What is the difference between a food reaction, food allergy and food sensitivity?
A food reaction is an umbrella term used to cover any adverse reaction to food, whether it’s immune mediated (a food allergy and sensitivity) or not. A classic food allergy usually only involves one or two foods and is easy to diagnose. Symptoms include a significant rash, swelling of the throat or throat closing up. The symptoms occur immediately, usually within 2 hours of eating. On the other hand, a food sensitivity usually involves multiple foods and can occur anywhere from two hours to two days after eating the food. Since sensitivity symptoms are non-specific, it isn’t obvious or easy to self-diagnose. The third group, non-immune reactions to food are also non-specific and hard to diagnose.
