The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Paradise Bakeryare warning consumers for the undeclared milk and egg in Paradise Bakery brand Apple Flip and various fruit pies (as described here).


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5128198



Voluntary recall was issued by the manufacturer Paradise Bakery.

All products bearing a Best Before date up to and including July 22, 2008 are affected by this alert.

These products have been distributed in Newfoundland.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

Consumption of these products may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction in persons with allergies to milk or egg proteins.

Read more from Canda News Centre

Have you seen the New York Times Health Guide on Allergies? The current Reporter's File focuses on the currently available allergy treatment options for hay fever or allergic rhinitis. If you're still exploring options to alleviate your allergy symptoms, have a look at the article and consult your allergist on which strategy is best suitable for you.

On the website is also a listing of clinical trials currently enlisting patients in studies designed to test the effectiveness of new drugs, procedures and medical devices against allergies and asthma. If you are eligible and would like to participate, they usually list the contact person at the corresponding ClinicalTrials.gov website.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone is enjoying the outdoor festivities, but are keeping precautions against possible allergic reactions not just from from food, but also to insect stings, pollens, and other outdoor allergies. Apparently, if you are allergic to certain types of pollen, you might also show allergies to the smoke coming from the grills, if the wood chips used are from the same plants whose pollens you are allergic to!

Mesquite, oak, cedar and hickory are types of wood used for this barbecuing - they are also trees that produce pollen that many people with seasonal allergies are allergic to. It appears that the allergen in this type of pollen is also contained within the wood of the tree; these allergens survive combustion and remain in smoke once the wood is burned.

If your are 18 to 55 years of age, non-smoker and are taking asthma medications and requiring bronchodilator medication for periodic symptom relief and/or to protect against exercise-induced asthma symptoms, McMaster University needs you in a study that aims to assess the role of dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation from fish oils in people with asthma.

Eligible participants will undergo:

• comprehensive assessment of asthma and assessment of the effects of your current therapy
• blood samples are required for cholesterol testing
• provided with dietary supplementation of omega-3 fatty acid capsules for two three-week periods
• requires four two-hour visits to the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health research clinic in Hamilton over a nine-week period.

Participants will receive remuneration for their time and participation. If you think you are eligible and would like to participate, contact John Brannan at 905-522-1155, ext. 33584 or e-mail at brannan@mcmaster.ca.

Whether keeping pet cats (or dogs) can trigger asthma and allergies in children or not has been long argued. For every research study showing that such pets increase the risks of children having asthma or allergies, there's probably another one saying it doesn't. No wonder, researchers are keeping at it, trying to find an answer once and for all.

A recent study indicates that it's genetics is probably what muddles up the issue. Apparently, individuals who have mutations in the FLG gene are more likely to develop eczema if there is a cat at home. According to their study, children with the mutation were twice as likely to develop eczema during their first year of life. Those with the mutation and a cat in their home from the time of their birth had a further increased risk of having eczema.

What these seems to indicate is that it is not the exposure to cats during infancy that causes the allergies. Rather, having cats at home just increased the chances of having allergies in individuals that are already genetically predisposed to have allergic reactions anyway. It also does not directly indicate that it is the cats themselves which are the culprits; it could also be other factors that are associated with having a cat at home. For all we know, it's the cat food or something else that's also present in households with pet cats!

Here's a snippet from an email I received from EnjoyLife:

Enjoy Life Foods, the country's leader in great-tasting allergy-friendly foods, will sponsor the Durham Bulls' sixth "Peanut Free Zone" game on Sunday, June 29, 2008 when Team USA faces the Chinese Taipei at 5 pm. Enjoy Life Foods will offer free Snickerdoodle cookies to all fans in the "zone", coupons, information on allergy-friendly eating, and product samples at exits.

"We're pleased to have Enjoy Life Foods join us with this special promotion to support a peanut-free zone at the June 29th game," says Jon Bishop, Assistant General Manager for the Durham Bulls. "The space we've dedicated will be completely peanut-free, and we're doing a clean sweep of the area in advance to prevent any cross contamination," he adds.

EnjoyLife offers allergy-friendly and gluten-free soft-baked cookies, snack bars, granolas, trail mixes, bagels, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. All Enjoy Life Foods products are free of the eight most common allergens, made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free facility, certified gluten-free (by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization), and are all-natural, trans fat-free and Kosher. Except for three products which contain honey, all are vegetarian.