Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) revealed in a recent statement several facts and information about food allergy and its causes.

The SFDA clarified that food allergy is a reaction that affects the immune system toward a specific type of food that a person eats and which the immune system wrongly identifies as harmful to the body.

The statement revealed that 50% of food allergy cases that affect humans have been found to be caused by eating food from outside the home.

Food allergy affects many people globally, as it turns out that every 3 minutes there is a person visiting the emergency room in a hospital due to exposure to food allergy.

It is believed that 90% of food allergy cases were due to some of the common food types, which number about 170 different food items.

The SFDA revealed the most common types of food susceptible to cause food allergies are: nuts; milk; eggs; soybean; crustaceans and fish; and grains.

It also clarified the symptoms caused by food allergies, noting that they are: headache, nausea, vomiting, sneezing, coughing, fainting, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, and skin rashes, while the allergy triggers are inhalation, touching, and ingestion.