​

• There are 2 types of true allergies: one is IgE allergy which shows on on testing (skin price testing or blood tests), and the other is cell mediated allergies which do not show up up on testing

• Symptoms can range from mild to severe with the most severe being anaphylaxis (associated with IgE allergies and rarely happens)

• Symptoms of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) affect breathing and/or our heart and may include: difficult/noisy breathing, swelling of tongue, swelling/tightness in throat, difficulty talking/hoarse voice, wheeze or persistent cough, persistent dizziness and/or collapse, and becoming pale and floppy in young children. 

• IgE allergy symptoms typically start within minutes to 1 hour within eating or drinking the allergen and may include may include hives, itchiness, lip or tongue swelling, difficulty swallowing, throat tightening, chest tightness, trouble breathing, wheezing, and abrupt abdominal discomfort that may be associated with nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.

• ​Non IgE allergies (also called cell medicated allergies and T-cell mediated allergy) have a more delayed start of symptoms after eating or drinking the trigger allergen. Gut symptoms are more chronic than acute and may present as vomiting, diarrhoea, blood in the stool, and weight loss or poor growth. Examples of non IgE conditions include oeosinophiliac oesopaghitis, FPIES, (food protein induced enterocolitis syndrome), proctocolitis (blood in the stools), and enteropathy.

• Symptoms found to be consistently reproduced by food ingestion

• Food allergy is more common in people who have other allergies such as allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma or eczema.

​

More than 90% of food allergies are caused by the following protein foods: peanuts, tree nuts (eg macadamia), fish, shellfish, cow's milk, eggs, soy, wheat,  sesame and lupin. However, any food has the potential to be allergenic as all foods contain even small amounts of protein.

​

In Australia, the most common IgE food allergens are egg, peanut and cow's milk in children and tree nuts and seafood in adults.

​

The Food Standards Code requires these foods to be declared on labels whenever they are present as ingredients or as components of food additives or processing aids.

​

If you are have food symptoms (adult), chances are you are more likely to be suffering from food intolerances than a food allergy.

• Up to 2% of adult Australians have foods allergies

• It is thought that at least 10% of the population have intolerances.

​

If you have a food allergy as an adult then there is a 70% chance that you will also also suffer from food intolerances.

​

Allergies should be considered in babies or children with food symptoms. Allergies to milk, egg, wheat and soy are more common in  babies than older children and adults:

• infants less than 12 months of age (10%)

• children 1 - 5 years of age (4 - 8%) 

• older children 10 - 14 years (5%)

 

Milk, egg and soy allergies commonly resolve with age. Most young children grow out of their milk allergies by the 3-5 years of age, with 85% grown out of it by the age of 5. Roughly 50% of children grown out of their egg allergy by the age of 6 years. Peanut, tree nut, sesame, fish and shell fish allergies usually persist.

​