Food Allergy and Intolerance Week

It’s easy to think that terms such as ‘food allergy’ and ‘food intolerance’ are overused, but for sufferers living with the condition it's anything but fun. Food Allergy and Intolerance week, (running from the 25th - 31st January 2010), is a week that is designed to raise awareness of thousands of sufferers in the UK. According to the Allergy UK, a non-medical organisation that represents suffers, food sensitivity of some form affects approximately only 45% of the population. The symptoms of their allergy sensitivity can range from nausea and skin rashes to more serious swelling and difficulty breathing. For 2% of allergy sufferers a mistake with eating particular foods can be very serious or even life-threatening.

Sufferers however, no longer have to do so in silence with websites such as www.allergyuk.org and www.foodintoleranceawareness.org providing support and advice. Supermarkets now frequently carry 'Free From' ranges of gluten, wheat, diary, egg, yeast, soya and sugar-free food items and products. The Free From Food Awards is also held each year to identify and celebrate the great range of food that is now available to allergy sufferers. The 2009 Allergy UK report revealed although more people are aware of the existence of food allergies, packaging and labels can still be confusing and need to be made clearer.