Food allergies are common around the world. With the main food allergy that people have being peanuts, and other common allergies including dairy, eggs, and shellfish.  But, there are also many unusual food allergies that people deal with on a daily basis. . .

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Personally, my allergies seem to be the weirdest of everybody I know. My allergies consist of all nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, and shellfish. These allergies are very stressful to deal with because of things like cross contamination, like not being able to try someone’s drink if they have eaten something that I am allergic to. It’s also difficult in situations like going to a restaurant and trying to figure out what I can eat and having to take extra time ordering. Having to talk to the chef or the manager about if they have an allergen menu or to see if they can accommodate allergies like mine is a common experience for me,sometimes if I can even eat at a particular restaurant. 

Many people need Epinephrine also known as Epi-Pens. Epi-Pens are auto-injectors that contain epinephrine. This medicine is used to treat severe allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is when someone comes in contact with something that they are severely allergic to, reactions tend to happen within 30 minutes to an hour. After going into Anaphylaxis shock and using your Epi-Pen you must go to the hospital after. During anaphylaxis shock, many people start to get hives, or their throat starts to swell up. 

In the National Institutes of Health about 1.1% of Americans or about 3 million Americans suffer from a peanut allergy. In an interview with Saugus senior, Mikayla Piantanida, she stated that she is allergic to peanuts. Mikayla’s peanut allergy is not deadly, but whenever she eats peanuts her throat and mouth get itchy and she gets hives all over her body. Mikayla does not need epi pens for this allergy since it is not a life threatening allergy.

Food allergies can be stressful because of having to worry about what somebody had or if I can share my drink or snack with them or even having to consider if they can touch me because of what they have eaten. Food allergies can affect many people that have a deadly food allergy to anything.