Allergens: A Potential Kiss of Death

There are a host of sources geared for consumers who are allergy sufferers. For example, FAAN actually has a Web site, www.fanteen.org that provides advice for teens and food allergies, while Living Without, a quarterly consumer magazine, provides lifestyle guidance for people with allergies and food sensitivities.

“Part of what’s changing is people are reading labels,” Ritter says. “They want to know what’s in there. They want to know what’s in their food.”

Insidious Immunological Incidents

But the issues surrounding allergens get even more insidious.

The allergen issue, Ritter points out, is also mired in controversy, most notably when it comes to autism and pediatric vaccinations. It is believed that thimerosol, which is comprised of nearly 50 percent mercury and is added to vaccinations to inhibit bacterial growth, causes not only allergies in children, but autism as well.

“The mercury has toxicological property and mercury loves neurological tissue. It goes through every part of your body, but it specifically likes the neurological tissue and the mercury stunts it,” Ritter explains. “With food allergies, the immune system is stimulated and one of the side effects of the mercury is gut-permeability. It inhibits certain enzymes from breaking down proteins.”

Moreover, mercury is a deadly toxin that has been linked through numerous and repetitive scientific studies to a vast array of diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and autism/attention deficit disorder in children as well as increased aggression/violence in young adults, according to www.mercuryfreehealth.org, a resource on the health hazards of mercury exposure from silver fillings and thimerosol preservative in vaccines. Emblazoned on the site’s thimerosol page is a quote from Baton Rouge, La.-based family practitioner Dr. Stephanie Cave, who has testified on the dangers mercury in vaccines before the House Committee on Government Reform. It reads: “By age two, American children have received 237 micrograms of mercury through vaccines alone, which far exceeds current EPA safe levels of .1 mcg/kg per day. That’s one-tenth of a microgram, not one microgram.”

U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Mass., continue to demand a reexamination to determine if there is a link between mercury in vaccines and autism. Weldon, along with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, R-N.Y, have also reintroduced legislation that would eliminate mercury from vaccines.

“From a broader perspective, we’re dealing with not just anaphylaxis, we’re dealing with autism, bloated bellies and these kids who are not healthy,” Ritter adds.

Ritter is rather impassioned about allergens and autism and the issues surrounding the dilemmas each present, saying he is disappointed that federal regulators make no effort to surveil and weed out allergens. His fervor stems from regular contact with not only parents of children with allergies, but also parents of autistic children, who purchase gluten tests kits from ELISA Technologies.

“I talked to a mother of an autistic child a few years ago and she really opened my eyes,” he says. “She got hooked up with some doctors…and they told her if she got the gluten out of the kid’s diet and, his behavior would get better. It worked. At the age of 7, she had her first conversation with him. When she said that, something happened to me.” Time after time, Ritter has heard that if such proteins as lactose and gluten are removed from an autistic child’s diet, their behavior improves.

The Next Step in QA Testing?

Food companies and processors alike can take steps to minimize allergen threats to consumers.

The HAVen Gluten Flow Through Test from Hallmark Analytical, which is distributed by ELISA, allows non-technical users to detect the presence of gluten in food and raw materials, in surface swabs, in partially-processed foods and finished products. It is sensitive enough to confirm gluten levels in a wide range of food commodities and products that are within the Codex guidelines. The test can also help validate and verify gluten levels in raw materials prior to their use in manufacturing; the effectiveness of gluten-free manufacturing processes and clean-down routines; and the gluten-free status of finished products.