The scale of the problem

Studies have repeatedly shown that about 20% of adults and 28% of parents suspect that they, or their children, suffer from adverse reactions to foods. When tested using blinded food challenges, where neither the researcher nor subject knows what food is being tested, only 1.5% of adults and 6% of infants are found to suffer from an adverse reaction to any food. This means that slightly in excess of 0.1% of the population (excluding coeliac disease) suffer from an adverse reaction to wheat - be it an allergy or an intolerance. This illustrates the dangers of self-diagnosis, which may serve to distract attention from the real cause of a person's health problem. Unfortunately, self-diagnosis or diagnosis by discredited tests is becoming very fashionable.