Other Common Food Allergies (eggs, peanuts, wheat, fish, shellfish)

The incidence of allergic disease, including food allergy, appears to be increasing. Although any food has the potential to cause an allergic reaction, certain foods are more common causes of allergy than others. A correct diagnosis is important to ensure optimal management and a nutritionally balanced diet.

• Egg Allergy: the four major allergenic proteins of hen's egg white are ovomucoid, ovalbumin, ovotransfferin and lysozyme. The most allergenic is ovalbumin, makes up fifty percent of an egg white.
  
  
• Peanuts Allergy: the most serious of the hypersensitivity reactions to foods due to its persistence and high risk of severe anaphylaxis. Peanuts allergy are generally considered life long, even if recent studies indicate that children diagnosed with allergy can outgrow it.
  
  
• Wheat Allergy: an adverse reactions to one or more protein fractions of wheat, including albumin, globulin, gliadin and glutenin (gluten).
  
  
• Gluten allergy: also known as coeliac disease, is an inappropriate T-cell-mediated immune response against ingested gluten: in genetically predisposed people the intestinal tract produces an enzyme that attacks the villi in the small intestine and restricts them from absorbing nutrients.
  
  
• Seafood allergy (to fish and shellfish): caused by some of the more common fish, like cod, salmon, trout, herring, sardines, bass, orange roughy, swordfish, halibut, and tuna, and shellfish (shrimp, crab, crayfish, lobster, oysters, clams, scallops, mussels, squid, and snails).