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ne system recognises the proteins in nd veg as if they were pollen and ds by triggering an allergic reaction m. Symptoms include itching to lips, and ears. good news is that heat deactivates otein responsible, so most people t the offending fruit or veg when it’s d or processed. ING TESTED hink you have a food allergy, it’s get a proper diagnosis from a al expert. ur doctor can refer you to a specialist rgy testing,” said Laura. he other hand, unless lactose ance is suspected, there’s no reliable diagnose food intolerances, so this lly done through eliminating the ted food, monitoring symptoms, eintroducing it. aul Seddon, consultant paediatric st, believes high street or online tests and kits are worthless. aid: “Invalid tests come with a sk that you will be recommended opriate or potentially harmful ents. mmonly see children who have been to unnecessarily restricted diets e their parents assume, in good hat they have allergies to multiple on the basis of allergy tests, which o scientific basis.” GERS OF DIY DIAGNOSIS ating foods based on the results of able tests or through self-diagnosis ean you become obsessed with t you eat and develop nutrient ficiencies, which could result in health problems. For example, ditching dairy can mean poor calcium intakes, leading to osteoporosis in the long term. And without a proper diagnosis, you could be avoiding the wrong food – yet still include the problematic one. ● For more advice, visit the websites of Allergy UK (allergyuk.org), the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (bsaci.org), Anaphylaxis Campaign (anaphylaxis.org.uk) and NHS ices (nhs.uk/conditions/food-allergy).