Comment from Debbie Baker

According to the CDC, 75% of medications and supplements sold in the US contain animal products. Also according to the CDC, cases of alpha gal syndrome (AGS) are significantly rising, yet 42% of health care workers are not familiar with AGS. I had a minor surgery a couple of years ago, during which time the doctors and nurses referred to me to each other as a “unicorn” because I was healthy, had no health issues, and no allergies. That all drastically changed recently. For years I’ve known I was sensitive to red meat and dairy, and just ate very little of each. We drank milk substitutes in our house and ate mostly turkey and chicken products. When I went out to eat, I ordered fish or chicken. Other than the occasional abdominal symptoms, I never had a problem. About a month ago I had RSV, which in and of itself can be very serious. The first time I went to the doctor, I was told to treat it with otc cold meds, after I said that I was allergic to red meat and dairy. I diligently followed her directions and took liquid DayQuil and NyQuil around the clock. After a couple of days of taking these meds, my symptoms got much worse - throat so swollen I could barely talk or swallow liquids, nose so congested it was constantly bleeding, constant hacking cough, red eyes, eye lids and skin under my eye so swollen I could barely open my eyes, eyes constantly excreting a thick white mucous, and painful facial bones. I thought all of my symptoms, with the exception of my eyes, were RSV related, so I called the doctor and was prescribed antibiotic eye drops, because it was assumed that I had also developed pink eye. I continued the otc cold meds for a couple of more days, continuing to get worse. I should have gone to the hospital, but at this time I was thinking it was only common RSV causing my symptoms. I finally realized that I might have AGS and researched the ingredients in DayQuil and NyQuil, only to realize they contain gelatin, a mammal product. I discontinued those meds, began taking only Benadryl, and finally saw all of my symptoms begin to subside. A couple of weeks after this, when I should have fully recovered but still had a cough and swollen throat, I decided to check out the ingredients in the supplements doctors have recommended that I regularly take. As I read labels, I realized that several of my supplements contained gelatin (fish oil, vitamin D), so I discontinued them and continued to improve. I was still having a few symptoms, so I continued to investigate and discontinued the products that included mammal derived magnesium stearate, which was very difficult to determine since it’s not labeled on the bottle. I continued to improve after deleting supplements with mammal derived magnesium stearate. At this point, I was eating only vegan food, with added chicken and fish, and was taking only vegan medicines and supplements, with the exception of my HB pressure medicine, which had been prescribed about a year ago. One morning after taking my BP medicine, I had a reaction, so I assumed it was my BP med. It was very difficult to discover the ingredients in it, but I was finally able to learn that it also contains mammal ingredients, so I took myself off of it. (Interestingly, after taking myself off of all mammal products, including my BP med, my BP has gone way down, leading me to believe the mammal products in the supplements were raising my BP, another symptom of the allergy.) While I went for many years being able to put anything other than red meat in my mouth, I’m now in the 1-2% of people with AGS that are extremely allergic to trace elements, such as mammal derived magnesium stearate, glycerin, etc. The problem is that these ingredients can also be plant derived, but the label rarely denotes which it is. I’ve emailed companies to inquire whether these inactive ingredients are animal or plant derived, but it always takes days before I hear from them. Imagine needing to take a medicine, but having to either wait days to see if it’s safe for you, or taking the chance that it will make you sicker, including throat swelling up and anaphylaxis? Labels on food clearly denote whether food contains common allergens such as milk, nuts, wheat, etc. Labels on all medications and supplements must clearly denote whether they contain animal products, and specifically mammal products. For many people, consuming animal products is offensive to their religions or other beliefs. For people like me, consuming animal products can be deadly. And there are more and more people being diagnosed with AGS and other animal allergies. I strongly urge you to immediately require that all prescribed medications and over the counter medications and supplements explicitly state if ingredients are animal, specifically mammal, derived. It can be a matter of life and death to many people.