Living with - Food Allergy

The advice on this page is for parents of a child with a food allergy. Most of it is also relevant if you're an adult with a food allergy.

Your child's diet

There's currently no cure for food allergies. Many children will grow out of certain ones.

The best way to prevent symptoms is to remove that food, known as an allergen, from their diet.

Always check with your GP before removing certain foods.

Removing eggs or peanuts from a child's diet will not have a big impact on their nutrition. These are good sources of protein, but they can be replaced by other foods containing protein.

Milk is a good source of calcium, so a milk allergy can have more of an impact. But there are many other ways you can get calcium into your child's diet. Many foods and drinks have extra calcium added.

Reading labels

Check the label of any pre-packed food or drinks for ingredients your child is allergic to.

The label must clearly state if it contains the following ingredients:

• celery
• cereals that contain gluten – including wheat, rye, barley and oats
• crustaceans – including prawns, crabs and lobsters
• eggs
• fish
• lupin (common garden plants) – seeds from some varieties are sometimes used to make flour
• milk
• molluscs – including mussels and oysters
• mustard
• tree nuts – such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts
• peanuts
• sesame seeds
• soybeans
• sulphur dioxide and sulphites (preservatives used in some foods and drinks) – at levels above 10mg per kg or per litre

Also look out for voluntary "may contain" labels, such as "may contain traces of peanut". Manufacturers sometimes use this label to warn consumers that they may have become contaminated with another food product in production.

Be careful with foods labelled as vegan. There is no legal definition of vegan. Foods labelled vegan are not always completely free of animal products. Read the ingredients list carefully if you have allergies to milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans or molluscs. Look out for labels with warnings such as "may contain".

Find out more about allergen labelling - safefood.net

Non-food products

Some non-food products contain foods that can cause allergies.

For example:

• some soaps and shampoos contain soy, egg and tree nut oil
• some pet foods contain milk and peanuts
• some glues and adhesive labels used on envelopes and stamps contain traces of wheat

Read the labels of any non-food products your child may come into close physical contact with.

Unpackaged food

Unpackaged food does not need to be labelled in the same way as packaged food. Food businesses must tell customers if their food products contain any of the 14 allergens. But this can be done in different ways.

Unpackaged food includes food sold in:

• bakeries – including in-store bakeries in supermarkets
• delis
• buffets
• salad bars
• "ready-to-eat" sandwich shops
• takeaways
• cafes, canteens and restaurants
• market stalls

If you or your child has a severe food allergy, be careful when you eat out.

Let the staff know

When booking a table at a restaurant, make sure the staff know about any allergies. Ask for a firm guarantee that the specific food will not be in any of the dishes served.

Read the menu carefully and check for hidden ingredients

Some food types contain other foods that can trigger allergies, which restaurant staff may have overlooked. For example, some desserts contain nuts and some sauces may contain wheat and peanuts.

Prepare for the worst

It's a good idea to prepare for any outcome. Always take anti-allergy medicine with you when eating out, particularly an adrenalin auto-injector.

Use a taste test in older children

Before your child begins to eat, ask them to take a tiny portion of the food and rub it against their lips to see if they experience a tingling or burning sensation. If they do, the food might cause them to have an allergic reaction. The taste test does not work for all foods. It should not be used as a substitute for the other advice on this page.

Further advice

Here is some more advice for parents.

Tell your child's school about their allergy

Depending on how severe their allergy is, you may need to give the staff at their school an emergency action plan in case of accidental exposure. Arrange for the school to have a supply of adrenaline.

Food allergy bracelets are also available. These explain how other people can help your child in an emergency.

Let other parents know

Young children may easily forget about their food allergy and accept food they should not have when visiting other children. Telling the parents of your child's friends about their allergy should help to prevent this.

Educate your child

When they are old enough, it's important to let your child know what foods to avoid and what they should do if they eat them.

Food allergies in babies and young children