Friday, July 1, 2011

Food Allergy Increases Only in U.S.

Why is the U.S. the only one?

I have wondered about this ever since we came home with the diagnosis.  Why is the U.S. the only country on this planet with rising food allergies?  Doctors all across the country are now facing a new trend in food allergies… and this trend is increasing at an alarming rate.
Diet playing a part in any disease or condition is fair game, but why are we only seeing food allergy rise in the U.S?  Could it be the U.S. food supply?  Or is it the way we now handle and mass produce food?  I have also taken the “processed foods” into account, but I have dismissed this connection.
When talking about “processed foods”, yes they are horrible for you, but we are seeing infants with diagnosis, and they are not being feed those types of foods at those ages.  These little ones are usually getting the very purest of foods, like rice or oat cereal, and pure fruit and veggies.
So could it be the way those “pure” foods are grown?  I have thought and thought about the connection between Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Foods and the increase in food allergy diagnosis.
FACT:
·         The U.S. is the only country on the planet to mainstream GMO foods
·         The consumer does not have to be told (by label) if the food is sourced from GMO
·         Currently GMO foods are NOT labeled and the FDA is perfectly OK with that
·         Some research suggests that the average U.S. diet has up to 40% GMO sourced foods, if not more
Now, first of all I am not a scientist, but I would like to assume that when you mess with the proteins in DNA, to make a stronger corn, a hardier wheat… perhaps you are making the proteins stronger for human consumption.  After all, a food allergy, like all allergies, is an allergy to protein. 
Is there a connection between GMO and the rise in food allergies?  Food for thought... literally!