Going nuts (Saturated Market)

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Going nuts

Let's get personal for a moment here. I'd like to make a confession to everyone, let you in on a big part of my life:

I have a nut allergy.

MAN it feels good to get that out in the open.

But seriously, I want to take a minute to speak to you as an allergy dude, to speak to all my brothers and sisters out there, and to maybe get the ear of all you "can eat whatever I want"ers. You know who you are.

I'm not sure if everyone out there feels this way, but I am actually often embarrassed to admit my allergy for the first time. Because I know that while most people "get it", and the number of allergies is growing (which is kinda bizarre, actually), there are some people who are, for lack of a more moderate word, intolerant.

Bear with me.

You know the type. They're the ones that gripe because they can't send their kid to school with peanut butter. They're the ones who tell you it's actually psychosomatic and that you should just get over it*.

I also get a little annoyed at the people who, every single time, ask why I'm not having any cake. I know they mean well, but I'm getting ever closer to digging out the button I had as a kid: "STOP! Don't feed me! I'm special!"**

For those who don't have a life threatening allergy, let me use analogy to enlighten you. I want you to imaging living in a world where there is rat poison sold amidst all the food. Sometimes it's clearly labelled, but sometimes you're not sure if you're buying a poison soufflé. So you're a bit more cautious, and you learn to live with it. In fact, most times you barely notice it because you've lived with it for so long. But that doesn't change the fact that not paying attention could get you killed, and every once in a while, you are reminded of that. Now this isn't to say I go through my life either in constant fear or with an adrenaline high***, but it does mean that I'm tired of having to avoid certain things or maybe feel a pang of worry when I take what seems like an insignificant chance.

This brings me to my actual point amidst all the whining. Given that allergy sufferers are a growing demographic, there's more of us now than ever. And if the rest are like me, they would jump at the chance to snag some consumables that are guaranteed nut free. I like that a lot of companies have jumped on this opportunity with giant green dollar signs in their eyes, but I'd like to see MORE of them. Opening up new avenues of chocolate bars is entirely welcome, but I want to see the same in cereal. I want to see it in BREAD (seriously; I'm tired of grocery stores baking sections giving the same tired "We cannot guarantee that these products have not come into contact with blah de blah blah" and not trying a new approach). I would eat at an allergy-friendly restaurant (gluten or non-gluten?). I would shop at an allergy conscious grocery store. I'm even willing to venture that I'd even be willing to pay a slight premium for a nut-free brand; though I'd completely gripe about it (actually, last I checked, Loblaw's' "no-name" brand discount products have a terrific track record in this department).

I know there are products following this trend. I'm certain restaurants and stores exist to cater to this. Hell, we got peanut oil taken out of most of the deep fryers, there's been plenty of progress. But I think there could be more. And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.

Until next time,

* - Allergies are not psychosomatic. The last (and only) time I had a reaction, it was the symptoms that led me to realize I had eaten something with nuts in it. And for the record, it was at my parents' house, to drive home the point that you can't always make assumptions.
** - This is a real pin. It has a picture of a stop sign on it. Clearly I wasn't dorky enough as a child with my big square early 90's glasses and my fanny pack for carrying my epipens in, I needed a big pin telling everyone I'm "special". I think this explains a lot.
*** - Somewhere I saw a webcomic that made the claim that a friend of the artist had an allergy to grapes, so he imagined that whenever his friend ate fruit salad he must have felt like Batman. I wouldn't go that far, but it's such a badass idea I think I WILL go that far. Also, if anyone knows what comic I'm talking about, let me know, because I can't think of it for the life of me.