Nuts Aren't Only in Your Food

I have heard about people that have dealt with nut allergies and I've certainly seen the signs in food establishments which warned those people that nuts are also present there.  I really didn't have an idea, however, of exactly how severe a nut allergy was until I saw it with my own eyes.  If this person would not have had a small autoinjector with them, they certainly would have died because moments after ingesting a little bit of cross contaminated food, they were having a difficulty breathing and were on their way to passing out.

After doing a little bit of research, I was surprised to find out that it was not only food that was the culprit whenever it came to nut allergies.  Yes, eating is the most common way that people with this type of allergic reaction come in contact with nuts but there are also several other ways that need to be kept in mind for people that are having a problem in this area.  This can make things rather complicated but it is something that you have to pay attention to or else you could end up with a reaction that you may not be able to overcome.

A good example of this are items that we may pick up secondhand.  It is not unusual for us to get things that are secondhand, whether they come from people that we know or perhaps people that we don't know.  Yard sales, eBay, flea markets and secondhand stores are all areas which we end up coming in contact with these items.  The fact of the matter is, we don't know who or what owned these items before us and how often nuts may have come into contact with it.  For example, secondhand children's toys could very well have been touched by children who loved peanut butter.  This can pose a severe risk for our children who are dealing with a strong peanut allergy.

If you have allergies such as this which are life-threatening, you need to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to avoid it.  Nuts tend to be everywhere and once you begin looking, you would be surprised with where you're going to find them.  Make sure that you take the time in order to know for yourself, you may just save your own life or the life of someone that you care about.