I previously shared: In my opinion..Some food is Rotten a blog post about the newest series on Netflix called ROTTEN. The show discusses food production, imports/export history, falsification, trends and more. Each episode discusses a different food from chicken to honey to garlic...etc. I first heard of the series because ALLERGIC LIVING posted an article about one of the episodes.Previously I spoke about several facts..
(1) that although allergies (food-based or otherwise) have not been this common as recent years, this condition HAS been around more than most stubborn/ignorant people think - we may not have just always paid attention or had a medical name for it.
(2) that restaurant/food service owners & workers should KNOW what is in the food they are responsible for giving to their customers - and not copping out with shady cross contamination or ignoring FATAL allergy restrictions when customers inquire about ingredients.
Might I say.. just one more time.. If you cannot take the time to care for the people you are responsible for serving, if you cannot take the time to properly know what is in the food you are serving - and make sure your staff do also.. YOU DO NOT DESERVE NOR SHOULD YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE ANY TYPE OF FOOD SERVING ESTABLISHMENT!
Another point I wanted to talk about in my 'part two' is the concept proposed at the later end of the episode.. (which I think is horrific IF you have FATAL allergies).. oral immunotherapy (OIT).
"The idea of oral immunotherapy (OIT) – introducing food early to retrain the allergic individual’s immune system – is explained so briefly and uncritically that I fear it leads to less than more understanding. 'Just eat the food' is the message that resonates, but the process is still in clinical trials, comes with side effects and isn’t for everyone." - Gwen Smith, ALLERGIC LIVING journalist/authorBecause of the fact that my allergies to ALL NUTS (peanut and tree nut) are FATAL I think this idea is not only horrific but completely idiotic. I personally would never put my own life at risk like that. To eat 0.025 of a cashew or a pine nut every other week and slowly up the amount just to experiment with my life that there might be a 50/50 chance I may be able to eat nuts one day!? There is more of a risk one day you will end up dead.
BUT this is not me saying for people who have more minor allergies that it is not a fair idea and possibility for them. I am only saying for people with FATAL allergies that your life should not be so easily put at risk like that. Gwen Smith in her ALLERGIC LIVING article makes it clear also.. little is explained in the episode about this research & procedure that is it basically like giving fuel to all the people who so ignorantly tell you "oh come on just eat it, you'll eventually be fine."
Although I'm sure they had only neutral intentions with the episode, Gwen also points out "There’s too much of one bad guy and an extremely condensed explanation of where we’re headed with food allergy therapies - the other five episodes take aim at the production of individual foods: honey, chicken, garlic, milk and cod." Not the slander or massive decline due to blaming any type of allergy or ailment. Considering how often I still get turned down when ordering or hoping to purchase food, with seeing (or reading a POSSIBLE MAY CONTAIN LABEL) peanuts/tree nuts in food & restaurants, I personally do not think the decline is as drastic as it seems, then again it was only one farm's perspective in one State.
All in all what I took away from this episode is... (1) Allergies are real - GET OVER IT (2) Allergies are real- BE CONSIDERATE AND DEAL WITH THEM (3) treatment is NOT always a safe option (4) Food service owners/workers NEED to take responsibility and (5) PLEASE REMEMBER THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PEANUTS AND TREE NUTS!
And please comment if you'd like me to discuss my opinion on the other episodes, or any other allergy trend/topics right now.
