In the News ...
22nd August 2008
Food problem not just a fad
Food allergy and food intolerance affects thousands of people in Sussex every year and for a few it can be life threatening. Yet there is still widespread confusion about what is an allergy or intolerance, with many sufferers written off as fussy eaters. As National Food Allergy and Intolerance week begins, FAY MILLAR discovers the issues sufferers face and whether some allergies and intolerances are all in the mind.
Dinner parties are a great way of socialising and enjoying a good meal with friends. You spend ages choosing a light soufflé to begin, chicken in a creamy white wine sauce for the main, followed by a rich brulée for dessert. Then comes the phone call saying: "Sorry, I'm dairy free".
The fact is everyone knows someone who has a food allergy or intolerance. According to a recent study by Yorktest, 12 million people in Britain claim to have an allergy or intolerance with an estimated 305,000 of those in Sussex. Yet less than a quarter of them have seen a doctor and been properly diagnosed.
Allergies, which are not very common, tend to be severe, immediate and in some cases life threatening such as a reaction to peanuts, and many people are aware of the seriousness of them. Food intolerances are much more widespread, not immediately life threatening but can cause a range of debilitating symptoms and are more difficult to diagnose.
There are many people who do have a genuine intolerance but there are plenty more jumping on the fad diet band wagon and cutting out major food groups because they think it is the right thing to do. The situation means people with genuine problems are often treated with indifference and struggle to get the food and services they need.
Charity Allergy UK, which estimates two per cent of Britain has an allergy while as much as 45 per cent of the population has a food intolerance, is running Food Allergy and Intolerance week this week, in a bid to raise awareness. A spokeswoman said: "There are so few services or understanding for people with food intolerance that people are often driven to seek help from unqualified practitioners which can lead to unbalanced diets with the result that the sufferer's health is made worse."
Dr Stuart Cairns, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, said: "There is a certain stigma about them sometimes which is very unfair. It is also very difficult for patients to eat out or have dinner with friends." He said there was good evidence to suggest some intolerances occurred, causing an irritable bowel, after an infection but what was less clear was why some people developed intolerance with no history of infection. He added: "Sometimes intolerances are only temporary and patients find if they reintroduce food after a few months they are fine. It's possible to spend a lot of money on allergy testing but they are not always helpful and can sometimes be quite misleading. "The best way of managing an intolerance is by seeing a GP and getting a referral to a dietitian who can go through a patient's diet and properly identify any food intolerance."
Teacher Helen Pengelly was found to have coeliac disease - an intolerance to gluten - in 2003, after years of suffering from stomach pains, tiredness and nausea. Her son, Joe, 19, has also since been diagnosed. If left untreated, the disease can lead to osteoporosis, infertility and cancer.
The mother of three, from Worthing, then spent several years traipsing to different supermarkets trying to get the foods she needed before setting up her own company, Shoreham-based Johnsons Dietary Provisions, which specialises in allergy friendly foods. She said: "When I got my diagnosis I was so relieved because I had been so ill and suddenly I knew why. But I had difficulty in getting gluten-free products and eating out so I started my own business supplying wholesale to restaurants and hotels and direct to the public."
Mrs Pengelly said she was sometimes perceived as being awkward when she went to a restaurant and that the catering industry needed to be more aware of people with intolerances. She added: "You should be able to get the proper food in a restaurant. It's a bit like vegetarians were treated 20 years ago but now there are always vegetarian options." "Hopefully the same will happen for people who can't eat things like wheat, gluten or dairy."
Intolerances do seem to be on the rise. The reasons are unclear but Emma Wells, of Brighton-based Smart Nutrition, said: "People don't eat enough variety and often have wheat four or five times a day. "The widespread use of antibiotics has a knock-on effect because they kill good bacteria as well as bad and there is evidence that living in too clean an environment can also interfere with the immune system.
Patty Priest's 14-year-old son Michael was diagnosed with coeliac disease two years ago. Mrs Priest, from Worthing, said: "A lot of people think you are being faddy and some people do it to be trendy but if Michael were to eat something with gluten in it he would be really poorly for days. "We try to avoid eating out because it is too much hassle although there are some places now which cater for it." It's not just young people who have been treated differently because of a food intolerance.
Sue Widdicombe, whose Uckfield- based company the Intolerable Food Company sells gluten and dairy-free ready meals, said she had met a woman in her 80s who spent 20 years fighting for a diagnosis. She said: "The lady's point was it is not new or even a fad diet but has been around a long time and there are still a lot of people undiagnosed."
For further information visit www.allergyuk.org, www.johnsonsprovisions.co.uk, www.smartnutrition.co.uk and www.intolerablefood.com.
