College students take food allergy risks

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Only 50 percent of U.S. college students with food allergies avoid foods they knew they should not eat, researchers said.

University of Michigan Health System researchers reported 60 percent of those surveyed said a roommate was aware of his or her food allergy and two-thirds of the students could verify that another person campus knew about his or her allergy.

Less than half of those identifying themselves as food-allergic -- 43 percent -- could verify they carried emergency medication to treat a reaction and about 20 percent had self-injectable epinephrine, the recommended treatment for the life-threatening severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.

The researchers said the University of Michigan studies point to the need for students to increase the awareness of their food allergy among the people around them.

"This would include not only telling them that they are food allergic but also showing them how to treat them and how to recognize signs of an ongoing reaction," study leader Dr. Matt Greenhawt, now of the Allergy & Asthma Center LLC in Atlanta, said in a statement.