The blood test that Dr. Maccia performed confirmed Mrs. Pearse-LaMalfa's suspicions. Ian was allergic to wheat, nuts and eggs, as well as corn, peanuts, sesame, milk and soy. Until Ian was three, there was nothing he could eat from a supermarket except fruits, vegetables and rice cakes. Everything else he ate I made by hand. As Dr. Maccia explains, food allergies involve the body's immune system, which misinterprets a food as a harmful invader and releases histamine and other chemicals to protect the body.
Symptoms can include hives, vomiting, diarrhea and respiratory distress.
I encourage parents to read the ingredients on food labels. It's also important to know that a food can be listed under another name. For instance, milk can be listed as whey protein, lactalbumin or sodium caseinate. Although anyone can develop a food allergy, the risk increases about 40 percent if one parent has an allergy. If two parents are allergic, the risk increases to 65 percent.