One bite of the wrong food can be fatal. More than 5 million Americans are allergic to various foods, according to the National Institutes of Health. Many more suffer from food intolerances. Even one bite of food can be a killer if it causes anaphylaxis, a reaction that makes breathing difficult. Fast treatment with a medicine called epinephrine can save lives.
Doctors often prescribe it in small, pre-filled syringes to people who are prone to such attacks.
Children usually outgrow allergies to milk, eggs, soybean products and wheat, but people rarely outgrow allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Not knowing can mean a trip to the hospital. Quick tip Pocket Gourmet's Palm OS software works as well with the Handspring Visor and Sony Clie hand-helds. The five-minute download uses 340K of memory. Users simply can go to their hand-helds and learn what's in the food before ordering or eating it.