Allergy to pesticides (which may be petroleum based chemicals) is related to allergy to food additive, and can make the task of isolating exactly what a person is allergic to even more difficult, specially when that person is very sensitive. ”A person may eat some grapes today and they don’t bother him.

But three day later, he may eat grapes that were sprayed with chemicals, and those grapes bother him,” said Dr. Falliers. Dr. Theron Randolph tested patients who swore they were allergic to peaches. After eating peaches from supermarket, one patient developed a rash and welts, another had an attack of asthma, and a third a headache.

When they ete peaches picked from an abandoned orchard were the fruit doesn’t sprayed, all three felt perfectly fine. ”One good effect on this discovery,” writes Dr. Randolph, ”Was that patients who had long stopped eating fruit, from the belief that they were made sick by it, were able to start again, provided they are only organically grown, uncontaminated fruits” (An Alternative Approach to Allergies, Lippincott & Crowell, 1979).

Tree fruits – such as peaches, apples and cherries – are sprayed with more chemicals, more often, than any other crop in the United States. But virtually no commercial, produce escape the blizzard of pesticides (insect and rodent killers) and fungicides (mold inhibitors). And once food has been sprayed, no amount of washing will get rid of it.

Paring does no good, either. Chemicals penetrate the skin of the growing fruit or vegetable and infiltrate the pulp itself. So if you chemically sensitive and you suspect allergy to chemicals food sprays, eating only organically grown produce may be only way to achieve total relief. Shop around for a local supplier or track down the nearest co-op.

Avoiding pesticides is one of many good reasons to plant a home vegetable garden – plus a couple of fast growing dwarf fruit trees, even if you have just a few square yards available space. Canning, freezing or drying your harvest give you a year round supply of non-allergenic fruits and vegetables at the right price: low.