Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Frito Lay has issued a recall on some of their Pretzel products. Find out more at the link below:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/r ... cid=AARDHP

Food allergies are something to take seriously. But unfortunately, with so many people confusing sensitivities with allergies (especially to gluten - gluten is an issue only if you have celiac disease, which affects < 1% of the population, but gluten is currently one of the boogeymen of food marketing/health gurus and many people claim a sensitivity with a tenuous basis in science...sorry, digression) some food establishments/companies are not taking real allergies as seriously as they should. Real food allergies can be life-threatening, with even minor exposures triggering anaphylactic shock in sufferers, which can kill without immediate treatment with an epi-pen and even then, can still at least cause an unpleasant hospital visit.

Not to say sensitivity and intolerance aren't real, they most certainly are. But they are not the same as an actual allergy and are usually a lot easier to work with or avoid. If you're in a restaurant and say the word "allergy", the kitchen has to go through an extremely specific, very careful, time-consuming, costly and difficult procedure to avoid cross-contamination. If it's a sensitivity or intolerance, it's a lot easier to avoid the food in question. In my own case, I have a sensitivity to raw onions, which I probably inherited from my dad. But all I have to do is not eat raw onions. I can request a dish that has raw onions remove them, or ask the onions be cooked, or just pick them out myself (to my boyfriend's delight, as he gets them instead). But cross-contamination is not a worry for that sensitivity. Because it's not a true allergy.

I don't know if manufacturers of packaged food have the same regulations as restaurants do when dealing with these kinds of allergens, but if not, they probably should. But unfortunately, health inspections are something we've decided to fund less. I'm not surprised to be hearing about more recalls for microbial contamination and I would not be surprised if allergen contamination is also a cause of our collective decision that health inspections aren't all that important.

/end rant