flucks, I've lived among diverse ethnic groups all of my life. Some people simply lack enzymes to deal with certain foods. Many Asian women cannot drink alcohol, they lack the enzyme that helps to digest it (I'm putting it in my terms, someone here can explain it better than I). This isn't an allergy, really. If you lack an enzyme that allows you to digest something, well, heck, don't eat it. This is my quandry. When my Asian friends (for some reason it seems more common in women than men, don't ask me why) visit, they knew to not drink the alcoholic drinks. BUT, what I am getting at is that this isn't death-defying. One Asian friend decided she really wanted to drink my daquiries. She turned red, ran to the bathroom, puked her guts out for ... well, a couple of minutes, and came down to be cossetted and cared for. I asked her husband what was going on. "She drank the daquiries, right?" Yup. (I didn't know about this at the time). "No big deal, she'll be sick for a few minutes and all will be OK." Sure enough. This was when I was quite young, now I know it is common. But this kind of allergy is one thing. My husband's allergy to insect stings is another thing entirely, as is that allergy to peanuts or some shell fish. 15 min (or overnight in the bathroom) will NOT purge it, you will die within minutes. There should be a different word for it.