Shh...It's A Secret!

Ever wonder why secret ingredients are so secret?  I mean seriously, if you have the patent on the dang recipe, why is it still a secret?  On my side of the spectrum, do you not see just how life altering a secret ingredient could be?  Here's and example:

I was out with a girlfriend of mine for drinks celebrating her birthday.  She had a drink, mixed up by a bar keep how professed said drink to be the elixir of love (I love that word elixir...just rolls off the tongue... anyhow...).  Three types of alcohol was poured into this elixir; one of them a gorgeous shade of green.  It was a liquor she had not had before... she does not usually go for the color-filled bar glass.  After imbibing in said elixir, my girlfriend asked if we had seen the movie Hitch. 

Almost every food allergy (FA) mom has seen the movie Hitch because of the amazingly well done portrayal of an allergic reaction Will Smith's character had to eating shellfish - hits personally close to home because of Nando's anaphylactic (ANA) to shellfish.  Another well done portrayal of an allergic reaction is in the Disney movie The Game Plan , where The Rock's character has an allergic reaction to cinnamon - personal fav of mine since I am ANA to cinnamon.  That being said...

And back to the story (sorry) ...

When my girlfriend asked if anyone had seen the movie Hitch, I knew instantaneously what was occuring.  She started scratching...hives started welting up...head to toe, she was turning red and puffy, her tongue became thick, making it hard for her to speak properly.  She was given Benadryl (not sure if it is safe to have Benadryl with alcohol, but that didn't occur to me until after the swelling went down), and I was ready with my Epipens to stab her if need be.  Thankfully, her reaction lessened after the first dose, though we followed with a second does to combat the last of the swelling/hives.  She lived unscathed.

OK so now... back to every day life...

I was looking up the liquors that was poored into this elixir of love and came across a road block I see ALL too often.  On the websites, there is not a shred of information about the ingredients.  So I emailed the company, explaining the reaction as I always do.  The reply... Sorry Ma'am, but the ingredients are part of the secret recipe. 

WT...???  I was instantaneously LIVID!  (another fab vocab of mine)

So I called...

I explained to the 1st Customer Service Rep. that answered the information that I needed... no help there; what a ditz!  I asked for a Supervisor... got no where.  I asked for a Manager superior to her... still got no where.  I RE-explained how one of these liquors set off an ANA reaction, and we needed to know WHAT could be the culprit.  Nothing.  Freakin' B*#)*^@&!!! 

Pardon my starry vocabulary!

This just proves my point that the food labeling laws need to be expanded to include ANYTHING that is ingested or can be absorbed by a person's body.  I have thrown away too many products because of unclear labeling... Yes Virginia, kukui oil is actually from the macadamia nut.  Don't get me wrong, I am REALLY glad we have the new 2oo7 Food Labeling Laws.  If you have ever seen a list of the number of things milk alone can be called in a label, it would boggle your mind (check it out here).  But c'mon, you silly CEO's with your secret ingredient lists... is it REALLY that important to keep it a secret when giving us this information could be saving a life???

I think not!


Seriously!

TinaMarie