Allergies
Information, Symptoms, Treatments and Resources
Common Food Allergy Culprits
Why Food Allergies Happen
Why Food Allergies Happen
Allergies can develop at any point during life, even when a baby is in the womb, but normally appear during childhood. Allergic reactions to food occur when the immune system overreacts to proteins in food that shouldn't be harmful to most people, causing disruptive antibodies, called immunoglobulin E (IgE), to respond to the allergen by releasing chemicals, like histamine, that actually cause the food allergy symptoms.
By MedHelp Editors, published June 7, 2011
