Jacqueline Pongracic, wrote “ I have been treating patients in the field of allergy immunology for fifteen years and in recent years I have seen food allergy rates skyrocket(Sheehann). Estimates show that twelve million Americans suffer from severe food allergies, as evidenced by abnormal levels of immunoglobulins in the blood. In 1996, Brazil nut genes were inserted into soybeans to provide an additional protein called methionine. However, some individuals are so allergic to the walnut that they may actually go into anaphylactic shock. Following several accidents, the product was withdrawn from the market before any deaths occurred (Lacey). According to a study published in 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies among children increased by approximately fifty percent between 1997 and 2011 ("Facts and Statistics - Food Allergy Research and Education" ). However, FDA officials charged with protecting the health of the general public went against their own scientists' advice to test for allergies and declared that genetically modified foods are essentially equivalent to regular foods. Many research studies have positively confirmed this type of overall risk for genetically modified foods. Two research studies have shown that farm workers exposed to genetically modified Bt corn sprays showed extensive allergic reactions. Another study lasting more than a decade showed that genetically modified peas cause allergic lung damage in mice