The recent listeria outbreak makes it clear that being allergic to a food is not the only reason ordinary food might pose a severe health hazard.

Below is a summary of food safety tips from the Centers for Disease control, as highlighted in CNN's How to Keep Your Food Safe:

• Clean. Wash hands thoroughly before cooking. Also wash anything used for cooking, including utensils, cookware, counters, cutting boards, and tableware. Be sure especially to wash hands after touching raw meat or produce and in between handling different types of food.



• Separate. Keep uncooked food away from food that could be carrying harmful bacteria. Use separate cutting boards for different foods or wash the cutting boards thoroughly between items. Also separate utensils used for cutting or serving.



• Cook. Cook food to at least a temperature of 140 degrees. Note that the "danger zone" in which germs thrive is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees. Check food's internal temperature with a thermometer, taking care not to contaminate food with the thermometer. When you're keeping food warm, make sure the internal temperature doesn't drop below 140 degrees.



• Chill. Chill leftovers quickly, and in general, keep foods cold. Use a thermometer to make sure your refrigerator temperature is 40 degrees or below. Your freezer should be 0 degrees or below. Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator, not at room temperature.

I often go TheSoftLanding.com to research safe, non-toxic products for my children. Especially when it comes to plastic items, navigating what's safe and what could contain hormone-disrupting or neurotoxic chemicals is particularly difficult; it helps to have a guide for helping me choose safe products. In fact, I'd say what AchooAllergy.com is as an allergy resource, the Soft Landing is for non-toxic children's products.

As you can easily imagine, both an allergy friendly home and a non-toxic home involve maintaining a home environment that's healthy and green. Often, concerns regarding these two arenas overlap, as when we discussed vinyl in Hidden Allergens: Shower Curtains, a topic which The Soft Landing also highlighted when it linked to Center for Health, Environment, and Justice article Eww. What's that Stench? Volatile Vinyl.

A recent Soft Landing blog entry, Top Ten Ways to Bust Toxic Dust Bunnies, points out that in addition to triggering allergies, dust is one of the "most significant sources of childhood exposure to toxic substances."

Children are especially susceptible to the toxicity dangers of dust because:

• They are still developing.
• They breathe in more air than adults and also mouth-breathe more often.
• They have a higher heart rate and thus absorb chemicals into their tissues faster.
• They have a greater surface area, so dermal absorption is greater.

The Soft Landing lists the following recommendations – many of which should be familiar to AchooAllergy.com readers – for minimizing toxic dust bunnies:

• Vacuum regularly with a HEPA vacuum cleaner.
• Mop after dusting to pick up any lingering dust.
• Wipe window ledges, crib ledges, desks, and other chewable surfaces.
• Damp-dust electronics to prevent flame retardants from building up on them.
• Wash toys and stuffed animals regularly.
• Encourage frequent hand-washing, especially before meals.
• Take off shoes at the door and use door mats at every entrance.
• Consider having your ducts cleaned.
• Be aware that toxic exposure occurs at other places too, like schools.
• Choose safer products that minimize toxic chemicals like flame retardants, dangerous adhesives, and the like.

According to a recent large European study, children who drink raw milk are less likely to develop allergies and asthma, reports FoxNews.com.

While a direct cause-and-effect relationship between raw milk consumption and less incidence of allergies and asthma cannot be confirmed, researchers believe that certain proteins found in raw milk (they are destroyed by the heat used in pasteurization) are beneficial to children's developing immune systems.

However, drinking raw milk carries its own set of dangers. As Georg Loss, a researcher with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel who worked on the study, says, "The consumption of raw milk is a double-edged sword. On the one side it is protective for the development of asthma and allergies but on the other side it may imply serious health risks due to harmful microorganisms."

Indeed, raw milk is one of the riskiest foods of all when it comes to the dangers of contracting dangerous foodborne illnesses. "From CDC's perspective, raw milk can carry harmful bacteria and other germs that can cause severe illness and even death," researcher Hannah Gould explains. "While it is possible to get foodborne illnesses from many different foods, raw milk is one of the riskiest of all."

The study found that, "compared with kids who only drank store-bought milk, those who drank raw milk had a 41-percent reduction in their odds of developing asthma. They were also only about half as likely to develop hay fever -- even after accounting for other factors that might be relevant."

This study is unique in that it points to the exact components in the milk that might be protective. Specifically, "The protective effect was linked to so-called whey proteins in the milk, such as BSA and alpha-lactalbumin."

While the study's results are impressive, it would be a mistake to recommend the consumption of raw milk. Rather, as Loss puts forth, "Pasteurization remains an effective tool to inactivate harmful microorganisms but may simultaneously destroy whey proteins. The results may give rise to technological developments aiming to destroy harmful microorganisms but preserving beneficial components of milk. The ultimate aim is to use a safe and protective milk for prevention of asthma."

Keeping indoor air quality healthy requires knowledge about what products in your home might compromise indoor air quality – and there are many.

One of the most pervasive chemicals that pollutes indoor air is formaldehyde. Formaldehyde exposure can lead to asthma and cancer, as well as cause short-term symptoms like eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; and skin rash. The chemical is found in everything from your dry cleaned clothing to those new dining chairs you just brought home.

In Top 5 Surprising Sources of Formaldehyde in Your Home, DoYourPart.com lists the following as formaldehyde sources:

• Nail polish. See Toxic Indoor Air in Nail Salons for more on this.
• Hair products.
• Bedding, particularly "wrinkle-free" products. For alternatives, check out our organic bedding selection.
• Kids' hard plastic dishwear, particularly those made from melamine resin.
• Air fresheners.

Another formaldehyde source that's often difficult to control is pressed wood products used in the construction of the home itself, in other components of the home like cabinetry or flooring, and in furniture.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the following for reducing formaldehyde levels in the home:

• Use "exterior-grade" pressed wood products (lower-emitting because they contain phenol resins, not urea resins).
• Use air conditioning and dehumidifiers to maintain moderate temperature and reduce humidity levels.
• Increase ventilation, particularly after bringing new sources of formaldehyde into the home.

For more on indoor air pollution, see:
12 Most Dangerous Household Chemicals

New research further supports the link between a mother's diet during pregnancy and her child's risk of developing allergies, reports Medical News Today in Mother's Diet Influences Baby's Allergies.

Published in The Journal of Physiology, the research found specifically that if a mother's diet includes a particular category of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), these " improve how gut immune cells respond to bacteria and foreign substances, making the baby less likely to suffer from allergies." These PUFAs can be found in foods such as fish, walnut oil, and flaxseed.

Previous findings have linked fish and walnut oil supplementation during pregnancy with a child's likelihood to develop allergies. What makes this research different is the discovery of how this supplementation works to minimize allergies.

Dr. Gaëlle Boudry, of the INRA research institute in Rennes, France explains it this way: "Our study identifies that a certain group of polyunsaturated fatty acids known as n-3PUFAs causes a change in how a baby's gut develops, which in turn might change how the gut immune system develops. These changes are likely to reduce the risk of developing allergies in later life."

More specifically, according to Medical News Today, "The team found that supplementing a mother's diet with n-3PUFA caused the new-born's gut to become more permeable. A more permeable gut enables bacteria and new substances to pass through the lining of the gut into the bloodstream more easily. These new substances then trigger the baby's immune response and the production of antibodies."

These n-3PUFA fatty acids have also been shown to increase gestational length and maturation of the central nervous system as well as improve performance of mental tasks in early childhood.

For more on food and allergies, see:
How to Treat Allergies with Herbs, Foods, and Supplements
Super Foods that Help Fight Allergies
Foods that Aggravate Allergies and Foods that Fight Allergies

Turns out that those who think every allergy season is the worst one ever may actually be right, as explained in CNN.com's Why your allergies are bugging you.

The reason for worsening allergy seasons is two-fold: There's more pollen and it's sticking around for longer. As Estelle Levetin, Ph.D., chairwoman of the aerobiology committee for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology puts it: "Pollen levels are increasing, pollen seasons are getting longer, and more people are developing allergies."

This year's fall allergies are estimated to last up to 27 days longer than average in some parts of the country.

Here is a summary of the reasons behind these more potent and longer-lasting allergy seasons, which occur both in the spring and the fall:

• "Spring allergies now start sooner and fall allergies end later, thanks to global warming," says Jeffrey G. Demain, M.D., director of the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Center of Alaska.


• Carbon-based fuels trap heat over the earth's surface, causing temperatures to rise. This heat prompts an early spring, and delays the first frost – making both seasons longer.


• Increased temperature also heighten the allergenic property of each pollen grain. "There's more allergen now in each grain than there used to be," Demain says.


• Higher temperatures also contribute to more prolific mold, another fall allergy trigger.

My family will be attending a conference in Jacksonville over this Labor Day weekend and staying at the Hyatt Regency there. While looking at the Hyatt website, I came across their offering of hypoallergenic rooms.

Keeping allergen exposure to a minimum while travelling is a problem many allergy sufferers face. Bringing items like portable air purifiers and even your own allergy bedding can help control allergies while staying in a hotel, but these options are not always convenient. An allergy-free room, maintained by the hotel you're staying in, seems like an excellent alternative.

So just what makes these rooms hypoallergenic? According to Hyatt, Respire by Hyatt rooms undergo "an additional six-step process to reduce airborne particles and minimize the presence of potential irritants." These six steps include a one-time shock treatment to minimize irritants, complete disinfection of the air handling unit with application of tea tree oil, hypoallergenic mattress and pillow covers, a medical grade air purifier, vacuuming with units that have "special filters that trap pollen and dust mites," deep cleaning and disinfection of room surfaces to remove allergy triggers, and every surface treated with an application to eliminate bacteria growth.

This all may sound great – and it might be – but we did have a few question marks. Mainly, we wondered about the use of tea tree oil as well as what is being used to disinfect and treat the room surfaces. Of course, minimizing allergens is a plus for allergy and asthma sufferers, but sometimes the "cure" can cause additional problems. For instance, using bleach to deal with mold could trigger respiratory reactions due to noxious fumes.

An article in News4Jax.com, Jax Hotel Offers Allergy-Free Rooms: Hyatt Regency Uses Special Pillowcases, Air Filters, Vacuum Cleaners helps clarify this matter, however, by specifying that the cleaning products used are chemical- and fragrance-free.

But a statement by sales and marketing representative Casper van Eldik Thieme made us wonder about how consistent the effects of these allergy relief efforts are. He describes: "We do this every six months. We go through the whole process and make sure it's clean for the guests. When they are staying here, they know that this room is as fresh and as clean as it was six months ago." Knowing how important it is to maintain a clean environment weekly, even daily, we cringed at the mention of "six months."

The best way to know whether these rooms work is experience. Has anyone stayed in a hypoallergenic or allergy friendly hotel room?