[1][4] Common foods involved include cow's milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, soy, wheat, and sesame.

[7] Some types of food allergies among children resolve with age, including those to milk, eggs, and soy; while others such as to nuts and shellfish typically do not.

[13] A severe case of an allergic reaction, caused by symptoms affecting the respiratory tract and blood circulation, is called anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis occurs when IgE antibodies are involved, and areas of the body that are not in direct contact with the food become affected and show symptoms.

[36] Balsam of Peru, which is in various foods, is in the "top five" allergens most commonly causing patch test reactions in people referred to dermatology clinics.

[39][34] For example, inhaling airborne particles in a farm-scale or factory-scale peanut shelling/crushing environment, or from cooking, can induce respiratory effects in allergic individuals.

[34][42] Food allergies develop more easily in people with the atopic syndrome, a very common combination of diseases: allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, eczema, and asthma.

Other formulas, based on free amino acids, are the least antigenic and provide complete nutritional support in severe forms of milk allergy.

Coupled with signals provided by IL-4, this interaction stimulates the B cell to begin production of a large amount of a particular type of antibody known as IgE.

Cross-linking of the IgE and Fc receptors occurs when more than one IgE-receptor complex interacts with the same allergenic molecule and activates the sensitized cell.

Activated mast cells and basophils undergo a process called degranulation, during which they release histamine and other inflammatory chemical mediators (cytokines, interleukins, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins) from their granules into the surrounding tissue causing several systemic effects, such as vasodilation, mucous secretion, nerve stimulation, and smooth-muscle contraction.

[medical citation needed] Important differential diagnoses are: Breastfeeding for more than four months may prevent atopic dermatitis, cow's milk allergy, and wheezing in early childhood.

In some cases, hypersensitive reactions can be triggered by exposures to allergens through skin contact, inhalation, kissing, participation in sports, blood transfusions, cosmetics, and alcohol.

[81] Early introduction of peanut and egg alongside other solids, or by one year of age, may help prevent development of food allergy.

[83][84] The most frequent reported cases of reactions by inhalation of allergenic foods were due to peanut, seafood, legumes, tree nut, and cow's milk.

Steroids can also be taken orally or through injection, by which every part of the body can be reached and treated, but a long time is usually needed for these to take effect.

In the treatment of allergies, common immunotherapies seek to desensitize the immune system by gradually exposing the body to allergens in increasing amounts.

[90] Omalizumab, an injectable asthma treatment drug sold under the brand name Xolair, was approved in the United States in February 2024 to reduce severe reactions to accidental exposure to food allergens.

For instance, allergy to buckwheat flour, used for soba noodles, is more common in Japan than peanuts, tree nuts or foods made from soy beans.

[97] Also, shellfish allergy is the most common cause of anaphylaxis in adults and adolescents particularly in East Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand.

The Culinary Institute of America, a premier school for chef training, has courses in allergen-free cooking and a separate teaching kitchen.

This concerns labeling for ingredients present unintentionally as a consequence of cross-contact or cross-contamination at any point along the food chain (during raw material transportation, storage or handling, due to shared equipment for processing and packaging, etc.).

[148][147][149] One concern is that genetic engineering could make an allergy-provoking food more allergic, meaning that smaller portions would suffice to set off a reaction.

In 1998 StarLink brand corn restricted to animals was detected in the human food supply, leading to first a voluntary and then an FDA-mandated recall.

[154] Media portrayals of food allergy in television and film are not accurate, often used for comedic effect or underplaying the potential severity of an allergic reaction.

[156] In the animated film Peter Rabbit, the farm owner is attacked by being pelted with blackberries, causing an anaphylactic reaction requiring emergency treatment with epinephrine.

In season 1, episode 16 of The Big Bang Theory Howard Wolowitz deliberately consumes a peanut-containing food bar (and has a serious reaction) just to delay Leonard from returning to his apartment where a surprise birthday party is being arranged.

[156] Viewing of humorous portrayals of food allergies has been shown to have a negative effect on related health policy support due to low perceived seriousness.

[95] Instead of oral ingestion, skin barrier disruption in conditions like eczema, for instance, was suggested to cause allergic sensitization in animal and human infants.

[95] Environmental and lifestyle factors, such as early life nutrition and antibiotic treatment, may contribute to food allergy prevalence by affecting gut microbial composition, and thus, intestinal immune homeostasis in infants and young children.