A Cookeville allergist said food allergies are increasingly common across the country.
Dr. William Travis Cain said food allergies happen when the immune system negatively reacts to certain foods, causing a reaction. Cain said food allergies are becoming more common in both kids and adults due to factors like increased screenings, a cleaner society, and genetics.
“A lot of people are born with the tendency to have allergies,” Cain said. “Food allergies are sort of the first manifestation for a lot of people for the allergy pathway. And unfortunately, it can just happen with exposure to foods in the right individual and the right immune system.”
Cain said the most well known food allergies are to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish, but allergies to dairy, eggs, wheat and soy are also common. Cain said symptoms can include skin irritation, stomach problems, hives, or even death.
Cain said skin and blood testing may help in diagnosing a food allergy, but history with a certain food is just as relevant.
“Blood testing misses about 25 percent of the time,” Cain said. “Skin testing has a better catch rate as far as a screen test, but there can be some false positives with both. That’s why it comes back to the history of the food reaction.”
Cain said food allergies are often not diagnosed until there is a reaction.
Cain said people with food allergies should be careful about accidental exposure to foods that might produce a reaction. Cain said the general pubic is aware of food allergies, but it is still difficult to avoid exposure due to a lack of clarity of ingredients in food labels.
“The food industry will label things with other names that really are say, lecithin, which may be egg or soy based, but they just see lecithin,” Cain said. ” So we’re trying to continue to push food manufacturers to put the labels on there.”
Cain said a restaurants should add potential allergens to menus, and those changes are becoming more common.
Cain is a Physician of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology.
