What can you do to reduce the risk of an allergic reaction due to food?

Some of the important ways to reduce the risk of an
allergic reaction due to food include:

• Identify
  the foods that lead to the allergic reaction. For example, if a person is allergic to
  peanuts, s/he must know that it is peanuts which lead to the adverse reactions when
  consumed.

• When food is cooked at
  home, care should be taken to not use the allergenic food as an ingredient. It is also
  important to not allow the allergic person to come in contact with even tiny amounts of
  the foods; this requires thorough cleaning of vessels and not sharing any of them while
  dishes are being prepared.

• While
  shopping for food it is essential to read the labels and verify that the allergenic food
  is not an ingredient. Most manufacturers are also required to mention if there is a
  possibility that the food being bought could have come in contact with any
  allergen.

• Many restaurants now
  follow a policy of asking their clients about food allergies and informing them if they
  could come in contact with these when food cooked in the restaurant is consumed. An
  attempt should be made to visit restaurants that follow this policy and specifically
  inform the management about any food
  allergies.