My dear Charlene used to love mushrooms, until she devoured two mushroom burgers a few Christmases ago.  She quickly had difficulty breathing, turned red (and itchy) and required medical attention.  When the onslaught was over, she professed her surprise as she had consumed mushrooms regularly during her childhood; soups, fried in garlic, risottos. So, she asks, can you develop a food allergy in your adulthood?

When you have a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly identifies components in your food as dangerous and attacks them with histamines. Your body may respond with symptoms like hives, itchy skin, vomiting, dizziness, swelling, and difficulty breathing. In the worst cases, sufferers can go into anaphylactic shock, which can be life-threatening if not treated immediately.  The most common foods that cause food allergy in adults are peanuts, milk, fish, shellfish, and tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans and cashews).

Many of us associate food allergies with childhood, but a recent 2018 study which surveyed 40,443 adults in the US reported that one in four adults suffering from food allergy develop a food allergy for the first time as an adult. 

Even more worrisome is the fact that more than 51 per cent of adults with food allergies will at some point experience a severe reaction that requires medical care.