In society today, food allergies affect everyone, from those who have allergies to those who do not. The diet restrictions of those affected by allergies is not only mocked but, also copied which make these allergies seem less severe. Those who fake having allergies, also called allergy fakers, try to demean every allergy by creating a new fad diet about it, and in turn make these dietary restrictions become a joke to the public. The lack of recognition for allergies needs to be discussed on a more serious level when considering how much allergies affect everyone. The public needs to see how they are affecting people on a personal level and how the allergies affect the bodies and minds of those who need to cut certain things from their diet. Not enough people realize the effect they can have on a person who is already struggling with what they can and cannot do. The public must be brought to a realization of the severity of allergies.

When people do not have complete understanding of what allergies are and what they can do, they demean them. People in modern times use the word ‘allergy’ to, “wrap their food dislikes in the packaging of allergy and disease,” in many cases it is seen where people “don’t eat garlic because [they] detest it,” or “avoid cauliflower because it makes [them] fart,” (Swidney). But they do not realize “how much trouble [they cause],” for those who suffer on a day to day basis (Swidney). The people who suffer are not the ones who “fart” from eating something, nor are they the ones who do not like the taste of another food. The real sufferers are the part of the population that cannot eat certain foods because their “immune system overreacts to a food or a substance in a food, identifying it as a danger and triggering a protective response,” (Food Allergy). The disregard for allergies is not just done by people who do not like certain foods. 

The amount of people who do not understand what harm they can cause to those with dietary restrictions is too high. The public opinions on allergies have been described through various ways, ranging in platforms from social media, to politicians. Ted Cruz, a presidential candidate in the year 2016, had his own opinion on one type of allergy, or disease, called Celiac Disease. This disease is “a digestive condition that is potentially serious if not diagnosed or treated,” and the trigger of this disease is gluten, which is a protein found in grains, (Food Allergy). Ted Cruz used his political platform to take a stance on this disease, by “[pledging] to not provide gluten-free meals to the military if elected president,” (Bratskeir). Cruz was trying to appeal to those in the military, and he claimed that he would “wipe out cases of ‘political correctness,’” (Bratskeir). When Cruz made these statements, and promises for his campaign it made the people who have Celiac Disease look as if it was unimportant. Not only did this make Celiac Disease look insignificant, it did not help that “going gluten-free [was] the latest diet trend,” (Metcalf). The trend, which may have benefits for people who are gluten-free but not by choice, creates a lack of honesty in people. You cannot tell who has Celiac Disease, or who could just be gluten intolerant, or people who just want to try the diet to lose weight. When people go out to eat they use the excuse “I’m allergic to…” but there is no way to truly know if people are allergic to something or not when working at a restaurant. Although “restaurants have woken up to the need to cater for allergy sufferers, attitudes towards allergies have soured,” (Dunn) due to people who falsify what they can and cannot eat. Many people have seen that the gluten-free diet has become more popular and decided that this fad diet was something worth making fun of.

Social Media has created the “meme,” which is a picture with words that is a comical representation of a graphic. Memes are used to make things that have great significance seem small and unimportant. In one instance the meme in Figure 1 is showing how a child looks to be challenging someone and making it seem like the “allergies” they talk about are not significant. The meme creates a negative connotation of allergies and continues to challenge something that is truly severe. When people with dietary restrictions are at restaurants they must be extremely careful and that is, something Figure 2 and Figure 7 make fun of. In these two pictures, they both describe how not mentioning allergies to a server could be potentially fatal or how people with food allergies ask many questions about the menu before ordering. In Figure 3 it shows a man and the caption says, “allergic to gluten, but only since it became a thing” and that shows a man who is an allergy faker, trying to say he is allergic to something because it is trendy. The examples of these figures show how modern society mocks and ridicules people who must eat a certain way because of allergies. The society needs to be shown what harm is done to people affected by allergies. The lack of sympathy or even respect towards people who do not eat the same as everyone else is something that must be discussed in the world.

There are many different types of food allergies, and depending on what allergy; there are multiple ways a person can react, including physical and mental responses. Food allergies have many different reactions; they “can vary from person to person” (Food Allergy) and can affect almost every part of the body, both inside and out. This includes the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and cardiovascular system (Food Allergy). While the reactions vary, many of the main foods that can cause them are just “eight types of food” that “account for about 90 percent of all reactions,” (Food Allergy). These foods are, “Eggs, Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Wheat, [and] Soy.” The ways the foods mentioned affect the body are unique to each part of the body that reacts. Some symptoms include: Vomiting and/ or stomach cramps, which is a symptom of the gastrointestinal tract being affected, hives and pale or blue coloring of the skin are symptoms shown by the skin, weak pulse which is a symptom of the cardiovascular system, and Anaphylaxis, which is a symptom of the respiratory tract (Food Allergy). The symptoms vary in severity, but all need to be treated equally as serious. For instance, some of the reactions, like Anaphylaxis, can result to hospitalization, or even death, if not treated seriously. When looking at how serious the symptoms and the effects that certain foods can have on the body, people should realize how serious and dangerous these food items can be to those who are allergic. Although the physical reactions are the most serious of reactions, the physical body of a person is not the only thing that is affected by allergies. People can also have emotional and mental problems that are caused by food allergies.

These mental and emotional problems are due to many attributes. One source of anxiety due to the prevalent issue of bullying of kids that have dietary limitations. According to a “study [done] by doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center,” of the children who were sufferers of food allergies, “35% experienced bullying, teasing, or harassment,” (Education). The number of students who have been bullied in school due to their allergies worries many parents and guardians of those children. In Figure 4, it says “have a sip, this water is gluten free,” which is a way of mocking that may be common with people who have allergies, when they ask if something is free of what they are allergic too often, it can be mocked by their peers. With proper education given to adolescents about allergies, they would not think to first make fun of someone for being different, they would grow up knowing how serious allergies are.

Another source of anxiety is the stressors induced by the constant need to watch what one is eating dealt with by people who have restrictions. The “considerable time to manage” what one can and cannot eat, “and constant vigilance,” on “both the food-allergic individual and his or her caregiver,” (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis) is an extremely stressful task that must be added onto the everyday life of those with the dietary restrictions. The care people must give to their everyday diets when they struggle with allergies is enough to make a “normal” person lose their mind. The stress and anxiety of allergies is hard enough on children and adults, but when one adds in the number of people out there who do not care and who do not notice the struggles of those who have allergies, it makes the battle even worse.

 People often think that those with allergies are the only ones being affected, but that is false. Any person who knows someone who has allergies is affected by association. When looking specifically at a family, “food allergies affect everyone in the family,” (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis) not just the person with allergies. When a child goes through something, the family does, especially when that “something” is as impactful as a new diet. The parents of kids with allergies are constantly put to the test by what they can do for their child. These parents have it tough, just like their children, “[they] sometimes experience elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and worry, and sometimes report lower quality of life,” (Herbert). Parents must take care of all their child’s dietary needs. That task is something that can be quite challenging because children with food allergies must have their food prepared a certain way, 60% of parents surveyed “reported that food allergies significantly affected meal preparation,” (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis). A change in a family diet can be quite expensive to deal with as well, which adds to the everyday stressors. When a family has someone in it who has dietary restrictions the anxiety and worry the parents or caretakers feel towards what will happen to their child when they are not with them is enough to “significantly [affect] their social activities,” (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis). Parents worry about their kids all the time, but when their child has food allergies they worry about everything, especially when they are not with them to keep a watch on what they eat. When their child goes off on their own they are the ones who look out for themselves, but they may not be a vigilant as their mother or father. With allergies as severe as peanut allergies, one child’s “parents worried about unseen peanut slivers,” which could possibly be undetectable, “making their way into snacks at a friend’s house,” (Beil). The way parents feel “constant fear when [their] child is in someone else’s care,” shows how severe allergies are and vital it is to understand the effect they can have on a person’s body (Beil). Some people may not understand as well as the parents of someone with allergies, or the person themselves. In Figure 5, a man is explaining that he cannot just have one bite, he will have a reaction. 

The effect allergies have on family members of those with specific dietary restrictions can be understood, but the way people without allergies can be affected is in a different way completely. The way allergies affect those indirectly can seem insignificant but, when other kids learn about one child’s special need for dietary specialty for instance, “[they] don’t get it. They think they’re being funny,” (Becker) when they make fun of another child or threaten them with the foods they must stay away from. Sonia Hunt said in a TedTalk she gave that “[she spent] a lifetime of being the weirdo, being bullied, and being called the nutty girl,” all by kids she went to school with that learned she was different from them and she had food allergie (Hunt). The lives of adolescents with restrictions are “different from their peers,” which causes them to be targeted because they are not seen as normal kids (Becker). Children at schools are not the ones who will not understand a person’s dietary needs, “teachers or school staff were [also] perpetrators,” (Beil). Of the kids who were surveyed, 21% of kids with allergies “were bullied by a teacher or other school staff,” (Education). Sonia Hunt says that “At that young age [elementary school] kids can be cruel,” and when they make fun of people with restrictions it can cause confusion, which “[makes] no sense,” in the mind of young children why they are different and why they are treated the way they are (Hunt). No child or adult should have to go through shaming that comes along with being allergic to something and should not have to be afraid of what they are eating when around people who do not believe in what they are allergic to.

The way to solve the social issues presented by having allergies is, there must be a way to educate people on what they must do to better the lives of those, with allergies, around them. Putting a stop to the bullying and the worrying will be the result to the education given. The everyday person goes without worry when arriving to a restaurant that they did not pick out. They do not have to look ahead at menus from certain restaurants to see if they have options for people who cannot eat gluten, or peanuts. They do not have to worry about how their food is prepared in the back, if it has been cross contaminated or touched something that would make them have a reaction. But when a person must go from not having to worry about a single thing they eat, to looking over every label at the grocery store and asking a large amount of questions about the menu at the restaurant, it will offer an education and understanding that no one can gain without going through what those with dietary needs go through. The best solution is not to let people walk around and pretend that the foods they dislike are allergies. This is an educational experience of its own. The other educational experiences would include teaching children at a young age what allergies are, including how serious it is for people to have allergies. Children at young ages, ranging from elementary school to middle school, should be taught in classroom about allergies and learn about famous people they might look up to who may have allergies. This will be better than if a teacher just sat them down and explained what allergies do, children at young ages can be influenced by what someone older than them does especially if it is someone they look up to. The educational lessons should be included in classes like health, and they are instructed at a level they will understand. For people ranging in ages from high school and college, the information is given to them in classes like biology. The people who may not go to college or who do not care about school should also need to go through training at work, like sexual harassment seminars, it must be needed for them to work. For those who may have missed these educational experiences, spreading the word about allergies on Public Service Announcements, or through means of signs or posters, will offer what those may have forgot or previously missed. The more people are educated, the better the people may react to knowing someone who cannot eat what they can. Although there will be people who do not care that there are people out there who cannot eat what they can, like in Figure 6, but it is still vital to inform everyone of what it is like to live the way they do.

Allergies that affect everyone worldwide lack recognition and education that is needed to better society for those allergy sufferers. The mocking and copying of diets needs to subside and allergy fakers need to stop with the false claims of having special dietary needs because they simply do not like something that is on their plate. The “joke” that the public sees allergies as has long been overused and is not funny to those who suffer. Social issues caused by mocking and bullying of people with allergies does not just cause them harm, it can be detrimental when they are already suffering from something that they cannot alter in their lives. The change the public needs to make will fall in line behind the education that will be given to make the lives of those suffers easier. The word allergy and the way it is perceived will not be mocked again.
