Food Allergy: Top 12 food allergens in India

If a person suffers from symptoms such as skin rashes, swelling of tongue, unconditional sneezing, breathing problems, etc. it is generally assumed to be caused due to seasonal change or pollen allergy or sun allergy etc., without considering another common possibility i.e. response to food allergy or food hypersensitivity.

Commonly, allergies are associated with abnormal immune response to allergens (various substances or factors which triggers allergic reaction), in which immune system wrongly recognizes a substance as harmful (foreign) and tries to destroy it by launching a range of protective measures, including releasing chemicals like histamine, which causes inflammation, itchy hives, stomach upset, etc. In fact only just a handful of foods can cause 90% of the allergic reactions related to food and the most common allergen in food is proteins. Food allergies can develop at any age. Some can appear in childhood and disappear later in life, while some may last forever. Although most food allergies cause mild and minor symptoms, some can cause severe reactions. There is no cure for food allergies and also no food processing tool has been identified which completely eliminates the allergens, but certain measures can be taken to prevent serious health consequences such as strict avoidance, knowledge and awareness, labeling of possible allergen ingredient on the processed/packaged food, etc. In India, food allergies have been found to cause approximately 30,000 emergency cases, 100 to 200 deaths per year and up to 3million cases have been reported from peanut allergy alone.

More than 160 food materials are identified as allergenic. The most common allergenic foods and commonly referred to as “priority food allergens” are cow’s milk and dairy products, peanuts, nuts, hen’s egg, wheat, sesame, soybeans, fish, shellfish, etc. They account for over 90% of all food allergic reactions. Other less common allergenic foods include legumes, and some fruits and fruit juices (e.g., kiwifruit, apple, grape) and vegetables (e.g., celeriac, carrots, onions), etc.

The most common food allergy signs and symptoms include: