Shinga at Breath Spa for Kids continued her investigation into the Allergy UK's promotion of food allergies and intolerance in the UK with an excellent post “On Wanting to Vent My Rage Following Sloppy Journalism: Food Allergy and Intolerance.” This is such an important issue that affects every aspect of health and well-being and I would like to expound upon it and add the American perspective.

You may remember that Allergy UK, as part of their Food Allergy and Intolerance Week, released the results of a survey, The Stolen Lives Report. In it, Muriel Simmons, Chief Executive of Allergy UK wrote:

It is generally accepted that 2% of the population suffer from IgE-mediated food allergy and anything up to 45% suffer from some form of food intolerance. In our survey of 5,200 people it emerged that 59% of the people responding reported regarding themselves as having a food intolerance and 41% considered that they had classical food allergy.

So more than half of the population is supposed to be suffering from intolerances to food, with their symptoms even appearing two days after eating the offending food. The symptoms attributed to food intolerance, according to Allergy UK , include:

Aches and pains 6.1%

Bloating, indigestion, diarrhea 19.7%

Rashes 5.7%

Lethargy and anxiety 11.9%

Coughing and wheezing 8%

Headaches 5.6%

Runny or stuffy nose 6%

Suffering more than one symptom 37%