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The Causes of Food Allergy

Food allergy and intolerance is a condition that results in unfavorable reactions in certain people to specific kind or type of food. An exact figure of sufferers from food allergies is hard to find out as a lot of cases are not diagnosed. Acute reactions have lead to death and life-threatening situations giving rise to certain policies to most common manufacturers or retailers of food products. Food labeling has become a norm to even minute food products. Honesty in food labeling has been advocated and has become a law in some countries. Thus, accidental consumption of food triggering allergies has been cut down over the years.

The following is a list of the most frequent causes of food allergy with corresponding uncommon names to help you identify them especially in reading food labels.

Peanuts (also called groundnut, Latin name: Apios Americana; arachis hypogaea)

Pecan is a tree nut which belongs to hickory genus Carya of the family Juglandaceae. Pecan is under the classification carya illinoensis.

Walnuts are a tree nut indigenous to Balkans area stretching to China but are also currently cultivated in several areas with temperate or moderate climate. Walnuts are included in the family juglandaceae in the order juglandales. The familiar or English walnut is under the classification of juglas regia and the black walnut is classified as juglans nigra.

Nuts such as acorns and hazelnuts are also included in the list. Hazelnuts are under the family Betulaceae. The familiar hazelnut belongs to the class corylis avellana.

Brazil nut is produced by Brazil nut trees, which is a round, woody seed vessel similar to the size of a grapefruit which enclose as numerous as twenty four or so seeds or nuts. This is what is referred to as Brazil nut. It has triangular shape and brown colored hard and rough shell. Inside the shell is a white kernel that is quite oily. This specific tree nut is under the family lecythidaceae. It is belongs to the class bertholletia excelsa.

Almonds emerged from the rosaceae family. It has two general kind according to fruit, which is sweet and bitter. Dwarf almonds are under the class prunus tenella while the taller kind is under the class prunus dulcis.

Pistachios and cashew belong to the same anacardiaceae family. Pistachio belongs to genus pistacia while cashew belongs to class anacadium occidentale.

Fish, shrimps, lobsters, crabs and some other sea foods are major cause of food allergy.

Milk, eggs, and other dairy products also trigger allergic reaction. However, mostly some are just intolerant to these food products especially milk. This is a condition known as lactose intolerance where the individual is not able to assimilate well any food that contains lactose. This is due to lactase deficiency. Lactase is an enzyme produced in the intestine lining with the specific function of breaking down lactose present in milk and other dairy products. Individuals with lactose intolerance can experience some discomfort upon consumption of milk or dairy products. Symptoms include stomach ache, headache, flatulence, bloating, fatty stools, and diarrhea.

Apples are widely grown in temperate areas. Apples belong to rosaceae family under the genus malus. Individuals allergic to apples should not only avoid the fresh fruit but processed food products with apple as the main ingredient. Such food products are the most common apple pie, baked apples, dried apples, apple strudel, apple slices, tined sauce, apple juice, apple cider vinegar and even some brandy especially from France.

Berries are abundant in cooler areas. Strawberries and blueberries are common in the market. There are however a lot of wild berries but these are not commercialized and is not frequently eaten.

Citrus fruits belong to the genus of evergreen trees and shrubs from the rue family. Citrus varieties include grapefruit, citron, lime, lemon, pomelo or shaddock, orange and tangerine, and bergamot which is actually a pear-shaped kind of orange.

Melons belong to the gourd family. There are many kinds of melon but not all are common in the market. We have winter melons, musk, cantaloupe, and watermelons which is probably the most known kind.

Winter melons have different kinds as well. We have the Persian which has a dark rind and orange color pulp. Another is the honeydew which has a smooth rind and green color pulp. Still another is the Crenshaw which has a wrinkled, dark green rind and pink color pulp. Lastly, we have the casaba kind which has a wrinkled, yellow rind and either white or green color pulp.

Musk melons have a ribbed with distinct netting and quite soft rind. Its pulp or flesh has a musky scent and is salmon-colored.

Ogen melons have pale orange pulp and orange (darker than the pulp) ribbed with green color rind.

Watermelons are oblong but mostly round in shape. It has light green striped with dark green rind, and most round watermelons have a plain dark green rind.

Melons belong to the cucurbitaceae family. True cantaloupes, musk, and winter melons belong to class cucumis melo. Each belongs to different variety however. Winter melons are under cantalupensis variety and musk melons are under reticulates variety. Watermelons, on the other hand, belong to citrullus lamatus.