New Food Allergy Study--Everyone Knows Someone Who's Food Allergic

Maybe you've seen the stories all over the news media about a new study showing that the rate of food allergies in children is around 8%.  You can read about it on CNN, Forbes, or at the funding source--the Food Allergy Initiative.  This is not particularly surprising to anyone who has spent time in a public school, where one, two or three kids in each classroom might have food allergies.  (In Casey's class, three children have potentially anaphylactic allergies.)

Add to this a recent study conducted in New York that showed that kids at an inner city allergy clinic with stubborn asthma or eczema had a 28% chance of having an undiagnosed food allergy.

What does this mean to most folks?  Well, it means that pretty much everyone knows someone who has a food allergy.  Probably at least a few people. 

And that is why I got started with all of this. 

I want every kid to be able to join in the party, even if that party is just getting together to study over at a friend's house.

If Welcoming Kitchen recipes help folks create meals that are safe for everyone (including those 8% of allergic kids), then I feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do.  Hopefully, they'll help make your kitchen a little sweeter, too.

Happy Cooking!
Kim and Megan