Foods that cause allergies

You can be allergic to any kind of food. But in the UK, 90% of all food allergies are due to eight foods, the so-called “big eight.” These are:

• milk
• eggs
• peanuts
• tree nuts (e.g Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts)
• fish
• shellfish
• soya
• wheat

Children often outgrow allergies to milk, eggs and soya. Although 2% to 7% of babies under the age of one are allergic to cow milk, 75% will be free of it by the age of three.

Allergies to peanuts, shellfish and fish usually last throughout life.

In adults, the most common food allergies are to:

• nuts
• peanuts
• fish
• shellfish
• citrus fruit
• wheat

Both cooked and uncooked forms of the culprit foods are able to cause an allergic reaction.

Allergy Cross Reactions

People can be allergic to more than one unrelated food allergen e.g. nuts and fish.

Sometimes an allergy to a single food allergen causes you to be allergic to foods in the same food group. This is known as cross reactivity. For example, people with a peanut allergy may find out they are also allergic to other legumes such as beans and lentils.

This is also why it is important to know as much as possible about the food allergen which causes your allergy, to develop an awareness of foods which could potentially cause an allergic reaction.

This article was published on Tue 25 August 2009