Food allergy sufferers of the world, unite. It's hard enough t have to check the ingredients and menus of everything we eat to make sure it's safe, but we miss out on some truly delicious food tastes, right?

Well, have you ever looked for a cookbook that details delicious meals made for those with various food allergies? These are hard to find in many respects, although millions suffer from food allergies and must watch what they eat very intently.

Peanuts got you down? No eggs in the morning to get you going? If so, realize that there are plenty of alternatives, even if it does take more effort. Check out more info here.

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Severe food allergies can make it tricky to buy foods with processed ingredients, which is why the FDA requires labeling of foods that contain commonly allergenic foods like nuts. But more and more manufacturers are including "accidental-allergy" warnings on foods that formerly didn't carry labels. These accidental warnings may be tacked on when a food is processed in a plant that also processes other, more allergenic foods. But because there are no guidelines for this kind of labeling, consumers are getting confused, and often not heeding the warnings.

A recent survey found that when consumers read that a product may contain an allergenic ingredient, they avoided it about 88% of the time. But when the label contained an accidental-allergy warning, consumers were more likely to ignore the warning. Though the risk is small, a recent study found that about 7% of foods (and possibly more) contained traces of the foods they were warning against, just because they were processed in the same plant.

The FDA is asking for consumer input and may intervene before the end of the year. Until then, say allergy experts, if your allergy is severe, heed the warning, even if you've eaten the food before.

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Interleukin-12. Have you ever heard of it? Me neither, but it appears I should have been checking in the lost and found for my dose of this little molecule. I'm allergic to tree nuts and, if I accidentally encounter them, well... let's just say it isn't pretty. For people like me, certain foods trigger an immune response where the body treats the food as if it were a harmful substance. Nausea, hives, and swelling are among the potential symptoms.

Researchers have found mice that were bred to have peanut allergies were missing a certain molecule, Interleukin-12. This finding offers scientists a target for curing food allergies -- hope for those of us with food sensitivities or allergies. Currently, there's no treatment for food allergies -- you just manage the problem by avoiding the foods you're allergic to. This can be difficult in cases like peanut allergies (one in 70 kids is allergic to peanuts) where the ingredient can be found in surprising foods and the allergy can even be airborne.

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When you think "food allergy," what comes to mind? The biggest is of course anaphylactic shock, where the mouth and throat swell up and the person is in danger of suffocating or choking to death. This is often made light of on TV and in the movies (I'm thinking of the scene in "Hitch" right now, that was funny...) but it's really not a laughing matter. Besides that very obvious form of allergic reaction, though, what else do you look for?

Common food allergy symptoms include:

• Gastrointestinal distress, including but not limited to, abdominal cramps or pain, diarrhea, and nausea/vomiting.
• Skin issues like hives, rashes, or eczema.
• Sneezing or a runny nose.
• Shortness of breath.

The tricky part is that many of these symptoms can also indicate other issues like hayfever allergies or a flu virus. Paying attention to when and where the symptoms occur, and keeping track of what you eat, can help you see any patterns and see if a food allergy might be the problem.

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