Food Labelling - Do We Need More?

My Weekly’s favourite GP Dr Sarah Jarvis from TV and radio writes for you

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Food allergies can be deadly, and they’re on the rise. Among the most common culprits are peanuts, other nuts, seeds like sesame, egg, wheat flour, seafood and some fruits like strawberries and kiwis.

There’s a fundamental difference between food allergy and food intolerance. In allergy, your immune system (which normally helps you fight off infection) turns on your body and attacks it. This could be a local reaction, or a “generalised” reaction that affects your whole body. There are two kinds of generalised reactions. Non-IgE medicated reactions an take many hours to come on. IgE mediated reactions come on in minutes, even seconds.

If you have a severe food allergy, even the tiniest exposure to something you’re allergic to can bring on this reaction – a trace of nut because food you’re eating has been prepared on a surface where nuts were previously placed could trigger a reaction.