Food allergy patient journey
Food allergy symptoms are most common in babies and children but can appear at any age, and people can develop an allergy to foods they have eaten for years without any allergic reaction1.
Symptoms can appear a few minutes after ingesting a food and up to two hours later2. Food allergy reactions include a variety of clinical conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract, skin and lungs, as well as sometimes fatal anaphylaxis3.
Food allergy diagnosis is difficult and about 50-60% percent of all blood tests and skin prick tests will yield a “false positive” result4.
200–250 million people worldwide are affected by food allergy5.
Food allergy is likely to affect approximately 1 in 10 adults6, and 1 in 12 children7 in the U.S.
1. ACAAI. Food allergy. Online: https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/food/. Last accessed March 2024. 2. Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). Online: https://www. foodallergy.org/resources/common-questions. Last accessed March 2024. 3. Nature Review, Disease Primers. Food allergies. Harald Renz et al. Online: https://www.immunetolerance.org/ sites/default/files/Renz_Nat%20Rev%20Dis%20Primers_2018.pdf. Last accessed March 2024. 4. Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). Blood tests. Online: https://www.foodallergy. org/resources/blood-tests. Last accessed March 2024. 5. European Commission. Cordis. Point-of-care device based on KETs for diagnosis of food allergies: https://cordis.europa.eu/ project/id/768641/fr. Last accessed March 2024. 6. Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al. Prevalence and severity of food allergies among US adults JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(1):e185630. 7. Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al. The public health impact of parent reported childhood food allergies in the United States. Pediatrics. 2018;142(6):e20181235.