Genuine allergy is less common than the testing industry implies. Which tests mean something, and which mean nothing.
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A food allergy is an immune reaction to a food. The commonest type is IgE-mediated, which produces symptoms within minutes to two hours — hives, swelling, vomiting, and in severe cases anaphylaxis.
Genuine food allergy affects roughly 2% of adults and 5 to 8% of children in the UK. Far more people believe they have one, which is not a criticism — it is what happens when a large industry sells tests that do not work.
Two things on this page are worth the read even if you know the basics.
The first is that the advice on introducing allergenic foods to babies reversed completely. Delaying peanut and egg was standard advice for years. The evidence now shows the opposite: early introduction reduces the risk of allergy developing.
The second is that most tests sold direct to the public do not test for allergy at all. IgG panels, hair analysis and intolerance kits have no diagnostic validity, and acting on them causes real harm.
Delayed reactions are real but far harder to pin down, and blood tests do not detect them — which is exactly the gap the intolerance-testing market exploits.
Itching and tingling in the mouth on eating raw apple, stone fruit, carrot or nuts, in someone with hay fever. It is caused by cross-reaction with pollen proteins, is usually mild, and typically disappears when the food is cooked. It is very common, frequently mistaken for serious nut allergy, and worth having clarified.
Lactose intolerance is an enzyme problem causing bloating, wind and diarrhoea. No immune system involvement, no risk of anaphylaxis.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition, not an allergy, and needs a specific blood test taken while still eating gluten.
Food intolerance generally causes gut symptoms without immune involvement.
The distinction is not pedantry. It changes the risk, the testing and the treatment entirely.
What was eaten, how much, how long before symptoms began, what the symptoms were, how long they lasted, and whether the same thing happened on another occasion. A clear immediate reaction to a specific food, reproduced, is close to diagnostic on its own.
IgG or IgG4 food antibody panels. IgG to food reflects exposure, not allergy — it is essentially a record of what you eat. These are sold widely, often for a great deal of money, and the professional allergy societies advise against them.
Also without validity: hair analysis, kinesiology, Vega testing, cytotoxic testing and iridology.
A positive IgE test means sensitisation, not allergy. Testing a wide panel in someone eating those foods happily produces positives that mean nothing clinically — and the result is an unnecessarily restricted diet, anxiety, and in children genuine nutritional risk.
Test the foods the history points to. Not a panel.
Allergy assesses well remotely, because the diagnosis rests almost entirely on a careful history — what was eaten, how long before symptoms, what happened, and whether it has been reproducible.
Call 999 and use an adrenaline pen if available for:
See anaphylaxis for what to do, in order.
Seek prompt assessment if:
Book a routine consultation if: you want a reaction properly assessed, have a private test result you do not understand, or want to know whether you need an adrenaline pen.
Introduce allergenic foods early, not late. Guidance used to advise delaying peanut and egg. Trial evidence showed the opposite: introducing them from around six months, alongside other solids, reduces the chance of allergy developing.
For babies with severe eczema or existing egg allergy — the highest-risk group — get advice before introducing peanut, since these are the infants in whom it should be done carefully rather than avoided.
Once introduced, keep the food in the diet regularly. Sporadic exposure is less protective.
Do not cut out multiple food groups on the basis of an intolerance test. It rarely resolves symptoms, it makes eating miserable, and in children it risks growth and nutrition.
Do not test a suspected allergy at home by trying the food. Reintroduction is planned and supervised.
If a food has caused a reaction involving breathing or circulation, you need an NHS allergy service. No amount of private testing substitutes for a supervised challenge or immunotherapy.
This page follows NICE CG116 on food allergy in children and young people, NICE CG134 on anaphylaxis, and guidance from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Current UK advice is that allergenic foods can be introduced from around six months as part of weaning, and that delaying introduction does not prevent allergy. Trial evidence indicates early, sustained introduction of peanut reduces the risk of peanut allergy. Infants with severe eczema or established egg allergy should be assessed before peanut is introduced.
Reviewed against NICE CG116, CG134 and BSACI guidance current at the date shown above.
No. IgG food panels measure exposure, not allergy — they largely tell you what you have been eating.
NICE specifically advises against them, and acting on one usually means removing foods for no reason.
Allergy involves the immune system and can be life-threatening. Intolerance does not and is not.
Lactose intolerance causes bloating and diarrhoea; milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis. Entirely different problems that happen to involve the same food.
No — that advice reversed. Introducing allergenic foods from around six months, and keeping them in the diet, reduces the risk of allergy.
Get advice first if your baby has severe eczema or a known egg allergy, since those infants need it done carefully rather than avoided.
That pattern is usually pollen food syndrome, a cross-reaction with birch pollen in people with hay fever.
It is usually mild and often disappears when the food is cooked — but it is worth having properly assessed rather than assumed, particularly where nuts are involved.
Then you are sensitised, not allergic. A positive test without a matching clinical history does not mean you should avoid the food.
This is the commonest harm from panel testing, and it is why testing should follow the history.
Yes. Shellfish and tree nut allergies commonly begin in adults.
There is also a tick-bite-associated allergy to red meat, which causes delayed reactions three to six hours after eating and is easily missed because of the timing.
Milk and egg allergies commonly resolve during childhood. Peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish more often persist.
Reintroduction is planned by an allergy service, never tried at home.
If you have had a reaction involving breathing or circulation, yes. Also considered where allergy coexists with asthma.
That decision should be made properly rather than assumed either way, and if you have pens you should be carrying two.
Not before coeliac testing. Removing gluten first makes the test falsely negative, and coeliac disease is a diagnosis worth having formally.
Get tested while still eating gluten, then decide.
August 30, 2026
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