Experts Warn Parents That Food Allergy Tests Do Not Work

Experts have warned parents not to get their children routinely tested for food allergies as these tests do not work well. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)'s guidance due to be released tomorrow will tell parents that there are no alternative tests for food allergies. The watchdog’s report is due to say that there has been a 500% increase in hospital admissions for food allergies since 1990, the Daily Telegraph reported.

"The NICE guideline will say that there is no evidence base for such approaches – and we think that is very helpful because at the moment parents are not only wasting time and money on them, but they also often end up putting their children on very extensive restriction diets following the diagnosis, which can leave them malnourished,” said Dr Adam Fox, consultant paediatric allergist from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.

He added that some tests wrongly suggested that kids were allergic to wheat and dairy items leaving them under-nourished.  Cow’s milk, fish and shellfish, hens eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, soy, wheat and kiwi fruit are some of the common food allergies in children.

The new guidance will also say that GPs need to act quickly in order to catch these allergies.


Source-Medindia