Epidemiology
The most common food allergens account for about 90% of all allergic reactions; in adults they include crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and egg. In children, they include milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts. Six to 8% of children under the age of three have food allergies and nearly 4% of adults have food allergies.For reasons not entirely understood, the diagnosis of food allergies has apparently become more common in Western nations recently. One possible explanation for this is the "old friends" hypothesis which suggests that non disease causing organisms, such as helminths, could protect against allergy. Therefore, reduced exposure to these organisms, particularly in developed countries, could have contributed towards the increase.In the United States, food allergy affects as many as 5% of infants less than three years of age and 3% to 4% of adults. A similar prevalence is found in Canada.About 75% of children who have allergies to milk protein are able to tolerate baked-in milk products, i.e., muffins, cookies, cake, and hydrolyzed formulas.About 50% of children with allergies to milk, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat will outgrow their allergy by the age of 6.
Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library. December 2010. – a collection of resources on the topic of food allergies and intolerances
"Food Allergy". MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine.