The Five Most Common Food Allergies (2024)

FAQs

What are the big 5 food allergies? ›

What Are Major Food Allergens? While many different foods can cause allergic reactions, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) identifies eight foods as major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.

The Big-8. A group of the eight major allergenic foods is often referred to as the Big-8¹ and comprises milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybean.

Food allergies are more common than you might think. Nearly 32 million people in the United States have reported having them. That's almost 10% of the population with allergies to milk, soy, wheat, shellfish or peanuts.

The 10 most common allergies include foods, animals, pollen, mold, dust mites, medications, latex, insect stings, co*ckroaches, and perfumes/household chemicals. Allergies are a condition in which the body's immune system considers a substance as a harmful “invader” and overreacts to it.

Results from the study have generated five hypotheses relating to increases in the prevalence of food allergy that, Professor Allen says, can be summarised simply as the five 'D's' - diet, dogs, dirt, vitamin D and dry skin.

Aquagenic urticaria, or water allergy, is an extremely rare condition. It causes individuals to develop itchy and painful hives when their skin comes into contact with water.

The most uncommon food allergens include bananas, beef, carrots, celery, corn, fish, garlic, ham, honey, lamb, lemon, malt, onion, orange, pork, pineapple, rice, salmon, sugar, turkey, and vanilla. Reading the ingredient list is the best way to determine if a food contains an allergen.

The types of allergic disease include allergic rhinitis (hay fever), eczema, hives, asthma and food allergy. Food, medications, insect stings and exposure to latex can trigger anaphylaxis, which is a serious allergic reaction that happens very quickly and in some instances may be fatal.

There are many different tree nuts, including almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, pecans, and cashews.

What foods make you itch? ›

FOOD ALLERGY

The majority of food allergic reactions in the United States are triggered by peanuts, tree nuts, cow's milk, eggs, soy, wheat, seafood, and shellfish.

Major Food Allergens

Congress passed the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA). This law identified eight foods as major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.

Any food may cause an allergic reaction, but 90% of food allergies in children are caused by just 6 common foods or food groups—milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and wheat.

Common foods like peanut, tree nuts, milk, egg, soy, wheat, shellfish and fish cause most allergic reactions. Study indicates that half of all fatal food allergy reactions begin outside the home. Some states have – and more are expected to – pass legislation requiring food allergy training.

However, peanuts, tree nuts and cow's milk tend to cause the most life-threatening reaction, anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is an acute reaction in which the throat and airways close and blood pressure plummets as the body releases an antibody intended to eject the unwelcome invader.

The 14 allergens are: celery, cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, barley and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if the sulphur dioxide and sulphites are at a ...