Allergy or intolerance?
It should be made clear that there is a difference between food allergy and food intolerance. While allergies tend to occur as a result of a person's immune system acting in an unexpected way, food intolerances occur as a result of contaminants being absorbed into the digestive system or if a person lacks a certain enzyme to process a particular food.
For example, people who are lactose intolerant are unable to process dairy because their digestive systems are unable to produce the lactase enzyme. Examples of contaminants that may cause intolerances are chemical substances like preservatives, colourants and tartrazine. Intolerance to these chemicals can cause a person to experience symptoms very similar to those who suffer from true food allergies.
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