ST. LOUIS — A recent viral video shows a Connecticut father throwing a smoothie and cursing at staff at a smoothie shop after his son had an allergic reaction to one of the drinks and had to go to the hospital.
One of our 5 On Your Side employees, Norm Cole, asked what parents should do if their kid has an allergy and they're dining out.
We took Norm's question to Mercy Pediatrician Dr. Diana Roukoz, whose daughter has a tree nut allergy.
She said parents should follow these important these life-saving steps:
- Strict avoidance: understand where your risks are
- Educate yourself: foodallergy.org
- Advocate for your child when you're out: be very clear with staff that this is a serious allergy and there cannot be any cross contamination.
- Know how to read ingredient labels
"You have to understand what words to look for, and if the label says 'may contain,' don't eat it because 30% of the time and up, it does contain, so it’s not worth that risk," Dr. Roukoz said.
Dr. Roukoz said 20% of kids have the potential to outgrow their peanut allergy.
You may have heard of "oral immune therapy," which involves giving small doses of the food allergen under supervised care in order to retrain the immune system.
A few years ago, the FDA approved the first treatment for OIT. The goal is desensitization to decrease your allergic reaction, lowering the chances of an anaphylactic reaction.
As always, with any new treatment, you should consult with your doctor.