Food Allergy Quiz
Do you or does someone in your family have a food allergy? Take this quiz and learn
how to better cope with this condition.
1. Many people think they or someone in their family has a food allergy, but they
probably don't.
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Fewer than 1 in 10 children and 2 in 50 adults have proven food allergies. But many
people think they have food allergies.
2. Food intolerance can be more serious than a food allergy.
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Food intolerance means you have digestive tract symptoms after eating a certain type
of food. For example, lactose intolerance can cause gas, bloating, and belly pain
after drinking milk. A food allergy (hypersensitivity) causes your immune system to
react strongly to a food. For example, a peanut allergy can cause life-threatening
symptoms. Food intolerances can be very uncomfortable. But they are not life threatening.
3. True food allergies tend to run in families with food allergies. Or they run in
families with other kinds of allergies, such as hay fever or asthma.
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Also, someone with two allergic parents is more likely to develop food allergies than
someone with one allergic parent.
4. Thoroughly cooking a problem food will prevent it from causing an allergic reaction.
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Food allergens are parts of the food that cause an allergic reaction. They are proteins
within the food. These proteins aren't usually broken down by the heat of cooking
. In some cases, a person with a food allergy may be able to eat cooked foods but
not the raw foods.. Talk with an allergist before eating any food that you have been
allergic to in the past.
5. An allergic reaction to food usually starts hours after eating.
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An allergic reaction usually starts within a few minutes. But symptoms can begin up
to 2 hours after eating the food. You may first have itching in the mouth as you start
to eat the food. If you have severe food allergy symptoms, the mouth itching can quickly
lead to more serious symptoms. These include hives, coughing, shortness of breath,
swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, and drop in blood pressure. In some people this happens
within minutes of eating a food. For other people, the symptoms take longer to develop.
The amount of food eaten can affect how fast symptoms appear and get worse. Exercise,
exercise, illness, or asthma also can affect this.
6. An allergic reaction to peanuts can be serious or even fatal, but children often
outgrow this allergy.
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Children are more likely to outgrow allergies to milk, eggs, or soy than allergies
to peanuts, fish, or shrimp.
7. People who are allergic to ragweed might get an itchy mouth when eating cantaloupe,
particularly during ragweed season.
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This is called cross-reactivity. Proteins in melons are similar to proteins in ragweed.
People with ragweed allergies might find that eating cantaloupe will cause itching
in the mouth. An itchy mouth is not often a symptom of a severe allergy. But if a
food causes your mouth to itch, don't eat it again until you talk with your allergist.
8. Sometimes a case of food poisoning can be confused with a food allergy.
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Meat contaminated with bacteria can cause what seems to be an allergic reaction. But
it's really a form of food poisoning. Some fish that are spoiled or kept at too warm
a temperature have high levels of a chemical called histamine. This may cause what
appears to be an allergic reaction in some people. This reaction is called scromboid
(histamine) toxicity.
9. The only way to treat a food allergy is by not eating the food.
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Once you and your healthcare provider have identified the food that you are sensitive
to, you'll need to remove the food from your diet. Do this even though other types
of treatments are available or being developed. To remove the food, read the detailed
ingredient list for each food before you eat it. Many allergy-producing foods such
as peanuts, eggs, and milk appear in foods that you may not think they would be in.
For example, peanuts are often used as a protein source. Eggs are used in some salad
dressings. alk with your healthcare provider about treatments available for food allergies.
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