Melanie Thomas, Flagler County Extension Director| The Daytona Beach News-Journal

A food allergy is an acquired hypersensitivity reaction to what is normally considered a safe food. Food allergies occur more often in children than in adults: 5%-8% of those age 4 or under and about 2% of adults are affected. Together, about 11 million Americans suffer from some degree of food allergy. Those with severe reactions may experience what is known as anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Annually, around 30,000 people receive life-saving emergency treatment and 150 fatalities occur.

While most food allergies in adults are caused by a small group of foods or food products, early in life food allergies can be caused by a wider variety of foods. About 90% of reported food allergies in children under the age of 4 are caused by dairy products, tree nuts, eggs, wheat and wheat products, peanuts, or soy and soy products.

Dairy, eggs, and soy allergies are commonly outgrown; peanut allergies are almost never outgrown. As an adult, the big eight foods (and their products) account for 90% of food allergies: cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, or their hybridized strains and products), crustaceans, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish, soybeans and peanuts.

A true allergy is caused by a person's immune system reacting to a food when first eaten. The body "remembers" that food and, when it is eaten again, the immune system overreacts in an excessive and potentially life-threatening way.

Although often misdiagnosed as a food allergy, food intolerance is different. Symptoms of food intolerance usually involve discomfort after eating the causal food, such as bloating, abdominal pain and sometimes diarrhea. Specifically, food intolerance is due to a problem with a persons metabolism, not their immune system. Lactose intolerance, for example, is caused by the inability to produce the digestive enzyme (lactase) that breaks down the sugars found in milk and other dairy products (lactose).

Studies suggest that 10% to 20% of adult Americans incorrectly believe that they or someone in their family has a food allergy. Proper medical authorities should be consulted for confirmation and guidance.

Allergic reactions to food may cause symptoms within seconds of consumption or the symptoms may take up to several hours to develop. Symptoms can occur locally or can be spread over the body or in multiple locations. Redness, itching and swelling (inflammation) are the most well-known and commonly associated symptoms, although several other types of symptoms are possible.

Symptoms associated with the digestive tract may include any one or more of the following:

The greatest danger of a hypersensitivity reaction, or anaphylactic response, is the possibility that air passageways will swell closed and suffocate the victim, or that the victim will go into shock, a state of decreased blood flow that is potentially life-threatening.

If a person has an allergy to a particular food, any meal with that food present, even as a flavoring, may cause an allergic response. If a person is allergic to peanuts, they will be sensitive to the consumption of any food that has peanuts or peanut products (peanut butter, peanut oil, chopped or diced peanuts, etc.) as an ingredient. Treatment or processing of a food does not affect its ability to cause an allergic response. It is important to carefully read food labels and ingredient lists if a person has a known food allergy.

For more information about this or other health and wellness topics, contact Melanie Thomas, Director of UF/IFAS Extension Flagler County at 386-437-7464 or e-mail mlthomas@ufl.edu.

Source: Keith R. Schneider, Rene Goodrich-Schneider, Soohyoun Ahn, Susie Richardson, Ploy Kurdmongkoltham, and Bruna Bertoldi; Food Allergies, FSHN0513, University of Florida

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EXTENSION NOTES What are food allergies and how are they managed? - Daytona Beach News-Journal