The Wall Street Journal has a poll that says 1 in 5 US households have a member with a food allergy and that 1 in 3 of those households say the allergy is serious. A third of those with serious food allergies say they’ve experienced allergic reaction because they weren’t informed about an ingredient in a restaurant. One third also said they’d experienced reactions because of incorrectly labeled foods.

That seems lame. Is it time for more accurate and easy to find labels on food? From the WSJ:

The National Institutes of Health has called food allergies an emerging public health problem in the U.S. due to a rising incidence of serious allergic reactions to food products. The agency says about 30,000 individuals require emergency-room treatment each year as a result of food allergies, and in 2004, Congress passed a law that requires food labels to identify the food source of all major food allergens.

People with food allergies, what do you think?

Serious Food Allergies Indicate Need for Greater Precautions [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:Maulleigh)

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