Think you’ve got a food allergy? Prove it.
While as many as 20 percent of American adults believe they’re allergic to one food or another, a new study puts the figure closer to one in 10. What’s more, only one in 20 Americans has been officially diagnosed with a food allergy. The results were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago surveyed more than 40,000 Americans and found that only about one in 10 were allergic to one or more foods. The most common culprit was shellfish, an allergy shared by an estimated 7.2 million adults in the US. Other allergens included milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, eggs, wheat, soy and sesame seeds.
Nearly half of those with an allergy developed the condition in adulthood, and 38 percent had reactions severe enough to send them to the emergency room. The study also encourages people who believe they have an allergy to have that diagnosis made by a doctor, who could prescribe lifesaving epinephrine. Those who avoid some foods needlessly may be denying themselves a wholesome, balanced diet.
https://nypost.com/2019/01/07/about-half-of-adult-food-allergy-claims-are-even-true-study-says/
