Food Allergy Research & Education is declaring this May the first Food Allergy Action Month in efforts to raise awareness of this potentially life-threatening medical condition as it continues to affect more and more Americans each year.

Approximately fifteen million Americans have a food allergies and that metric is growing - having increased 50 percent among children between 1997 and 2011. Food allergies now affect one in 13 children, or two in every classroom, and there is currently is no cure.

Scientists are working to find treatments to prevent sometimes life-threatening reactions (Anaphylactic shock) with ingestion, sometimes of minuscule amounts, of certain foods, but in the meantime, we're left with vigilance and workarounds.

Anyone at any age can develop food allergies at any time. Even small amounts of an allergen can elicit a reaction.

Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish are the most common food allergens, accounting for 90 percent of reactions. Peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish are the leading culprits in allergy related deaths. 

The worrisome part for parents of children with allergies is that sometimes it's not the food itself, but additives or preservatives (sulfites, food colorings, Monosodium glutamate or MSG, salicylates) that can trigger a reaction.

Sometimes it's not the food itself, but additives or preservatives (sulfites, food colorings, Monosodium glutamate or MSG, salicylates) that can trigger a reaction.