What should you know about any food allergies?

The safest approach is to identify the suspected trigger with a clinician, avoid it until assessed, read ingredient labels carefully, and have a clear plan for accidental exposure.

Reactions may involve the skin, mouth, throat, gut, breathing, or circulation. Possible features include hives, swelling, an itchy mouth or throat, vomiting, wheezing, dizziness, or faintness. Symptoms can begin soon after eating, but timing and severity may differ between episodes.

Food intolerance is different: it does not involve the same immune mechanism and more often causes digestive discomfort. A careful history and, when appropriate, supervised allergy testing help distinguish these problems; home tests alone should not be used to remove broad groups of foods.

Stop eating the suspected food and record what was eaten, when symptoms began, how they changed, and any medicine taken. Keep packaging or an ingredient list if available. Arrange a clinical review, especially after repeated reactions or symptoms affecting more than one body system.

Until reviewed, avoid the suspected trigger without unnecessarily restricting unrelated foods. Check labels, ask how restaurant food is prepared, and consider cross-contact from shared utensils or cooking surfaces. If prescribed an adrenaline auto-injector, carry it as directed and make sure close contacts know the emergency plan.

Call emergency services immediately for trouble breathing, noisy breathing, throat or tongue swelling, difficulty speaking, collapse, severe dizziness, confusion, or rapidly worsening symptoms after food exposure. These can signal anaphylaxis.

Use prescribed emergency medicine promptly according to the personal action plan, then seek emergency care even if symptoms improve. Do not rely on an antihistamine to treat breathing difficulty or circulatory symptoms, and do not ask the person to stand or walk if they feel faint.

Ask which ingredients or related foods need avoidance, whether testing would clarify the trigger, how to recognise anaphylaxis, and whether you need an adrenaline auto-injector. Also ask for a written action plan and advice about maintaining balanced nutrition while avoiding the suspected food.