ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2021 SCIENCE 11

Health

Hungry Americans hit Food allergies impede search for safe meals

SACRAMENTO, California, June 13, (AP): When Emily Brown, a Kansas City mother, couldn’t fi nd foods that her 2-year-old with multiple food allergies could eat at a local food pantry, she mustered up the courage to ask about gluten- free foods or dairy alternatives. The response: “You got something.” The only things her daughter could eat were potatoes and salsa. “It took, really, all of my strength to make it to the car,” she said. “I cried in the car and then I just thought to myself, ’We cannot be the only family, I cannot be the only mother, struggling with this.” For the millions of Americans newly experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic, a particular crisis is hitting those with food allergies and intolerances: Most charitable and government food programs offer limited options. While some pantries maintain glu- ten-free shelves or post allergen in- formation, most were forced to limit clients choices last year, instead turn- ing to contactless models where clients drive up and take a pre-made bag of food. “Everybody deserves an equal op- portunity to select their own foods,” said Carla Carter, director of out- Carter reach and programming at the Nation- al Celiac Association. But, she said, “COVID drastically changed that into: ‘Here’s a box of food, Emily Brown sits with her daughters Hannah, 7, (left), and Catherine, 9, outside her office June 9, in Kansas City, Mo. Brown runs a nonprofit service to help families good luck.’” with food allergies access safe and healthy foods which she started after having difficulty obtaining food for her daughters who have numerous food allergies. (AP) Those signing up for government assistance face similar problems. The program for women, infants and children - known as WIC - offers a substitute for peanut butter: It’s beans, not exactly useful for making sandwiches. Soy milk Coronavirus is a substitute for cow’s milk, but some people, like Brown’s child, can’t have either. Food stamps, or SNAP, let families choose what to buy, but specialized foods - like gluten free bread or sunfl ower seed butter - are often far more expensive. In some stores, the Developing world clamoring for doses to stem infections latter costs triple the cost of store-brand peanut butter, gluten free fl our costs four times a standard bag, and even the cheap- est dairy milk alternatives are often double the price. US vaccine surplus grows by the day Insecure Feeding America, the nation’s largest anti-hunger organi- LOS ANGELES, June 13, (AP): In transferring large quantities of vaccine drug treatment centers. zation, hasn’t gathered data on the overlap between hunger Tennessee and North Carolina, de- to other states and the federal govern- Demand has been especially low for and food allergies or intolerance. But it’s likely millions of mand for the COVID-19 vaccine has ment. the J&J vaccine, a one-shot, easy-to- Americans who are food insecure face some limits on what slowed down so much that they have Amid the glut, the White House has store formula that held great promise they can eat. An estimated 32 million people have a food given millions of doses back to the announced plans to share 80 million because of its convenience but whose allergy, and 85 million people live in a household where federal government, even though less doses globally by the end of June and rollout has been hurt by links to a rare someone has a food allergy or intolerance, according to Food than half of their total populations are also buy 500 million more doses of the blood clot disorder and contamination Allergy Research & Education, which advocates for people vaccinated. Pfi zer vaccine and donate them to 92 problems at a Baltimore factory. with allergies. About 1% of people are diagnosed with Celiac Oklahoma has not asked for new lower-income countries and the Afri- Bibbins-Domingo said that with disease, which means they can’t consume gluten, and about Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vac- doses from the government for more can Union over the next year. many parts of the world desperate for 6% of people have a non-Celiac gluten sensitivity Carter said. cines sit in a refrigerator at a mass- than a month, spurning its 200,000-a- With demand stronger in Maine and doses, the U.S. has a moral obligation Eight years after her food pantry experience, Brown is now vaccination site at the former Citizens week allotment. Around the country, Rhode Island, the two states received not to waste the J&J formula, which one of the few people running a program dedicated to helping Bank headquarters in Cranston, R.I., states are rushing to use up doses be- 32,400 doses each from Mississippi, is especially useful in remote areas, people with allergies and intolerance access safe foods. June 10. The US is confronted with fore they expire this summer. where only about one-third of the state among people who are homeless and Brown’s nonprofi t, the Food Equality Initiative, serves an ever-growing surplus of COVID-19 The US is confronted with an ever- is at least partially vaccinated. Mis- in rural communities. about 200 families with Celiac or food allergies, providing vaccines, looming expiration dates growing surplus of coronavirus vac- sissippi has also transferred 800,000 “At all costs, we need to make sure and stubbornly lagging demand at cine, looming expiration dates and doses to a federal vaccine pool. The that those doses get to people who can them $150 per month to use in an online marketplace with a time when the developing world is allergy-friendly foods. Some of her clients use the benefi t to clamoring for doses to stem a rise in stubbornly lagging demand at a time state has seen demand plunge to levels use them.” she said. supplement government assistance programs. infections. (AP) when the developing world is clamor- not seen since the opening weeks of In West Virginia, demand has Dietician Kate Scarlata is among advocates trying to ing for doses to stem a rise in infec- the vaccine rollout, with only 18,400 nearly dropped off completely for the change the conversation around food insecurity by promot- tions. doses administered there this week. J&J vaccine. About 42% of the total ing what she calls a more dignifi ed approach. She special- Million-dollar prizes, free beer and Mississippi State Health Offi cer Dr. population there has gotten at least one izes in irritable bowel syndrome, which can cause stomach marijuana, raffl ed-off hunting rifl es Thomas Dobbs said Friday that the dose. pain, diarrhea and constipation when people consume certain and countless other giveaways around state health department was more than That’s in spite of a sweepstakes raf- foods including garlic and onion, ingredients found in many the country have failed to signifi cantly happy to help states in the Northeast. fl ing off everything from cash to hunt- shelf-stable products like sauces and soups. move the needle on vaccine hesitancy, “In Mississippi, if people don’t un- ing rifl es to pickup trucks. When Ohio She launched a tour of food pantries in April to raise aware- raising the specter of new outbreaks. derstand how important it is to keep kicked off a trend of million-dollar ness, and she found many of those she visited weren’t asking The stockpiles are becoming more alive, we want to protect other Ameri- prize drawings a few weeks ago, of- people if they had intolerances or special dietary needs. daunting each week. Oklahoma has cans,” he said. fi cials saw a robust 43% increase in Charitable food programs can start with a few simple ques- more than 700,000 doses on shelves Each week, states are allotted a vaccination numbers - but only for the tions she said: “Are you on a special diet? Are there any but is administering only 4,500 a day number of doses from the government fi rst week. foods that bother you?” and has 27,000 Pfi zer and Moderna and are allowed to order shots from In North Carolina, $25 cash cards Brown, meanwhile, is working with Drs. Ruchi Gupta and Bezos Joughin doses that are set to expire at the end that. But more states, including Okla- helped bring people to vaccine clinics, Lucy Bilaver at the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Re- of the month. homa, Alabama, Utah, Delaware and but even so, the state isn’t ordering any Millions of Johnson & Johnson New Hampshire, have stopped placing new doses from the government for the search at Northwestern University to gather better informa- doses nationwide were set to expire orders for new doses in recent weeks second week in a row. tion on how many people with allergies are food insecure, Discovery this month before the government ex- because they have such a large inven- Instead, the state has given back 1.2 because no comprehensive data exists. tended their dates by six weeks, but tory. That has added to the ballooning million doses. In Tennessee, 2.4 million “The challenge we have is that the way we address food some leaders acknowledge it will be federal stockpile. have been returned to the federal pool. insecurity and food programming here in the U.S. is just so $28m to fl y in space: An auction for a diffi cult to use them up even by then. It’s a disappointing development to general,” Brown said. ride into space next month alongside Jeff “We really cannot let doses expire. Administered William Schaffner, a professor of pre- As the pandemic risks wane, advocates hope to see a return Bezos and his brother ended with a win- That would be a real outrage, given the Those skipping the vaccine include ventive medicine at Vanderbilt Univer- to client choice programs. That’s the model Claudia Monte- ning $28 million bid Saturday. need to get vaccines to some under- Benjamin Schlink of Pearl, Mississip- sity’s medical school in Nashville. negro uses at her San Diego pantry, Porchlight Community The Amazon founder’s rocket com- vaccinated communities in the US and pi, who said he believes he is healthy “If the governor is not making an Services, which is dedicated to serving people with food al- pany, Blue Origin, did not disclose the the glaring gap in vaccinations and the enough to fi ght the illness. impassioned plea - and ours hasn’t - lergies. winner’s name following the live online inequity of vaccinations that we have “The way I look at it, I don’t worry then I look to local leaders of every In 2016, Montenegro was struggling to afford allergy auction. The identity will be revealed in globally,” said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins- about it, because God is in control,” kind,” he said. friendly foods to meet her gluten and dairy intolerances. a couple weeks — closer to the brief up- Domingo, chair of epidemiology and he said. “If God wants you to have it, In Colorado, which has given over She and some friends decided to pool their money so they and-down fl ight from West Texas on July biostatistics at the University of Cali- you’ll have it.” 175,000 back to the federal pool, could buy in bulk and looks for sales. Word of mouth grew, 20, the 52nd anniversary of Neil Arm- fornia, San Francisco. Gayle Charnley, 69, said some of there’s a million-dollar lottery, and and she was soon distributing food from her porch. strong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing. The US averaged about 870,000 her neighbors in the small town think drag queens have begun beckoning Today, Porchlight’s grown to a full-fl edged, volunteer- It will be the fi rst launch of Blue Ori- gin’s New Shepard rocket with people on new injections per day at the end of she should get the shot, but she is not people at clinics during Pride Month. run food pantry serving people allergic to nuts, dairy, glu- board, kicking off the company’s space last week, down sharply from a high of planning on it. “They’re just forcing In New Mexico, the nation’s biggest ten and wheat, shellfi sh, egg and soy, and those who are tourism business. Fifteen previous test about 3.3 million a day on average in them on people as fast as they can get lottery grand prize, $5 million, halted diabetic. fl ights of the reusable rocket and capsule mid-April, according to the Centers for them, and we don’t know what the a downward trend in vaccinations and Clients are asked to chip in $35 per week if they can, but since 2015 — short hops lasting about 10 Disease Control and Prevention. long-term effects are going to be,” she may have even caused a slight im- those who can’t pay are still welcome. Volunteers buy all the minutes — were all successful. President Joe Biden wants to have said. provement, offi cials said. Washington food themselves, and shoppers can choose items like coco- Saturday’s auction followed more than 70% of the adult US population at least Hundreds of millions of vaccine state allowed marijuana stores to offer nut-based yogurts, nut butters, lactose-free milk and gluten- a month of online bidding that reached partially vaccinated by July 4. But the doses have been administered around free joints this week. free fl our. $4.8 million by Friday. More than 7,500 US could well fail to meet that target. the world with intense safety monitor- While incentive programs may not Elizabeth Shoemaker turned to Porchlight during the pan- people from 159 countries registered to As of Friday, 64% of Americans 18 ing, and few serious risks have been have sent vaccination rates soaring, demic, after a hip replacement caused her to lose her job, her bid, according to Blue Origin. More than and older had had at least one dose, by identifi ed. they are still a worthwhile tool for relationship and her place to live. At one point, her food as- 20 bidders — the high rollers — took part the CDC’s count. Some of the demand slowdown is a states working through the diffi cult sistance payments decreased from $200 to $20. She devel- in Saturday’s auction. Some states, especially in the North- natural part of the rollout process. In “last mile” of a marathon, said Dr. oped a gluten intolerance but struggled to afford gluten-free Bezos announced Monday that he and east, have already reached that 70% Massachusetts, 68% of people have Nirav Shah, head of the Maine Center his younger brother, Mark, would be on goal for adults, while places like Mis- a fi rst dose and the mass vaccination for Disease Control and Prevention products until she found Porchlight, provides those and caters board New Shepard’s fi rst crew fl ight; the well to her mainly vegetable-based died. sissippi and Alabama are nowhere sites are shutting down as offi cials and president of the Association of news quickly boosted bidding. The win- close. Mississippi, in fact, has been shift to harder-to-reach places, such as State and Territorial Health Offi cers. She can’t afford the fee, so she volunteers at the pantry. ning amount is being donated to Blue Ori- “I know now I can depend on them the next week, so I gin’s Club for the Future, an educational don’t have to hoard food,” she said. effort to promote science and tech among Also: young people. (AP) bergs more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) Sinkhole swallows land: A large depths. ❑ ❑ ❑ long and 22 miles (36 kilometers) wide, sinkhole that appeared in late May at a The government of the central state of ROME: Pope Francis demanded Sunday that humanitarian which then split into lots of littler pieces, farm in central Mexico has grown larger Puebla said it had managed to pull the two aid reach hungry people in the war-torn Tigray region of Ice shelf breaking up faster: A criti- Joughin said. (AP) than a football fi eld, begun swallowing dogs out of the sinkhole, after emotional northern Ethiopia, where Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers are cal Antarctic glacier is looking more vul- ❑ ❑ ❑ a house and trapped two dogs in its requests from animal lovers to rescue nerable as satellite images show the ice them. They had been trapped for about blocking food deliveries and other assistance. shelf that blocks it from collapsing into Francis called for an immediate end to the fi ghting in Ti- the sea is breaking up much faster than four days on a ledge on the sheer sides of gray, the return of social harmony and for “all food aid and before and spawning huge icebergs, a new the hole dropping 50 feet (15 meters) to health care assistance to be guaranteed.” study says. water. Speaking at his Sunday noon blessing, Francis said he The Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf loss Because the loose soil at the edges was thinking of the people of Tigray who have been “struck accelerated in 2017, causing scientists to keeps collapsing into the water at the by a grave humanitarian crisis that has exposed the poorest worry that with climate change the glacier’s bottom of the pit, for days it was consid- to famine. Today there is famine! There is hunger!” collapse could happen quicker than the ered too dangerous to try to rescue the The United Nations and aid groups say more than 350,000 many centuries predicted. The fl oating ice animals. shelf acts like a cork in a bottle for the fast- But a fi refi ghter descended into the pit, people in Tigray face famine and 2 million more are a step in part by using a ladder to steady the soil away from the worst famine since 2011 in Somalia. Farm- melting glacier and prevents its much larger ice mass from fl owing into the ocean. on the edge. His colleagues were seen ers, aid workers and local offi cials say food has been turned standing farther back using ropes and a into a weapon of war, with soldiers blocking or stealing That ice shelf has retreated by 12 miles (20 kilometers) between 2017 and 2020, pulley system to haul up cages carrying food aid. according to a study in Friday’s Sci- the two dogs. More than 2 million of Tigray’s 6 million people have al- ence Advances The crumbling shelf was The state government distributed pho- ready fl ed, unable to harvest their crops. The war in Tigray caught on time-lapse video from a Euro- tos of the dogs, named Spay and Spike, started in November, shortly before the harvest season, as an pean satellite that takes pictures every six looking alert and in the care of veterinar- attempt by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to disarm days. ians. the region’s rebellious leaders. “You can see stuff just tearing apart,” The dogs were apparently playing in On one side are guerrillas loyal to the ousted and now-fugi- said study lead author Ian Joughin, a the farm fi eld surrounding the sinkhole tive leaders of Tigray. On the other are Ethiopian government University of Washington glaciologist. when they fell in. troops, allied troops from neighboring Eritrea and militias “So it almost looks like the speed-up it- The sinkhole is now over 400 feet (125 from Ethiopia’s Amhara ethnic group who see themselves as self is weakening the glacier ... And so far meters) across in some places, and may be rivals to the Tigrayan guerillas. we’ve lost maybe 20% of the main shelf.” 150 deep (45 meters) at its deepest point. Between 2017 and 2020, there were A health worker persuades a homeless man to get himself inoculated against It is hard to tell, because water fi lls the three large breakup events, creating ice- the coronavirus in Guwahati, India, June 13. (AP) crater. (AP)