title: Living with food allergy: allergen avoidance.
abstract: The primary treatment of food allergy is to avoid the culprit foods. This is a complex undertaking that requires education about reading the labels of manufactured products, understanding how to avoid cross-contact with allergens during food preparation, and communicating effectively with persons who are providing allergen-safe meals including relatives and restaurant personnel. Successful avoidance also requires a knowledge of nuances such as appropriate cleaning practices, an understanding of the risks of ingestion compared to skin contact or inhalation, that exposure could occur through unanticipated means such as through sharing utensils or passionate kissing, and that food may be a component of substances that are not ingested such as cosmetics, bath products, vaccines and medications. The authors review the necessary tools of avoidance that physicians and medical practitioners can use to guide their patients through the complexities of food avoidance.
authors: Division of Allergy & Immunology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1198, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA. jennifer.kim@mssm.edu
authors: Jennifer S
authors: JS
authors: Kim
authors: Scott H
authors: SH
authors: Sicherer
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003296:Cooking; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000009:adverse effects; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005515:Food Labeling; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012147:Restaurants; D012307:Risk Factors; D014195:Travel; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D003358:Cosmetics; D014612:Vaccines