Richmond food strikes fear

Richmond - The Editor, I would like to know if there has ever been an article published in your paper regarding peanut allergies? The reason I am asking is that the other night, I was in Aberdeen mall and I had a severe anaphylactic reaction due to peanut residue in the air.As it is Chinese New Year, there is a booth set up making a candy called Dragon Beard and it uses crushed peanuts as an ingredient. I only had to walk by and within a minute I started to have swelling in my throat.I feel that eating in Richmond can be really difficult as most of the restaurants cater to Chinese food and, after having terrible results in the past to trying any, I avoid these places at all costs.However, this is saddening for a culture which excels in food.I just feel there is a real lack of education on how serious a reaction people have from consuming peanuts.And having a cook say, "Only a little peanut butter is OK" is disheartening when you think about the number of kids being born with this allergy.My wife is from Hong Kong and while visiting there with her, I met an individual with the same allergy.I asked how it was for her to live in Hong Kong with the peanut allergy and she said it was difficult and that she cannot eat in Chinese restaurants.I found it really sad when I thought about that. It is like your own culture disowning you and treating you as an outcast.I think it would be nice to have an article about the seriousness of the peanut allergy written for the Richmond community.I don't find it funny when people make comments to me such as "Living in Richmond must be hard for you."I don't think it should matter where anyone lives. People should understand that peanut products are dangerous and can cause deaths.I have even had serious allergies to products mistranslated.They are brought in from Asia and only have the main ingredients translated, and apparently peanut butter wasn't considered a main ingredient.Andrew ReynoldsRichmond