Food Allergy Facts and Figures

What Is a Food Allergy?

• A food allergy occurs when the body’s immune system sees a certain food as harmful and reacts by causing symptoms. This is an allergic reaction.
• Foods that cause allergic reactions are called allergens.
• Allergic reactions can involve the skin, mouth, eyes, lungs, heart, gut, and brain.
• Mild and severe symptoms can lead to a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis [anna-fih-LACK-sis]. This reaction usually involves more than one part of the body and can worsen quickly.
• Anaphylaxis must be treated right away with epinephrine to provide the best chance for improvement and prevent serious, potentially life-threatening complications.
  
  

How Common Are Food Allergies?

• About 32 million people have food allergies in the U.S.^1,2
  • About 26 million (10.8%) U.S. adults have food allergies.¹
  • About 5.6 million (7.6%) U.S. children have food allergies.²
    
• In 2018, 4.8 million (6.5%) children under 18 years of age had food allergies over the previous 12 months.³
• In 2018, 6% of Black and Hispanic children had food allergies over the previous 12 months, compared to 6.6% of white children.³
  • Food allergy has increased among U.S. children over the past 20 years, with the greatest increase in Black children.⁴
• Children with food allergies are two to four times more likely to have asthma or other allergic diseases.⁵
  
  

What Are the Most Frequent Food Allergens?

• Nine foods cause 90% of most food allergy reactions in the United States:⁶
  • Milk
  • Egg
  • Peanut
  • Tree nut (for example, almonds, walnut, pecans, cashews, pistachios)
  • Wheat
  • Sesame
  • Soy
  • Fish (for example, bass, flounder, cod)
  • Shellfish (for example, crab, shrimp, scallop, clams)

• Sesame is a rising food allergy. It impacts an estimated 1 million people in the United States.⁷ It was declared a major allergen in the United States in 2021.
  
  

What Is Anaphylaxis?

• Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. Not all allergic reactions are anaphylaxis.⁸
• Symptoms of anaphylaxis usually involve more than one part of the body such as the skin, mouth, eyes, lungs, heart, gut, and brain.
• Symptoms of anaphylaxis can include:
  • Skin: hives (often very itchy), flushed skin, or rash
  • Mouth: swelling of the lips, tongue, and throat; tingling or itchy feeling in the mouth
  • Lungs: shortness of breath, trouble breathing, coughing, or wheezing
  • Heart: dizziness, lightheadedness, loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, shock⁶
  • Stomach: cramps, vomiting, diarrhea⁶
• Each year in the U.S., it is estimated that anaphylaxis to food results in 90,000 emergency room visits.⁸
  
  

How Are Food Allergies Managed and Treated?

• Although new treatments are being developed, there is currently no cure for food allergies.⁶
• Not eating the food allergen is the primary way to prevent a reaction.⁶
• People with food allergies should carefully read food ingredient labels and always ask about ingredients before eating food prepared by other people. ⁶
• Epinephrine is the first line of treatment for anaphylaxis.⁹
• People with food allergies should always have epinephrine with them. ⁹
• If a person is having anaphylaxis, they should:
  • Follow their Anaphylaxis Action Plan
  • Use their epinephrine
  • Get emergency medical care to ensure symptoms resolve¹⁰
    
    

Are Food Allergies Outgrown?

• Milk, egg, wheat, and soy allergies are often outgrown. Most people do not outgrow peanut, tree nut, fish, and shellfish allergies.¹¹
  
  

Medical Review: September 2017, updated April 2022 by Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD