Eat, cook safely to avoid the 'nasty nine' food allergies

Yikes! Don't Eat THAT! Welcome to Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 9-15. Usually I write about celiac disease, which affects more than 2 million people in our country alone. Celiac disease is a digestive disease which destroys the nutrient-absorbing capabilities of the small intestine and is a "permanent adverse reaction to gluten," a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. The disease is managed by elimination of gluten from the diet for life, which is a real pain in the neck, as you can imagine.