Symptoms of food allergies may range from mild to severe and they may come on suddenly or develop over several hours.
Food allergies or food intolerances affect nearly everyone at some point. For some people, an allergic response to a particular food may be uncomfortable although not severe. For other people, an allergic food reaction can be frightening as well as life-threatening. Food allergy symptoms usually develop within a few minutes to two hours after eating the offending food. Food allergies can happen even the first time you eat a food.
If your child has a food allergy, he’ll probably have an itchy or runny nose, an aching throat, itchy, watery eyes, rashes (hives) and swelling, which often come on fairly quickly after eating the food. Food allergies are common in infants and young children.
A food allergy is an unusual reaction to a food caused by the body’s immune system. Allergic reactions to food can sometimes cause serious illness as well as death. Tree nuts and peanuts would be the leading causes of dangerous allergic reactions called anaphylaxis.
Food Allergy Symptoms
he symptoms you get during an allergic reaction depend on where in your body chemicals are being released, and just how severe your allergy is. If you possess a severe reaction, called an anaphylactic reaction, your whole body might be affected.
Symptoms usually begin within 2 hours after eating. Rarely, the symptoms can start hours after eating the food. If you develop symptoms shortly after eating a certain food, you may have a food allergy. Key symptoms of the food allergy include hives, a hoarse voice, and wheezing.
- Itchy or swollen lips, mouth, tongue and throat
- A skin reaction, for instance hives, a rash or flushed skin
- Wheezing, noisy breathing or difficulty breathing
- Diarrhoea, feeling sick, vomiting and feeling bloated (swollen abdomen)
- Coughing
- A runny or blocked nose
- Sore, red and itchy eyes
Food Allergy Symptoms
Complications of food allergy
The primary complication of food allergies is anaphylaxis. This can be a severe, full-body allergic reaction which can be life-threatening. If you come with an anaphylactic reaction to a food, you may have breathing problems, your airways can swell and you can easily collapse and become unconscious. If you think someone is having an anaphylactic reaction, call for emergency help.
Food allergies may trigger an anaphylactic reaction in children than adults. However, this type of reaction is rare, with less than a single in 1,000 people having an anaphylactic reaction at some time in their lives.
