ALLERGY OR INSENSITIVITY?

Millions of Americans think they have a food allergy but really don’t, according to a Chicago-based team writing in JAMA Open Network. What they do have is likelier a food sensitivity — annoying but not life-threatening.

On the other hand, millions more may have a genuinely dangerous allergy and never get diagnosed. These allergies aren’t just childhood phenomena; they can develop any time in adulthood.

The authors say our incomplete understanding of what foods we really, really need to avoid can be dangerous, so we all need to be alert to the possibility of a fresh allergy arising any time in life — and we also should bear in mind the distinction between an allergy and a sensitivity.

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