Relationships have been on my mind a lot in the last couple years. Work ones, personal ones, old ones and new ones — it takes finesse to manage all the relationships we have in our lives, and often I think we don't appreciate just how much work that really is.

Awhile ago, I interviewed Dr. Adelle Atkinson of the SickKids allergy clinic about the process of Oral Food Challenges, and this week, I got to see firsthand what one is like. Nine months ago, our son was referred to the SickKids clinic by his paediatric allergist for an oral food challenge (OFC) for almonds.

A British restaurateur has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence, and charged with six food food safety offenses, resulting in six years' imprisonment.  It's a decision that could set precedence in the food industry worldwide, placing more responsibility on restaurant owners and staff to ensure safety of ingredients.  Mohammed Zaman was found guilty in part due to his wholly careless attitude toward food safety.

Every year, FARE works hard to help the general public understand the severity of food allergies through Food Allergy Awareness week. As a parent to an allergic kid, this is my life every day, every week, every year. It's exhausting trying to explain why my son can't eat a cupcake, even though it doesn't specifically contain nuts.

When we think about spring allergies, we're usually thinking about all the pollens being released outside, and the cleaning up of last year's dead shrubbery (and all the moulds that come with that). But for those with seasonal allergies, spring is a particularly rough time for a few other reasons you may not have thought about. When your immune system is already compromised, any stress on it can worsen allergic symptoms, so here are some of the stranger culprits you may not know about:

Heather Spohr wrote this HuffPo piece in 2015, and it was posted again on their Facebook page yesterday, to much heated debate, as always. And I sighed heavily. Are we seriously still arguing about this crap?

Attention McDonald's customers with dairy, tree nut and peanut allergies: there are a number of changes to their menu that you need to know about. 

I suffered a miscarriage at 19.5 weeks gestation.  I remember the nurses hustling around me discussing my "fetus," and the ultrasound technician talking about the "fetus." It seems absurd to classify my baby as a fetus, to not be able to "technically" say I had a stillbirth despite labouring and delivering my baby.  At 19.5 weeks, a baby is around 14cm (almost 6") long. Look at your hand.

Kellogg's has apparently decided to add peanut flour to both the Keebler and Austin lines of snack crackers. 

Our mild winter means spring allergies are already tickling your nose and making your eyes itch. Open windows bringing fresh air will also bring with them spring allergens — pollens, molds, spores and more. And just like every year, I've got even more tips for battling spring allergies.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this loaf is the best thing I've ever baked. It's pure loaf perfection. I've made some epic banana bread before, and I've even tossed in a few bluberries, but this? This is heaven. 

Banana Blueberry Custard Loaf 

I remember when I was about five years-old, I woke up completely unable to open my eyes. It was a terrifying Mary Ingalls-esque moment ("Pa, I can't see! I CAN'T SEE!"), and one I'll never forget. Turns out, I could see, once my mom kindly washed the crusty pus off my poor eyelids — I just pink eye. Dreaded pink eye. (And thankfully not blindness from Scarlet Fever or meningoencephalitis like poor Mary Ingalls apparently suffered.)

Anna Winburg, a doctoral student from Umeå University has discovered that many young students who report food allergies don't actually have them at all. In her recent study, Winburg examined hypersensitivity to foods such as dairy, eggs, fish and wheat in school-aged children in Sweden. She found that reported food allergies and sensitivities were an astounding eight times more common than actual confirmed allergies. That's . . .

This news piece is making the rounds about a 7 year-old boy who, along with his family, was "removed" from a flight after having an allergic reaction to dogs on board. I've read it, I've watched the video, and I would like some more answers before I jump on the "How Dare They?!" train.

Luke Sullivan, a 14 year-old from Coldwater, Ontario has a message for you: peanut and nut allergies affect 1 in 13 people and he's one of the ones at risk. He's started a petition with the intention of grabbing the attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His request is simple: remove peanuts and nuts from all airlines and help save the lives of everyone with life-threatening allergies. Sullivan says:

How much would you love someone having access to your Facebook account and all the private messages and content there? How about your Gmail? Imagine the damage someone could with with access to all your most personal information stored there (not to mention all your personal messages and emails). Ouch. I don't know about you, but the idea of some stranger combing through all that personal data makes my stomach turn.

It's no secret that I loved my son's Allerject units. They're small, which made it easier for him to self-carry them when he was in kindergarten.

So you're dealing with food allergies, which means you're an expert at reading labels, right? But what happens when foods are recalled because they contain potentially life-threatening allergens? Do you know how to protect your family?

The season of looooove will soon be upon us, which means we will soon be upon our loved ones. Or liked ones. Or ones that'll do because Valentine's Day is a crappy day to spend single (unless you're having a wicked fun Galentine's Day in which case you go, girl!).

Anyhow.

I don't like reading these stories. I don't like sharing them, or writing about them, and I hate even more that these things happen at all. I cannot fathom what life is like for Bruce Kelly's family now, it's just so heartbreaking. The 22-year-old man died of anaphylaxis after eating chocolates that he'd eaten previously without issue. The problem was that Mr.