Goal: Education About Your Food Allergy Diagnosis

FOOD ALLERGY – FAQ

Goal: Education about your food allergy diagnosis.

1. What test[s] did you perform or will you perform? What is the difference between blood tests or skin test or scratch tests for food allergies? What is the gold standard for a food allergy diagnosis? What will they prove/show/indicate? May I have a copy of the results for my records?

2. What food[s] am I allergic to? What is my full food allergy list (for example: when I talk to restaurants, teachers, friends, other parents what do I tell them I can not have)? What do I need to avoid? (for example, if I’m allergic to peanuts do you recommend staying away from all legumes?) What do I not need to avoid food-wise?

3. What are the symptoms of an allergic reaction? What are the symptoms of a mild reaction versus severe reaction? What symptoms should I look out for? What is anaphylaxis?

4. How immediate is an allergic reaction? Does it happen within seconds, minutes, hours, days?

5. Does the amount of allergen that I ingest affect how severe the reaction would be?

6. Can I develop a new allergy at any time? Can the severity of my allergy change?

7. Should I have a medical alert bracelet? If yes, which type and what should I have written on it?

8. What is my emergency action plan? What medication should I carry with me at all times? How and when do I use it?

9. What do you think about “may contain labels?” Should I avoid foods with those labels if they say “may contain” or “produced in a facility which processes…”

10. What books and or websites provide reliable medical information about food allergies for me to read (give to family and friends)?

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