Allergies on TV and radio

With statistics showing allergies are rather alarmingly on the increase there really should be far more of a representation of people with allergies on TV and radio. This week there was a fleeting reference on The Archers when chef Ian Craig, played by Stephen Kennedy, mentioned the plate of food he’d done for the ‘gluten free lady’, but sadly mentions of allergies on the BBC and any other broadcasting station are very scant.

In the UK about 1 in 3 of the population or 20 million people suffer from allergic disease and the US over 50 million Americans have allergies. Looking at these statistics you’d expect allergies to be far more prevalent on our TV screens. So why aren’t they? Is it just because it doesn’t make good TV Viewing?

Here is a fairly US based list from No Nuts for Me called “Allergies on TV. These include Meg Griffin from Family Guy and Kenny from Southpark who are both allergic to peanuts!

Best Allergy Sites has an article about some negative portrayals of allergy on Grey’s Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters in “Food Allergies and Prime Time Television”. This kind of coverage is both negative and misleading and it makes me sad because there is so much misunderanding out there already. We don’t need more introduced by script writers and film producers who haven’t done their research.

Most celebrity chef cooking shows feature so many lovely recipes but often use many known allergens, at which point I lose interest and switch off. They rarely mention allergies, nor discuss how meals could be prepared to be suitable for those with allergies. Come on BBC and celebrity chefs out there. Are you game? Are there an chef’s man enough for the big allergy challenge?

Radio 4 did also had a phone in last year on the Jeremy Vine show which was fairly positive and Raymond Blanc also featured a gluten free bread recipe on his programme. Jack Dee also did a sketch about allergies, a bit of dark humour really, on the Jonathan Ross show last year.

One hospital documentary programme recently showed a lady having an anaphylactic attack. You can view this video on another of my posts called: “Mastocytosis – You don’t want this”.

Alex Gazzola, a health journalist and author of several books on food sensitivities writes about coeliac disease, food intolerance and food allergies in the media. Visit his blog Allergy Insight for a good read.

From all these references only the video of Beth having an anaphylactic attack shows allergies in a positive and responsible light on television. What do you think about this? Why do you think this is? Can you remember seeing allergies on TV or radio recently? Any producers out there interested in readdressing the balance?