Allergy inducing food
Name(s):
Food allergy
Allergic enteritis
Nature
Certain types of food, such as nuts or shellfish, can trigger directly an allergic reaction in some people. Eating other foods, such as bananas, can indirectly facilitate or intensify an allergic reaction. This is because a banana protein chemically resembles the latex protein, a common allergen.
Allergy symptoms include hives, lip swelling, itching, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest or throat tightness or even loss of consciousness, often within minutes of food ingestion. For those most sensitive to allergens, eating just one five-thousandth of a teaspoon can produce a fatal reaction. One problem is cross-contamination, unintentional residue left on utensils or equipment used to make separate batches of food products.
Background
True allergic reactions occur within minutes to an hour of contact with the allergen. This differentiates them from pseudo-allergic reactions, which do not involve the immune system and can occur up to 48 hours after contact with the offending substance. Some people use the term intolerance to refer to some of the non-immunologic adverse reactions to foods.
Incidence
Up to 8% of children less than 3 years and approximately 2% of the adult population experience food-induced allergic disorder; this amounts to 2.5 to 5 million people in the USA, for example. 30,000 residents of the USA are hospitalized every year after eating allergenic foods, and 200 of them die.
Foods that most commonly cause allergies include: cow's milk (especially in children), eggs, fish and shellfish, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, soy protein, legumes and wheat.
A 2001 sample survey by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that one quarter of the companies failed to list all ingredients on their products, and nearly half did not check to make sure labels showed all of the ingredients. Of all the products sampled, 25 percent had undisclosed traces of peanut, and 11 percent had unlisted traces of egg, another common allergen. The FDA requires the listing of even trace amounts of foods that can set off allergic reactions.
Claim
Up to 30 percent of the public think they have a food allergy to milk, fruit, juices or tomatoes. In fact, they have intolerance to certain foods - lactose intolerance for instance.
Narrower
Aggravated by
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems