Imagine living with the constant fear that your child may unknowingly eat something that contains a given food, even just a trace of it, to which he is severely allergic. Within minutes the adverse reaction takes hold: the child’s throat swells, making it difficult to breathe. If emergency assistance is not delivered immediately, the situation can quickly become life-threatening. These angst-producing circumstances are becoming increasingly common. Nearly 6 million, or 8 percent of children, live with food allergies, according to the Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. And the numbers are rising. Between 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of peanut allergy among children appears to have tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Olga and Charles Paterakis know all too well the gut-wrenching fear induced by childhood food allergies. Their 15-year-old son Evan was born with six food allergies—to egg, dairy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts. He has outgrown some… Read More