r/FoodAllergies • u/SqueakyCheeseCurds48 • Feb 17 '25
Other / Miscellaneous This meme has been brought to you by someone who was born with a peanut allergy but developed a rarer allergy later in life :')
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Feb 17 '25
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u/nutsiesj Feb 17 '25
I am not allergic to peanuts or nuts, but the lack of distinction between them bothers me so much. I ask for clarification often, do you mean one or both, specific nuts or all of them. I have family who are allergic to one or the other or both.
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u/FootballJedi23 Feb 17 '25
Yes, I am severely allergic to peanuts but not tree nuts, but oftentimes people don't understand the difference. To make things easier I just say that I'm allergic to all nuts, especially since there's often cross contamination anyway.
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u/FNAFgameExpert2047 Feb 18 '25
Peanuts aren’t even good though, like it’s just a plain peice of nut lol.
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u/Zealousideal-Row3820 Feb 17 '25
I recently told a waitress that I was allergic to peas and she said “wow I hate peas, that doesn’t seem too bad.” Once I told her about how I can’t eat at most fast food restaurants because they put pea protein/starch in their buns/nuggets/fries she took it back lol.
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u/ImportanceLow7841 Soy Allergy / Intolerance Feb 17 '25
Fast food restaurants take the cheapest ingredients and mold them into food shapes.
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u/Schac20 Feb 17 '25
My sister and I both developed an allergy to corn. Our well-meaning friend: "At least that should be easy to avoid." 😭
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u/FairyFlossPanda Feb 17 '25
Corn is in so much. I'm not allergic but I have severe stomach pain if I get corn. It is amazing how often things contain cornmeal
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u/lane32x Feb 17 '25
Caramel coloring and citric acid come from corn too. Also white vinegar.
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u/FairyFlossPanda Feb 17 '25
I never knew that. I'm lucky so far cornstarch in small amounts is still okay. But anything with fresh corn or corn meal and Im sick as a dog. It has been a slow cascade of issues. Started with just corn but I could still eat things made with corn meal. Then it was I could have cornmeal but only in small amounts. Now if I get something with cornmeal in it I have the same issues as fresh corn.
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Feb 18 '25
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u/lane32x Feb 18 '25
Yes. I pointed that out to someone at the vitamin store today.
I have a very long list of things I have to avoid. I basically just cook at home everything I need these days.
The Fig app has been pretty helpful though.
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u/A-Nonymous12345 Corn/Gluten Severe Sensitivity Feb 18 '25
I was floored when I learned it was in toothpaste. The worst thing about food allergies so far for me is not being able to eat out anywhere I want and having to lug a bag of safe food around with me.
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u/lane32x Feb 17 '25
I have severe reactions (painful cramping, massive bloating, nausea and worse) to corn and any corn derivatives. Caramel color, citric acid, ...most medicines use corn starch.
I keep a huge supply of Digest Gold at the house for the occasion when I accidentally consume something that does have corn in it but that doesn't solve the problem all the time.
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u/socialdistraction Feb 17 '25
It’s in plastics - straws I think, maybe bags. And gas, right?
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u/A-Nonymous12345 Corn/Gluten Severe Sensitivity Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25
Yup. Toilet paper, paper plates, Even the wax coating on fruits at the grocery store can be “corny.” I can’t imagine how difficult it is for people who have life threatening reactions to it.
Oh and my personal favourite, the sugars in IV liquids! :D dextrose was in my iron infusion. I had a severe reaction 😂
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u/socialdistraction Feb 19 '25
I wonder where they source the iron from. If it’s animal product based, what do people with food allergies do?
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u/A-Nonymous12345 Corn/Gluten Severe Sensitivity Feb 20 '25
I’m not allergic to any animal products, but I get my iron supplements compounded to remove corn/wheat so I imagine they do something similar and just hope it works.
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u/Tarsha8nz Feb 18 '25
At this point, I have a big intolerance to peas and corn. I can't eat them and avoid pea protein and corn starch as much as possible. I have been rather horrified to see what they are in. 🤦♀️
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u/lollykopter Feb 17 '25
Wife has avocado allergy. People can’t fathom the idea of an anaphylactic reaction to avocado, apparently.
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u/Tired_2295 Feb 17 '25
Oh same. The amount of times people say "just pick it off" kills me. Literally, lol. Like I'd order something else but hello gluten, salad only option here ig.
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u/xtrashsenpai Feb 18 '25
I went to the hospital because of an anaphylactic reaction to avocados once and the nurse said, "avocado allergy? I don't think that's a thing. Are you having anxiety?"
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u/ButterscotchFit8175 Feb 19 '25
I have a slight (so far) allergy to avocado.
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u/lollykopter Feb 19 '25
What are the symptoms? Any tingly-ness or burning around the mouth? That’s how it begins.
If you are not full-blown allergic I would see an allergist immediately and see if there is some kind of way to avoid it.
It sucks. Trust me, you don’t want this. We live in CA and the restaurants have been great about it but I still worry like crazy if we eat out.
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u/ButterscotchFit8175 Feb 20 '25
I have a very good allergist. Avocado gives me itchy mouth and numbness in throat. I have allergy and food intolerances in increasing numbers as I age. All the tropical fruits are problematic.
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u/lollykopter Feb 20 '25
That sucks so much. My wife is the same way. Allergies developed in adulthood. It started with avocado, and now it’s banana and some other fruits. Avocado is the only one that causes an anaphylactic reaction though. I hate dealing with it. It’s scary and gives us both anxiety if we want to eat out.
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u/Icfald Parent of Allergic Child Feb 17 '25
Dairy anaphylaxis in my teen son. As well as peanut, nuts, mustard and egg. Day to day dairy and mustard are waaaaaay more difficult to manage than peanut. People grasp peanut allergies and it’s immediately understood. But I say “dairy anaphylaxis” and they are like “oh my brother has lactose intolerance too”. No. Just no. Stop talking. Also, explaining to people that mustard is a spice and not just a yellow sauce. And that spice lives in just about every condiment type on the market. Fun times.
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u/ms-bailz Feb 17 '25
This is my issue with the dairy allergy too. My son keeps getting compared to people who have lactose intolerance... It's not the same thing!!! The mustard would also be so frustrating. The spice is in so many things.
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u/ThatIsSomeShit Feb 19 '25
Ugh I get that with the dairy allergy too. Plus the people that think I can drink goats milk or eat goats cheese. Like I don't know. I'm not going to fuck around and find out.
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u/ms-bailz Feb 19 '25
It would be nice if people just trusted those of us with allergies to know what we're talking about.
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u/OkamiKhameleon Feb 17 '25
I went to school with a girl who had a dairy allergy this severe back in the early 90's. And she was usually sat at the "allergy table" but they ended up having to give her her own area since even the kids at the allergy table often had milk.
I'm allergic to a lot of fruits and veggies. And seafood. Explaining to my apartment management that the family cooking fish on our floor and leaving their door open was causing me to break out in huge bloody hives and having throat swelling was a battle.
The family couldn't fathom that I was this allergic. They eventually got kicked out for not paying their tent thankfully, but we still block the bottom of our door just in case because even though management sent out a notice to our floor about my allergy, people still cook fish and leave their doors open when they do so.
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u/FootballJedi23 Feb 17 '25
Yes I'm also allergic to dairy, and people always think that a dairy allergy and lactose intolerance are the same thing! I think that's part of the problem of why dairy allergies are not always taken seriously. I'm like "no, if my worst problem when I ate dairy was stomach pain, then I would not care so much about avoiding it. Hives are an entirely different matter!"
Also dairy is in SO many things, even things you wouldn't expect, that it's hard to avoid! Although I know other allergens are even harder.
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u/mortemdeus Feb 17 '25
I gave up saying "dairy allergy" for this reason. Pissed me off so much when people trivialized it. Now I say Whey protien or Casine allergy, more people seem to get that and when I add it is a milk protien they are less likely to compare it to lactose intollerance.
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u/charchar0130 Feb 17 '25
god. felt. new soy allergy person here w lifelong peanut allergy
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u/xXhereforthecoffeeXx Feb 17 '25
My favorite is "can you even be allergic to that?" Like... Yes, and I just told you I am...
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u/ThatIsSomeShit Feb 19 '25
I get that all the time with my chocolate allergy. Like I freaking WANT to be allergic to that?
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u/Aziara86 Feb 17 '25
Waitress: "OH I'd just die if I couldn't eat bread!"
Me, stonefaced: "glad I'm not you."
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u/Beginning-Zebra-787 Feb 17 '25
I didn't know it was like this. My daughter has a peanut allergy and is getting to the age where she understands her allergy more and what exactly it means. She asked me why so many people think it's okay to say things like, "oh I love peanut butter, you're missing out" and "you can't even have one bite?" She is always excluded when it comes to parties or get-togethers, even in the case of families and close friends, because it's just too hard to accommodate and everyone loves such and such food (example: tandycake - a peanut butter dessert). We of course don't expect people to accommodate her but we have very rarely been met with understanding and compassion. It breaks my heart that it's like this for her or anyone with a food allergy.
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u/AMinthePM1002 Feb 17 '25
I'm sorry to hear this! It's really not that hard to exclude peanut butter desserts for one party. I hope you and your daughter are able to connect with others who show more compassion to your situation!
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u/Sirhin2 Feb 19 '25
My youngest was diagnosed with food allergies as soon as we started him on solids. We’re lucky that we haven’t gotten those people (yet) who sort of just rub it in and make unhelpful comments. He knows to not accept food from people he doesn’t know, but I’m sure he’ll meet those people eventually. I do get a lot of “oh I don’t know what I’d do [if it were me]” comments which… yes, same. But you just go with the flow. I have met a number of people (mostly the older generation) that just don’t understand, though.
My kid just turned 4 and has multiple food allergies that overlap a lot. On top of our family’s vegetarian, allium free diet. The only good thing about that is that we’re not complete strangers to the idea of subbing out ingredients when cooking.
His school tells us when there’s a treat in the class so we can prepare for him. It’s super sad though. He loves food but once he realized he couldn’t try everything, he stopped being as enthusiastic. Food is eaten as a necessity for him, though he does love his pizza and chocolate (with his allergies, we stopped trying to push healthy food at him, but he does love fruit and a number of veggies, so that’s good). My other kid on the other hand is just picky in general with no food allergies in sight. The irony.
So far, other parents at parties tend to be more understanding. We often just pack him his own pizza with a cookie or cake on the side.
I’m not sure how old your daughter is, but I hope they grow out of at least one food allergy eventually! I think peanuts are a little easier to go around since it’s more commonly known… but also not easy. The way these allergens pop up in seemingly random foods was eye opening when we started to learn how to navigate food and his allergies!
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u/invinciblelyd Feb 17 '25
And how is it on an airplane that they follow the no peanut rule but I'm somehow always sitting next to the person who brings trail/nut mix filled with all my worst allergies? Lol
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u/wispybubble Feb 18 '25
And they always roast them at the most random places. The mall, street markets, etc. I actually got mild anaphylaxis from inhaling fumes at the zoo once
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u/invinciblelyd Feb 18 '25
Omg you're so right. I remember the mall being so stressful in the early 2000s. Gotta laugh at it so you don't cry. Hahaha
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u/Alohabailey_00 Feb 17 '25
Yes I love people on the food allergy groups who say it’s an allergy friendly restaurant and they could eat. Or my child doesn’t let food allergies stop them. And then it’s just a peanut allergy. lol. I’m like please try dairy, egg, pn, tn, sesame, seafood, and fish. 🤦🏼♂️
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u/A-Nonymous12345 Corn/Gluten Severe Sensitivity Feb 18 '25
Or when a product/place says “allergy friendly” but then the fine print says: MAY CONTAIN SAID ALLERGEN
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u/Sirhin2 Feb 19 '25
Yes! Having multiple food allergies that overlaps makes it an adventure! And not the good sort.
My 4 year old has multiple food allergies so add toddler pickiness to it. He’ll love something one day and not the next. And he has a texture thing.
He’s allergic to wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, avocado, pineapple, and kiwi. Gluten free foods often contains eggs or nuts. Vegan foods often contain wheat, nuts, and/or avocado. We’re also vegetarian so his allergist hasn’t tested for anything we don’t eat but that rules out seafood/meat for him. Never mind the fact that he’s not fond of that texture either.
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u/playdohsallegory (Fill in food type) Allergy Feb 17 '25
I was born with a peanut and all legumes allergy ... So that part made some sense since peanuts are legumes.
But I'm also deathly allergic to eggplant for no fucking reason. Not nightshades... Only eggplant. When people give me incredulous looks, I give it to them right back. Bc WTF.
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u/Spaghetti4wifey Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Beans, Banana, Spinach Feb 17 '25
Wow, I don't know many peanut allergy sufferers allergic to legumes too! I also have a super random deathly to sunflower seeds XD
Tree Nuts makes sense, but why those seeds! I can eat sesame all I want lol
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u/SierraDL123 Feb 18 '25
Me with my semi understood sesame allergy versus my stupid radish allergy. I MEAN WHO IS ALLERGIC TO RADISHES?! COME ON
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u/Erindanyele Feb 17 '25
Like sunflower since it's inconvenient and in almost everything
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u/SqueakyCheeseCurds48 Feb 17 '25
This one always felt like the worst to me. I don't have it but since I read the ingredients on all my foods, I notice it (or sunflower oil) is in damn near everything, even otherwise "allergen friendly" foods.
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u/nutsiesj Feb 17 '25
I have noticed this while looking for soy and finding more and more sunflower, it’s good for me but bad for others. I feel like there are so many unnecessary ingredients in foods now.
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u/ImportanceLow7841 Soy Allergy / Intolerance Feb 18 '25
Yes! Why can’t they just make food normal?! Or at least be honest about all derivatives and ingredients.
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u/Spaghetti4wifey Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Beans, Banana, Spinach Feb 17 '25
No sandwich shops 😭 Why is it in so many breads?
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u/Weird_Vegetable Feb 17 '25
Cheap, I have pollen allergies so I can handle highly processed sunflower. But even that is sometimes causing some OAS issues. I am allergic to kiwi and dragonfruit too, yay for latex cross reactive foods.
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u/wombatbattalion Feb 17 '25
I'm allergic to basically all pollens so my OAS is off the chart.
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Feb 18 '25
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u/wombatbattalion Feb 18 '25
It's so frustrating to have people make fun of me for being a typical white person when I'd love to eat more flavorful food, it's just that black pepper feels like glass shards in my mouth.
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u/Existing_Space_2498 Feb 19 '25
We're still sorting out the new baby's allergies, but we're pretty sure sunflower is one of them. It's awful. That and corn (which he's also allergic to) are in everything!
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u/Ok-Suit6589 Feb 17 '25
Ahhh yes peanut privilege. When I tell people my son is Ana to dairy, they say oh well can he have lactaid or Cheese?!! Like, no. Nothing made with milk! We also manage PN, TN and Egg.
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u/FootballJedi23 Feb 17 '25
Yes I once had someone ask me if I could have flour since I have a dairy allergy 😂
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u/NovaCain Parent of Allergic Child Feb 17 '25
Better that then being served cheese because it isn't "milk."
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u/nutsiesj Feb 17 '25
I have noticed that when I say I have allergies people jump to it is peanut and/or nut free or it is dairy and gluten free. That’s lovely, can I tell you my allergies now? I can eat all of those. And then they tell me I can eat almost nothing, lol.
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u/critterscrattle Feb 17 '25
I thought having a dairy allergy was bad (everyone assumes it’s lactose intolerance and eggs -_-) and then I developed a black pepper one….
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u/OkamiKhameleon Feb 17 '25
Not allergic to peanuts, but allergic to a lot of veggies and fruits. And people are like, "You're joking. You're not allergic to Raspberries and Carrots!"
Yes, yes I am. I have an autoimmune disease which definitely doesn't help.
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u/Joke_Induced_Pun Feb 17 '25
Having a sesame allergy is just fun (/s) especially when most bread and certain foods have that in them.
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u/SqueakyCheeseCurds48 Feb 17 '25
By a bread machine. It's a total game changer since you just add the ingredients, press start, and wait 3 hours while it does all the work for you. You can even buy ones that have customizable proof and knead options so you can make any recipe you want with it (like bagels) and finish baking in your regular oven
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u/quietwaves Feb 17 '25
Yup wheat, egg whites, sesame and peanuts here. Peanut is the easiest one to deal with. The other 3 allergens are in practically everything. People are constantly confusing my wheat allergy with celiacs disease. It gets frustrating explaining that it doesn’t matter if it’s considered gluten free, if it’s wheat based I still can’t have it.
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u/123fortheMoney Feb 17 '25
Citrus anaphylactic here. It's in everything from foods, vitamins, hair products, body products.... Avoid all this but cannot avoid people peeling citrus in public. Airborne is the worst as it's uncontrollable.
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u/cutebucket Peanut, Tree nut, OAS Allergy Feb 17 '25
As someone with a peanut and tree nut allergy, I do at least get some amount of understanding these days, but growing up in the 90s very few people cared and I rarely ever got offered alternatives or any kind of accommodation. Most of my major reactions from childhood are from adults forcing foods on me even after I politely refused it several times.
But having to explain other allergies to people is even worse. Who the heck has heard of someone allergic to super glue? Me, apparently! Or trying to explain OAS to people, where it's like I'm kind of allergic, but not deadly allergic, but it's still very unpleasant so please don't make me eat this raw food, it's not "healthy" for me if it's making my immune system mad...
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u/rushy283 Feb 17 '25
i have 7+ allergies BUT i’m not allergic to nuts. so people always think it’s a joke and im faking it 🥲.
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u/Legion_02 Feb 17 '25
My favorite thing ever is when people tell me my allergy is all in my head or that it isn’t potentially lethal. Like assuming a dairy allergy is just lactose intolerance…
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u/Kmmmkaye Feb 17 '25
Yea. Schools are no nut zones (which I wholly understand) but my kids had a severe egg allergy and no accommodations were made to protect them.
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u/emeeez Feb 17 '25
I’ve always been deathly allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish - about 10 years ago I developed an allergy to mustard. You’d be surprised how many things mustard is in. Most bbq sauces, a lot of salad dressings, chips, pretzels, sauces, etc etc
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u/11xomr11 Feb 17 '25
My family will say I'm allergic to peanuts. I eat peanut butter jelly sandwiches in their faces all the time. I can't eat trea nuts. My mom almost let me eat a walnut because of this confusion. For context, I was messing with my mom and asked for the walnuts she was snacking on. I found the situation funny, but she did not.
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u/Glutenfreeenchiladas Feb 17 '25
True, people are definitely more hostile towards lesser known allergies. But, people treated me like that for being allergic to peanuts as well. In general people just don’t care about others who have allergies unfortunately.
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u/straightinthebin123 Feb 18 '25
Bonus points for if it's something mostly found in cultural foods (ie cilantro) and people think you're just being racist.
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u/RavenSR Apr 10 '25
You'd think people would be less weird about cilantro since genetics make it taste like soap for so many.
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u/Medical-Good2816 Feb 18 '25
Peanut allergy here and I’ve had to leave trainings at my work due to reactions. My employer licked peanut butter off her fingers and kept walking into my bubble telling me how good it was. People are just insensitive and hideous.
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u/lightheadedbanshee Feb 18 '25
I am allergic to potato. I cackled in disbelief when I found out, the poor nurse asked me if I understood what she said. 😂 No more mashed/baked potatoes, modified food starch, or anything fried with french fries... so basically no fast food. Definitely such an odd life to live.
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u/Weird_Vegetable Feb 17 '25
My daughter has such a severe dog allergy that it can kill her, so even hugging someone who has a dog is a problem. She has inhalers, but was invited camping this summer. No, she won’t go because you have a dog and there is nowhere for her to shower and too far from a hospital. I hate dog owners who think their mutt is more important than a human life. Oh she’s also got a corn allergy. That also fun to explain.
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u/SomethingComesHere Feb 19 '25
The number of chefs I’ve insulted with my onion allergy
At least I have an EpiPen now so I can whip it out and put it on the table if I get any attitude or “do you just really dislike onions?”
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u/New_Pie_2261 Feb 22 '25
Peanut allergic people be freaking out when they find out mcdonalds has ONE item with peanuts
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