A food allergy occurs when the immune system responds to a harmless food as if it were a threat. The first time a person with food allergy is exposed to the food, no symptoms occur. But the body has been now been primed, and when the person eats the food again, an allergic response occurs. An allergic reaction to food usually takes place within a few minutes to several hours after exposure to the allergen. The process of eating and digesting food and the location of immune cells involved in the allergic reaction process both affect the timing and location of the reaction.

1. Fitango Education
Health Topics
Food Allergies
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2. Overview
A food allergy occurs when the immune system
responds to a harmless food as if it were a threat.
The first time a person with food allergy is exposed
to the food, no symptoms occur. But the body has
been now been primed, and when the person eats
the food again, an allergic response occurs.
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3. Overview
An allergic reaction to food usually takes place
within a few minutes to several hours after
exposure to the allergen. The process of eating and
digesting food and the location of immune cells
involved in the allergic reaction process both affect
the timing and location of the reaction.
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4. Prevention
You can only prevent the symptoms of food allergy
by avoiding the allergenic food. After you and your
healthcare professional have identified the food(s)
to which you are sensitive, you must remove them
from your diet.
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5. Prevention
**Read food labels**
Read the list of ingredients on the label of each
prepared food that you are considering eating.
Many allergens, such as peanut, egg, and
milk, may appear in prepared foods you normally
would not associate them with.
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6. Prevention
**Read food labels**
Since 2006, U.S. food manufacturers have been
required by law to list the ingredients of prepared
foods. In addition, food manufacturers must use
plain language to disclose whether their products
contain (or may contain) any of the top eight
allergenic foods—egg, milk, peanut, tree
nuts, soy, wheat, shellfish, and fish.
**Keep clean**
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7. Prevention
**Read food labels**
Simple measures of cleanliness can remove most
allergens from the environment of a person with
food allergy. For example, simply washing your
hands with soap and water will remove peanut
allergens, and most household cleaners will
remove allergens from surfaces.
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8. Treatment
**Unintentional exposure**
When you have food allergies, you must be
prepared to treat an unintentional exposure. Talk
to your healthcare professional and develop a plan
to protect yourself in case of an unintentional
exposure to the food. For example, you should
take the following steps:
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9. Treatment
**Unintentional exposure**
-- Wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace
-- Carry an auto-injector device containing
epinephrine (adrenaline)
-- Seek medical help immediately
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10. Facts
-- There are eight major food allergens in the
United States: milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts
(cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts), soy, wheat, fi
sh, and crustacean shellfish
(lobster, crabs, shrimp).
-- In the United States, food allergy affects an
estimated 5 percent of children under the age of 5
and an estimated 4 percent of people aged 5 and
older.
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11. Facts
-- The prevalence of food allergy increased by 18
percent from 1997 to 2007.
-- Estimated prevalence rates in the United States
for individual food allergens include the following:
-- Peanut: 0.6 percent
-- Tree nuts: 0.4–0.5 percent
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12. Facts
-- Milk and egg: no reliable data available from U.S.
studies, but based on data obtained outside the
United States, this rate is likely to be 1 to 2 percent
for young children
-- All seafood: 0.6 percent in children and 2.8
percent in adults
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13. Facts
-- Most children eventually outgrow
milk, egg, soy, and wheat allergy. Outgrowing a
childhood food allergy may occur as late as the
teenage years.
-- Children are much less likely to outgrow peanut
and tree nut allergy.
-- If someone has food allergy, he or she is more
likely to have asthma or eczema.
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14. Facts
-- A person is more likely to have a severe allergic
reaction to food if he or she also has asthma or if
he or she has previously had an anaphylactic
reaction.
-- Allergic reactions to food can range from mild to
life-threatening.
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15. Facts
-- A person cannot tell how severe his or her next
food-allergic reaction will be based on the severity
of previous reactions.
-- Even with attempts to avoid food, accidental
exposures leading to an allergic reaction do occur
at a rate of nearly once per year in young children
who are highly allergic.
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16. Facts
-- Because of the high risk of allergic reactions to
food, many people with food allergy are prescribed
auto-injector epinephrine, which should be with
them at all times.
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