I spent some of yesterday trying to figure out what in Lemon Drop-flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans caused my son to break out in what is probably the most horrendous case of hives he's ever had.

I called the good folks at Jelly Belly, who claim to go to work at 7am PST but whose customer service reps don't show up until 9, and they were very nice. But ultimately they had no answer for what is actually in their jelly beans.

How can that be? Well, they order their natural flavorings from various other companies and those companies call those ingredients "proprietary information," which apparently means "it's none of your damn business."

Before my children were diagnosed with multiple food allergies (23 for the older one and 18 for the baby, and counting), I didn't pay any attention to ingredients. Now I'm calling companies and finding out that the people who make your food don't pay much attention to that either, it seems.

I realize this is harsh, but I'm frustrated. I can't test my son for something when I don't know what it is. I don't know whether it was the yellow dye (don't think so), the beeswax (again, don't think so), or something hidden in those natural flavors.

How can we not know what we are eating? This is crazy! And my son can't even have a jelly bean. Damnit!