It's not just a question of genetic weakness, although clearly, if a baby shows an allergic response, then that's maybe 90 percent of the problem. Environmental and other factors make up the rest of the cause, and the later the allergy develops, the more significant they are - and the more chance we have of modifying the body's response. But a food intolerance causing allergy-like symptoms such as a postnasal drip, asthma or hay fever, can be cured. We do it all the time. Professor Eugene Weinberg head of allergy clinic at the Red Cross Children's Hospital, agrees that true allergies are over-diagnosed.
Food intolerance can affect anyone.
It may even arise from a conviction that you are allergic. But, he says, determining the allergen is fairly simple. Blood tests for more than 400 allergens are available. This has become easier since the Allergy Society fought for food labelling to be improved dramatically. One thing both sides of the allergy controversy do agree on is that food and our environment have a lot to do with the upsurge.