Food Allergy Humour Alert!
25 Things Only a Food Allergy Parent Would Understand
A brilliant expose by Misty Bailey, with contributions by Adam Wenger and the Living with Anaphylaxis Facebook community. Medically reviewed by George T. Krucik, MD, MBA. Published by Health Line.
![food allergy cookie](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/1-food_allergy-cookie.jpg)
1. You’re the one up late making cupcakes the night before a birthday party — and it’s not even your kid’s birthday!
![2. You instinctively say, “No,” to the flight attendant before you’re even offered a snack.](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-flight-attendant.jpg)
2. You instinctively say, “No,” to the flight attendant before you’re even offered a snack.
![food-allergy-cookie 3](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food_allergy-cookie-3.jpg)
3. You can ask, “What’s in this cookie?” in five different languages.
![food-allergy-vacations](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-vacations-.jpg)
4. Vacations end up being more work because you have to pack your whole pantry.
![food-allergy-pressure](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-pressure-5.jpg)
5. Words like potluck and picnic elevate your blood pressure.
![6. You know the feeling of doom that comes when your child gets an invite to a birthday party.](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food_allergy-birthday.jpg)
6. You know the feeling of doom that comes when your child gets an invite to a birthday party.
![food-allergy-high-five](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-high-five.jpg)
7. You give your kid a high-five the first time they turn down a cookie because they don’t know the ingredients.
![food-allergy-bellyache](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food_allergy-bellyache.jpg)
8. When your child comes to you with a bellyache and you silently analyze everything they ate that day.
![9. You walk into people’s homes and begin checking labels — on everything.](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-homes.jpg)
9. You walk into people’s homes and begin checking labels — on everything.
![food-allergy-ate-out](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food_allergy-ate-out.jpg)
10. You don’t remember the last time you ate out.
![food-allergy-lunch](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-lunch.jpg)
11. You worry not only about your child’s lunch, but also about everyone else’s lunch.
![food-allergy-halloween](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food_allergy-halloween.jpg)
12. You’ve spent Halloween throwing out all the candy your child collected but couldn’t eat.
![food-allergy-fear](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-fear.jpg)
13. You understand why otherwise harmless words like “manufactured in” can cause someone to cringe with fear.
![food-allergy-know](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-know.jpg)
14. You know what hydrolysates and lactoglobulin are.
![food-allergy-surprise](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-surprise.jpg)
15. When someone shows up with “surprise” cupcakes you have to tell your child, “Yes, I know they look great, but you can’t have any because there’s an allergen inside.”
![food-allergy-cry](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-cry.jpg)
16. You’ve cried in the middle of a grocery store aisle when you found a new food that you could add to your safe list.
![food-allergy-bite](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-bite.jpg)
17. You understand why “just one bite” CAN hurt.
![food-allergy-call](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-call.jpg)
18. Your heart stops anytime you get a phone call from your kid’s school.
![food-allergy-food](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-food.jpg)
19. You don’t understand why food that has the “good stuff” taken out is SO much more expensive than the ones with those ingredients intact.
![food-allergy-loan](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-loan.jpg)
20. You had to take out a loan to buy nondairy, soy-free, wheat-free, and nut-free food this month.
![food-allergy-analyzed](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-analyzed.jpg)
21. You’ve analyzed the soy vs. almond vs. rice debate when it comes to milk, and now feel like you have a degree in nutritional studies.
![food-allergy](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy.jpg)
22. You’ve stopped talking to friends and family who refuse to understand allergies can actually kill your child.
![food-allergy-school](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-school.jpg)
23. On the first day of school, when parents begin asking about food restrictions, your face gets red and your pulse quickens.
![food-allergy-class](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-class.jpg)
24. You’ve offered to teach a class on how to read nutrition labels because you know it takes a rocket scientist to understand that stuff!
![food-allergy-toasters](https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-allergy-toasters.jpg)
25. You have to explain why there are two toasters in your kitchen. And why one has a label on it that says, “BEWARE OF GLUTEN.”
A brilliant expose by Misty Bailey, with contributions by Adam Wenger and the Living with Anaphylaxis Facebook community. Medically reviewed by George T. Krucik, MD, MBA. Published by Health Line.