Food allergies pose very serious health-related problems in a relatively small section of the population. The majority of the people are not aware of these and their ill-effects particularly when these are caused by a major food group, making meal planning and balancing nutrition a scary task even for nutrition experts and educated persons.

Terms like food allergy, hypersensitivity and intolerance are used to depict various reactions of food, their intensity and adverse symptoms like the appearance of rashes or vomiting immediately after the consumption of a particular food item by an individual. For example, gluten, an important component of wheat, shows its allergic reaction in the form of diarrhea, vomiting etc.

Food intolerance, on the other hand, is a result of the deficiency of a particular enzyme or any other factor in the body which, if deficient in lactase (an enzyme), cannot digest lactose, an important milk constituent, resulting in abdominal distension, cramping and diarrhoea. Such allergy symptoms, caused by allergens or antigens like dust, pollen, perfumes, moulds, fungi, fur, food etc. normally marked themselves within a few minutes or a few hours after the meal is taken. Heredity also plays an important role in the development of allergies, along with physical and emotional stress.

Allergy to milk comes out in the form of vomiting, diarrhoea and for abdominal distension. Egg, meat and fish too are major offenders with symptoms like dermatitis, oedema, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Vegetables, fruit and fruit juices, in raw or cooked form, mushroom — a type of fungi — and yeast can also cause allergies. So is the case with soybeans, peanuts, fats and oils and legumes along with certain preservatives and additives.

The intensity and symptoms vary from person to person. In some cases, the skin may show signs of oedema, dermatitis, fever, blisters, diarrhoea, nausea, colic pain in infants, bronchitis, fatigue, irritability, tension, muscle or joint pain and general restlessness.

Full attention and medical care at the earliest are needed in the case of the onset of even miserable signs of any allergic symptom. The diagnosis and treatment may require various tests, complete dietary history, particularly an account of provocation tests in respect of foods, plus skin tests. The treatment includes the exclusion of suspected food products or causal agents which may be any of such products — egg, meat, milk, wheat, fruits or vegetables.

Awareness and meticulous care are the two most important factors in the treatment of allergies. These include reading labels, not consuming products of uncertain nature, being aware of food substitutes and their use, for example, rice for wheat and Soya milk for milk and cooked vegetables in place of raw vegetables or vice versa in some cases. Patients should be cautious about the use of improperly washed utensils or stirring spoons. It is easy to avoid food allergy by taking proper care.