Sue,> This was in the Sacramento Bee today.> Hope you enjoy...the resources for > tagging things, etc.> > Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action > > Moloney for The New York Times> ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado, advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods. > > > a.. comments (241) > b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This > c.. Print > d.. Single Page > e.. Reprints > f.. Share > a.. Del.icio.us> b.. Digg> c.. Facebook> d.. Newsvine> e.. Permalink> > > > By KIM SEVERSON> Published: January 9, 2008> Lafayette, Colo.> > Skip to next paragraph > Related> Times Health Guide: Food Allergies> > Moloney for The New York Times> IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in Lafayette, Colo. > > Readers' Comments> What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food allergies?> a.. Read All Comments (241) »> ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.> > But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from exposing what she sees a

s a profit-driven global conspiracy whose collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food allergies. > > Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear she designed. > > Her story is one of several in a new book, "Healthy Child, Healthy World" (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors, parents and celebrities like

Meryl Streep.> > Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken Ms. O'Brien under her wing).> > She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master's degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a financial analyst.> > Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then, about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. "What did you spray on her?" she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun. > > By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to identify children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop sign with an exclamation point,

on lunch bags, stickers and even the little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.> > The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up to her and parents everywhere to

stop it. > > Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children - is not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy groups. > > That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of what she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a few dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and

BR>cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H. Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener aspartame. > > Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms. O'Brien has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the Internet for any hint about why their children have food allergies. > > "You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my spirit ... and I thank YOU," a father who had lost his teenage daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.> > Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as much nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything genetically modified, artificially created or raised with hormones. Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.> > Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up. > > "It was absolutely ter

rifying to unearth this story," she said over lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. "These big food companies have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to hear that this has actually happened."> > But has it? > > Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children with food allergies. But no on

e knows why the number of allergies seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some believe.> > Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older. > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death certificates. > > "It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement," said Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for Health Statistics.> > Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has noticed a recent increase in eczema, whi

ch can indicate food allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing dramatically. > > Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to the popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming rates, Dr. Gleghorn said.> > Many health professionals, though, agree that something is changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer micro-organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems. > > "But this alone cannot account for the massive relative increase in food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma," said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-largest pediatric research facility in the country.> > a.. 1 > b.. 2 > Next Page »> Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »> Donate to the Neediest Cases today! > Tips> To find reference information about the words used in this article, double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry. > Past Coverage> a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007) > b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005) > c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April 17, 2005) > d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files (February 10, 2004)> Related Searches> > a.. Food Add Alert > b.. Allergies Add Alert > c.. Children and Youth Add Alert > d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert>

[Guest guest]

Nora, I think this now has crossed the line and gone well into the

zone of insanity. Who is approving and authorizing this stuff anyway?

Someone must be saying - I need a peanut vaccine. Who is this person,

he needs to be commited alongwith the others who are following

through. Are they brainwashed or something?

This to me is unreal, and nobody least of all Newsweek seems to be

even remotely concerned. Now THAT is even more scary, that nobody is

even batting an eyelid in concern anymore.

Gayatri

> > >

> > > Hi from Sue,

> > > This was in the Sacramento Bee today.

> > > Hope you enjoy...the resources for

> > > tagging things, etc.

> > >

> > > Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action

> > >

> > > Moloney for The New York Times

> > > ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado,

> > advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods.

> > >

> > >

> > > a.. comments (241)

> > > b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This

> > > c.. Print

> > > d.. Single Page

> > > e.. Reprints

> > > f.. Share

> > > a.. Del.icio.us

> > > b.. Digg

> > > c.. Facebook

> > > d.. Newsvine

> > > e.. Permalink

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > By KIM SEVERSON

> > > Published: January 9, 2008

> > > Lafayette, Colo.

> > >

> > > Skip to next paragraph

> > > Related

> > > Times Health Guide: Food Allergies

> > >

> > > Moloney for The New York Times

> > > IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in

> > Lafayette, Colo.

> > >

> > > Readers' Comments

> > > What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food

> > allergies?

> > > a.. Read All Comments (241) »

> > > ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started

> > checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.

> > >

> > > But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she

wonders

> > if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her

from

> > exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose

> > collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food

> > allergies.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical

> > wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier

> > Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness

gear

> > she designed.

> > >

> > > Her story is one of several in a new book, " Healthy Child,

Healthy

> > World " (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors,

> > parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.

> > >

> > > Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four

young

> > children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely

> > candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken

> > Ms. O'Brien under her wing).

> > >

> > > She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where

lunch

> > at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed

> > Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a

master's

> > degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a

> > financial analyst.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when

the

> > kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then,

> > about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs.

The

> > baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. " What did you

> > spray on her? " she screamed at her other children. Little Tory

had a

> > severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun.

> > >

> > > By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to

identify

> > children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop

> > sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even

the

> > little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products

> > and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she

> > unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.

> > >

> > > The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is

> > incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining

> > room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of

> > childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the

> > health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is

up

> > to her and parents everywhere to stop it.

> > >

> > > Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with

> > additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing

> > increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children -

is

> > not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy

advocacy

> > groups.

> > >

> > > That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of

what

> > she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a

few

> > dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and

> > cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H.

> > Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener

> > aspartame.

> > >

> > > Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona

> > carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms.

O'Brien

> > has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the

Internet

> > for any hint about why their children have food allergies.

> > >

> > > " You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my

> > spirit ... and I thank YOU, " a father who had lost his teenage

> > daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as

much

> > nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything

> > genetically modified, artificially created or raised with

hormones.

> > Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.

> > >

> > > Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children

> > started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor

> > attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up.

> > >

> > > " It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story, " she said

over

> > lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. " These big food companies

> > have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and

> > they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to

> > hear that this has actually happened. "

> > >

> > > But has it?

> > >

> > > Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that

> > their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are

> > passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting

children

> > with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies

> > seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as

some

> > believe.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few

reliable

> > studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that

4 to

> > 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions

> > tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow

older.

> > >

> > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of

> > deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent

year

> > for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out

> > that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death

> > certificates.

> > >

> > > " It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement, "

said

> > Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for

> > Health Statistics.

> > >

> > > Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric

> > gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in

> > Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has

> > noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food

> > allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing

> > dramatically.

> > >

> > > Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true

> > allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to

> > inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to

the

> > popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming

rates,

> > Dr. Gleghorn said.

> > >

> > > Many health professionals, though, agree that something is

> > changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of

> > genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many

> > researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer

micro-

> > organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems.

> > >

> > > " But this alone cannot account for the massive relative

increase in

> > food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma, "

> > said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and

immunology

> > at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-

largest

> > pediatric research facility in the country.

> > >

> > > a.. 1

> > > b.. 2

> > > Next Page »

> > > Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »

> > > Donate to the Neediest Cases today!

> > > Tips

> > > To find reference information about the words used in this

article,

> > double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open

with

> > a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

> > > Past Coverage

> > > a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find

> > Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007)

> > > b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005)

> > > c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April

> > 17, 2005)

> > > d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files

> > (February 10, 2004)

> > > Related Searches

> > >

> > > a.. Food Add Alert

> > > b.. Allergies Add Alert

> > > c.. Children and Youth Add Alert

> > > d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

They're also working on vaccines to prevent smoking and alcoholism - no joke.

Dana

-----Original Message-----From: mb12 valtrex [mailto:mb12 valtrex ]On Behalf Of Gayatri RampalSent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 12:57 PMTo: mb12 valtrex Subject: Re: Check out www.AllergyKids.com

Nora, I think this now has crossed the line and gone well into the zone of insanity. Who is approving and authorizing this stuff anyway? Someone must be saying - I need a peanut vaccine. Who is this person, he needs to be commited alongwith the others who are following through. Are they brainwashed or something? This to me is unreal, and nobody least of all Newsweek seems to be even remotely concerned. Now THAT is even more scary, that nobody is even batting an eyelid in concern anymore. Gayatri> > >> > > Hi from Sue,> > > This was in the Sacramento Bee today.> > > Hope you enjoy...the resources for> > > tagging things, etc.> > >> > > Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action> > >> > > Moloney for The New York Times> > > ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado,> > advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods.> > >> > >> > > a.. comments (241)> > > b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This> > > c.. Print> > > d.. Single Page> > > e.. Reprints> > > f.. Share> > > a.. Del.icio.us> > > b.. Digg> > > c.. Facebook> > > d.. Newsvine> > > e.. Permalink> > >> > >> > >> > > By KIM SEVERSON> > > Published: January 9, 2008> > > Lafayette, Colo.> > >> > > Skip to next paragraph> > > Related> > > Times Health Guide: Food Allergies> > >> > > Moloney for The New York Times> > > IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in> > Lafayette, Colo.> > >> > > Readers' Comments> > > What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food> > allergies?> > > a.. Read All Comments (241) »> > > ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started> > checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.> > >> > > But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders> > if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from> > exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose> > collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food> > allergies.> > >> > > Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical> > wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier> > Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear> > she designed.> > >> > > Her story is one of several in a new book, "Healthy Child, Healthy> > World" (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors,> > parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.> > >> > > Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young> > children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely> > candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken> > Ms. O'Brien under her wing).> > >> > > She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch> > at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed> > Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master's> > degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a> > financial analyst.> > >> > > Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the> > kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then,> > about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The> > baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. "What did you> > spray on her?" she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a> > severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun.> > >> > > By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to identify> > children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop> > sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even the> > little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products> > and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she> > unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.> > >> > > The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is> > incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining> > room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of> > childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the> > health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up> > to her and parents everywhere to stop it.> > >> > > Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with> > additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing> > increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children - is> > not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy> > groups.> > >> > > That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of what> > she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a few> > dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and> > cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H.> > Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener> > aspartame.> > >> > > Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona> > carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms. O'Brien> > has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the Internet> > for any hint about why their children have food allergies.> > >> > > "You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my> > spirit ... and I thank YOU," a father who had lost his teenage> > daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.> > >> > > Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as much> > nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything> > genetically modified, artificially created or raised with hormones.> > Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.> > >> > > Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children> > started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor> > attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up.> > >> > > "It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story," she said over> > lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. "These big food companies> > have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and> > they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to> > hear that this has actually happened."> > >> > > But has it?> > >> > > Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that> > their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are> > passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children> > with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies> > seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some> > believe.> > >> > > Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable> > studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to> > 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions> > tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older.> > >> > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of> > deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent year> > for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out> > that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death> > certificates.> > >> > > "It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement," said> > Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for> > Health Statistics.> > >> > > Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric> > gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in> > Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has> > noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food> > allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing> > dramatically.> > >> > > Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true> > allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to> > inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to the> > popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming rates,> > Dr. Gleghorn said.> > >> > > Many health professionals, though, agree that something is> > changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of> > genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many> > researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer micro-> > organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems.> > >> > > "But this alone cannot account for the massive relative increase in> > food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma,"> > said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and immunology> > at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-largest> > pediatric research facility in the country.> > >> > > a.. 1> > > b.. 2> > > Next Page »> > > Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »> > > Donate to the Neediest Cases today!> > > Tips> > > To find reference information about the words used in this article,> > double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with> > a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.> > > Past Coverage> > > a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find> > Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007)> > > b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005)> > > c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April> > 17, 2005)> > > d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files> > (February 10, 2004)> > > Related Searches> > >> > > a.. Food Add Alert> > > b.. Allergies Add Alert> > > c.. Children and Youth Add Alert> > > d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert> > >> >> >> >>

[Guest guest]

Hugh Samson's office at Mt. Sinai is touting that vaccine in the article--what company is bankrolling their research is beyond me....People just did an article on EE as well this week....my 4YO was diagnosed with EE and later eodinophilic entercolitis....we've been to CHOP (that guy was a JERK!-- Developmental delays were not related to EE...but call Krigsman's office and about 1/3 of his kids are scoping with eosinophilic "disease"). We also went to Mt. Sinai...they don't believe in a sugar allergy or yeast and you all know the drill on IgG tests. Our diet at Mt. Sinai that was introduced after being on an elemental formular for 5 months: sweet potatoes, apples, pears, chicken, tomatoes, rice and corn---it was toxic and I heard about how I was breaking "protocal" Thank god we broke it...The big formula is Elecare...made from corn starch solids and it's GMO.

This shit really pisses me off...sorry to offend anyone. My kid would be a different kid today if I had bypassed CHOP, MT. Sinai, NYU.....

It is really sad, but the media isn't going to alienate the pharmaceutical companies due to the revenue they provide...and having lived in that sales world, one misstep and they chop your budget.

lisa

Re: Check out www.AllergyKids.com

Nora, I think this now has crossed the line and gone well into the

zone of insanity. Who is approving and authorizing this stuff anyway?

Someone must be saying - I need a peanut vaccine. Who is this person,

he needs to be commited alongwith the others who are following

through. Are they brainwashed or something?

This to me is unreal, and nobody least of all Newsweek seems to be

even remotely concerned. Now THAT is even more scary, that nobody is

even batting an eyelid in concern anymore.

Gayatri

> > >

> > > Hi from Sue,

> > > This was in the Sacramento Bee today.

> > > Hope you enjoy...the resources for

> > > tagging things, etc.

> > >

> > > Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action

> > >

> > > Moloney for The New York Times

> > > ON ALERT Robyn O'Brien, at home with her children in Colorado,

> > advises parents to throw out nonorganic processed foods.

> > >

> > >

> > > a.. comments (241)

> > > b.. Sign In to E-Mail or Save This

> > > c.. Print

> > > d.. Single Page

> > > e.. Reprints

> > > f.. Share

> > > a.. Del.icio.us

> > > b.. Digg

> > > c.. Facebook

> > > d.. Newsvine

> > > e.. Permalink

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > By KIM SEVERSON

> > > Published: January 9, 2008

> > > Lafayette, Colo.

> > >

> > > Skip to next paragraph

> > > Related

> > > Times Health Guide: Food Allergies

> > >

> > > Moloney for The New York Times

> > > IMPASSIONED Robyn O'Brien with her daughter Tory at home in

> > Lafayette, Colo.

> > >

> > > Readers' Comments

> > > What do you think is causing an increase in childhood food

> > allergies?

> > > a.. Read All Comments (241) »

> > > ROBYN O'BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn't started

> > checking the rearview mirror to see if she's being followed.

> > >

> > > But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she

wonders

> > if it's only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her

from

> > exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose

> > collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food

> > allergies.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical

> > wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier

> > Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness

gear

> > she designed.

> > >

> > > Her story is one of several in a new book, "Healthy Child,

Healthy

> > World" (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors,

> > parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.

> > >

> > > Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four

young

> > children tumbling in and out, Ms. O'Brien, 36, seems an unlikely

> > candidate to be food's Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken

> > Ms. O'Brien under her wing).

> > >

> > > She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where

lunch

> > at the country club frequented by and Barbara Bush followed

> > Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a

master's

> > degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a

> > financial analyst.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when

the

> > kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then,

> > about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs.

The

> > baby's face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. "What did you

> > spray on her?" she screamed at her other children. Little Tory

had a

> > severe food allergy, and Ms. O'Brien's journey had begun.

> > >

> > > By late that night, she had designed a universal symbol to

identify

> > children with food allergies. She now puts the icon, a green stop

> > sign with an exclamation point, on lunch bags, stickers and even

the

> > little charms children use to dress up their Crocs. These products

> > and others are sold on her Web site, AllergyKids.com, which she

> > unveiled, strategically, on Mother's Day in 2006.

> > >

> > > The $30,000 Ms. O'Brien made from the products last year is

> > incidental, she said. Working largely from a laptop on her dining

> > room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of

> > childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the

> > health of America's children. And, she profoundly believes, it is

up

> > to her and parents everywhere to stop it.

> > >

> > > Her theory - that the food supply is being manipulated with

> > additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing

> > increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children -

is

> > not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy

advocacy

> > groups.

> > >

> > > That only feeds Ms. O'Brien's conviction that the influence of

what

> > she sees as the profit-hungry food industry runs deep. In just a

few

> > dizzying steps, she can take you from a box of Kraft macaroni and

> > cheese to Monsanto's genetically modified seeds to H.

> > Rumsfeld, who once ran the company that created the sweetener

> > aspartame.

> > >

> > > Through creative use of e-mail, relentless inquiry and a persona

> > carefully crafted around the protective mother archetype, Ms.

O'Brien

> > has emerged as a populist hero among parents who troll the

Internet

> > for any hint about why their children have food allergies.

> > >

> > > "You have changed my life ... my diet ... my health ... my

> > spirit ... and I thank YOU," a father who had lost his teenage

> > daughter to anaphylactic shock told her by e-mail.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien encourages people to do what she did: throw out as

much

> > nonorganic processed food as you can afford to. Avoid anything

> > genetically modified, artificially created or raised with

hormones.

> > Don't eat food with ingredients you can't pronounce.

> > >

> > > Once she cleaned out her cupboards, she said, her four children

> > started behaving better. Their health problems, which her doctor

> > attributed to allergies to milk and other foods, cleared up.

> > >

> > > "It was absolutely terrifying to unearth this story," she said

over

> > lunch at a restaurant in Boulder, Colo. "These big food companies

> > have an intimate relationship with every household in America, and

> > they are making our children sick. I was rocked. You don't want to

> > hear that this has actually happened."

> > >

> > > But has it?

> > >

> > > Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that

> > their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are

> > passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting

children

> > with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies

> > seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as

some

> > believe.

> > >

> > > Ms. O'Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few

reliable

> > studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that

4 to

> > 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions

> > tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow

older.

> > >

> > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of

> > deaths linked to food allergies at 12 in 2004, the most recent

year

> > for which data are available. However, its statisticians point out

> > that such figures are drawn only from doctors' notations on death

> > certificates.

> > >

> > > "It's a soft number, and it might well be an understatement,"

said

> > Arialdi Miniño, a statistician at the agency's National Center for

> > Health Statistics.

> > >

> > > Dr. Gleghorn is the director of pediatric

> > gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital and Research Center in

> > Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has

> > noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food

> > allergies. But she doesn't think food allergies are increasing

> > dramatically.

> > >

> > > Often, a child might have intolerance to a food and not a true

> > allergy. But the Internet has afforded more ways for parents to

> > inform themselves and do their own diagnosing, which could add to

the

> > popular impression that food allergies are rising at alarming

rates,

> > Dr. Gleghorn said.

> > >

> > > Many health professionals, though, agree that something is

> > changing. Among the amalgam of theories that weigh the effects of

> > genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis intrigues many

> > researchers. It holds that children are being exposed to fewer

micro-

> > organisms and, as a result, have weaker immune systems.

> > >

> > > "But this alone cannot account for the massive relative

increase in

> > food allergy compared with other allergic disease such as asthma,"

> > said Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of allergy and

immunology

> > at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the second-

largest

> > pediatric research facility in the country.

> > >

> > > a.. 1

> > > b.. 2

> > > Next Page »

> > > Next Article in Dining & Wine (2 of 19) »

> > > Donate to the Neediest Cases today!

> > > Tips

> > > To find reference information about the words used in this

article,

> > double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open

with

> > a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

> > > Past Coverage

> > > a.. SMALL BUSINESS; Turning Kitchens Into Laboratories To Find

> > Treats for the Allergy-Prone (December 6, 2007)

> > > b.. Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute (May 3, 2005)

> > > c.. IN BUSINESS; Spring Stirs Appetites for Specialties (April

> > 17, 2005)

> > > d.. VITAL SIGNS: TREATMENTS; Flaws Found in Food Allergy Files

> > (February 10, 2004)

> > > Related Searches

> > >

> > > a.. Food Add Alert

> > > b.. Allergies Add Alert

> > > c.. Children and Youth Add Alert

> > > d.. Medicine and Health Add Alert

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>

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