ALLERGIES. Food allergy has been recognized since the time of Hippocrates. People with adverse reactions to food can be difficult to evaluate because overlap exists between true food allergy and toxic and other reactions to chemicals or other food ingredients. The incidence of food allergy is increasing in the industrialized world, raising questions about the interactive effects between environmental and genetic factors. There is a considerable burden on society in terms of cost of treatment, death from anaphylactic reactions, and the anxiety produced by real or perceived food allergy. Avoidance of the food is the current treatment, but new strategies are being developed.

Definitions

Adverse reactions to the ingestion of food that can be reproduced is termed intolerance or hypersensitivity. Since this does not imply an underlying cause, it may encompass...