Telegraph

Food allergies 'are often just a trendy excuse for gaining weight' By Deepa Shah (Filed: 05/11/2001)

BRITAIN'S growing obsession with food allergies is faddish and largely unfounded, according to a report to be published this week.

Around one in five Britons believe they suffer from allergies and intolerance to foods that are often wheat and dairy-based.

However, research by the British Nutrition Foundation claims that less than one per cent of adults have a potentially life-threatening food allergy and less than two per cent are affected by a milder food intolerance.

Dr Sarah Schenker, a dietician and spokesman for the foundation, said allergy "experts" were charging for tests that had "no scientific validity" and were giving people potentially dangerous diet advice.

She added: "About 20 per cent of the UK population perceive themselves to have an intolerance or allergy to food. It seems like the trendy thing to do now. Quite wrongly, the reactions have been blamed as the cause of weight gain and niggling health problems such as headaches, spots, upset digestion and general aches and pains.

"We are very concerned that people seem to be using food allergies and intolerance as an excuse for weight gain rather than cutting down on food and doing more exercise."

The two-year survey of other worldwide studies found that children were slightly more prone to food allergies, which strike between one and two per cent, and food intolerance, which affect between five and eight per cent.

Dr Schenker said: "If people are told to cut a lot of food out of their diet, they can lose the overall balance of the diet and that is not good. Misdiagnosis may also result in the delayed treatment of a real health problem.

"A lot of people say they have an allergy to wheat. But the truth of the matter is that if you have a wheat allergy you suffer from diarrhoea and your gut can be damaged and the last thing you would be is overweight. In very rare cases, people can be allergic to a component in wheat."

However, Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of Inside Story, a magazine for food allergy sufferers, says the problem should not be underestimated. She said: "There are obviously some people for whom food allergies are a fad, but there are a far greater number who have a genuine problem.

"The problem is that while a food allergy is relatively easily diagnosed with a blood test, food intolerances are much more amorphous, with no clear diagnostic test.

"Intolerances can also come and go. But it would be unwise to discount diet when looking at why someone is unwell."

Muriel Simmons, the chief executive of the British Allergy Foundation, also challenged the foundation's figures. She said: "Going by the cries for help that we get, it is far more common. A true food allergy is life-threatening and even a food intolerance can make life very, very miserable."

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001