Why more of us are suffering
ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO FOOD aren’t new, but how and when they affect us seems to be changing. In the past, food allergies most commonly affected children and teenagers, and most grew out of them. But anecdotal evidence from doctors and studies are now showing otherwise. ‘An increasing number of children are not outgrowing their allergies as they used to,’ says Amena Warner, head of clinical services at charity Allergy UK. While there are no official figures for the numbers affected in the UK, a US study published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) this year, indicates that 28 million US adults have food allergies, with nearly half of them developing after the age of 18. ‘Adults appear to be spontaneously developing allergies more often,’ says Dr Jenna Macciochi, lecturer in immunology at the University of Sussex.
CELERY