Food allergy: An important health hazard

An adverse reaction to a food or food component that involves the immune system is called as food allergy. Food allergies are most often immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated but may also be non-IgE or cell-mediated. On exposure of a sensitive individual to a particular food, the allergen stimulates lymphocytes to produce the IgE-antibody and attached to the surface of the mast cells in different tissues of the body. However, non-IgE mediated food allergy is observed in the first few years of life and it is an easily treatable clinical entity. Food allergy is of several types but Type I, Type II, Type III and Type IV are of key importance. The most common foods having allergens are peanuts, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish, soybean, wheat etc and these foods account for about 90% of all allergic reactions in humans. People suffering from food allergy can undergo several problems such as digestive disorders, respiratory and circulatory symptoms, skin reactions and sometimes anaphylactic shock. Food processing such as ultrafiltration in milk, steam cooking of kiwi fruits and peeling of peaches may reduce the food allergens up to a certain extent. Therefore, it is utmost important to create awareness in people towards food allergy and save the precious life.