Many people think they are allergic to a food when in fact they are intolerant. Unlike food allergies, intolerances do not involve the body’s immune system. Slower in onset and not life threatening, food intolerance symptoms include headaches, bloating, wind, nausea, mouth ulcers or hives.

Symptoms that occur several hours after a food is eaten are more often as a result of an intolerance or enzyme deficiency rather than a food allergy.

A food allergy is not:

• The inability to digest a food;

• An aversion to a food (disliking a food);

• Food poisoning;

• A reaction to a food additive.

Food allergy basics
Food intolerance