Cautious Kissing?

When is it medically safe for someone with celiac disease to enjoy a deep smooch with someone who has, say, just eaten some gluten-containing cake or chugged a six-pack of Bud? I think it's hard to know for sure, but some recent allergy research may shed some light on the subject.

As reported in various places including Please Don't Pass the Nuts, Parenting a Child with Food Allergy, Medscape, and the website of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), a recent peanut allergy study looked at peanut butter residue in saliva. Led by Dr. Jennifer Maloney of New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, the study found that, apart from avoiding peanuts in the first place, the most effective method of eliminating peanut butter residue in saliva was to wait several hours, then eat at least one peanut-free meal. And just in case you're wondering: Toothbrushing alone did not do the trick. Nor did gum-chewing.

How would the findings relate to gluten residue from food and/or drink for people on medical gluten-free diets? I'd like to see some studies done—immediately! In the meantime, the safest approach to, um, swapping spit would be for the smoochers to be gluten-free—and the second safest approach would seem to be for them to be gluten-free for at least several hours with something gf to eat or drink before the smooching starts. Those hours without gluten might make a difference when it comes to mouth-clearing. And, of course, otherwise keeping a strict gluten-free diet does keep any minute quantities of ingested daily gluten from adding up to dangerous levels.

It's easy to see how one might feel that an ultra-hygienic approach to kissing can be unromantic or just plain, um, suck. As suggested above, research might provide some insight into the properties of gluten residue as opposed to peanut butter residue. And GFNYC continues to feel that sympathy, creativity, good humor, and safe expressions of sensual affection can go a long way in rewarding partners who respect the medical concerns of the gluten-free.

So what do you think? Even this very serious "How To Kiss" video addresses hygiene.



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Recognition for Allergic Girl Article

If the Chicago Tribune's investigative reporting on food labels was a high point of 2008, then a low point would have to be Meredith Broussard's hatchet jobs against the well-regarded Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), which Broussard recently attacked again with this Huffington Post item in which she still seems to be one of the only people in the world who would insist that the FAAN estimate of 150-200 deaths-by-allergy per year is a wild exaggeration.

Even if Broussard is right that the "real number" is actually 11, it's still a minor difference in terms of the entire US population—and a negligible quibble with FAAN considering how helpful the organization has been in educating families and the general public about allergies.

So it's great that Sloane "Allergic Girl" Miller took on Broussard in the healthcentral.com article "Everyone's Gone Nuts" (January 11, 2008). This interview with pediatric allergist Mike Pistiner just won third place in the Samter Journalism Awards, developed by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) "to recognize the best reporting of the role of the allergist/immunologist and allergy, asthma and immunologic disease."

Yaaaai, Allergic Girl!

MEET DISNEYLAND CHEFS

I've got mixed feelings about Disney Incorporated, but I've only heard positive things in terms of Disney restaurants accommodating guests on medical diets.

In this video, Karina of mommywood.com talks with two upper-level Disney chefs—Chris Justesen and Bill Orton—about how Disney on the West Coast serves guests with allergies. Orton and Justesen come across as thoroughly professional and describe some of the routine for serving gluten-free pancakes. They also emphasize the importance of communicating directly with Disney restaurant managers and chefs (as opposed to waitstaff) when spelling out one's dietary requirements.

Gluten-Free in SD offers more details about dining chez Disney, SoCal.



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