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Notes that people with food allergies and intolerances may not always receive great sympathy from health professionals. Underlines the importance of treating these problems seriously and sets out definitions of intolerance, allergy and aversion. Outlines a range of disorders such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis where food allergy or intolerance may be implicated, and also looks at a range of foods which seem to cause problems. Lists methods of diagnosis for food allergy and intolerance and concludes that the number of sufferers is increasing.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an online “teachable moment” intervention to promote healthy eating for overweight and food intolerance symptoms.

The study involves a 2×2 factorial design with two conditions: group (weight loss vs food intolerance) and condition (intervention vs control). The intervention aimed to generate a “teachable moment” by providing knowledge regarding the relationship between food and the problem (overweight or food intolerance), focussing on the negative aspects of the problem, creating a behavioural model, and encouraging hope and reinvention. Participants receiving the intervention (n=22) completed measures of dietary behaviour and either weight or food intolerance symptoms before receiving the intervention and again one month later. Control participants (n=20) provided measures but did not receive the intervention.

There were no significant reductions in weight or food intolerance symptoms. However, compared to control participants, participants in the intervention conditions reported greater intentions to eat healthily (p=0.01) and improved healthy eating behaviour over time, following both an intention-to-treat (p=0.046) and explanatory analysis (p=0.042).

Encouraging individuals to perceive their everyday situation as a time for change and adopt healthier behaviour early on, may prevent future diet-related medical events. This has benefits for both the individual and for health care costs.

A quick and easy-to-administer online “teachable moment” intervention improves dietary behaviour and can be minimally adapted to suit individuals with differing health needs.

Although the condition of food allergy has not always been clearly defined the concept has, in recent years, attracted considerable attention particularly as it is commonly believed that the incidence is increasing and that the condition is exacerbated by modern methods of food processing. The common belief that the medical profession is not sufficiently well informed to deal with the problem has led to a marked growth in ‘alternative methods’ of diagnosis and treatment many of which have little scientific basis. Against this background the Royal College of Physicians, in conjunction with the British Nutrition Foundation, established a joint committee to study the problem and make any recommendations considered necessary. Susan Holmes BSc, SRN, presents a summary of the report and its recommendations.

In response to the widespread public concern about ‘allergic’ reactions to certain foods and food ingredients, especially those in processed foods, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's Food Science Division has funded studies to obtain better estimates of the extent of the problem

The first databank to combine the resources and expertise of the Royal College of Physicians, the British Dietetic Association and the British Nutrition Foundation, the Leatherhead Food Research Association was launched on 15 September 1987. The article describes it and its implications. It points out that public concern over additives has been unwarranted, but that a service needs to exist to keep consumers and manufacturers informed.

For attendees with allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease, accessing safe, nutritious and good quality food and drink is a vital but challenging dimension of events. This study sought to capture and analyse the lived event experiences of individuals with a variety of food-related health, wellbeing and safety needs.

This study adopted an inductive approach, using semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from participants with various food allergies and intolerances or coeliac disease.

Attendees had low expectations regarding food choice, quality and value, which stemmed from past event experiences. Poor information about suitable food and drink, coupled with frontline staffs' perceived knowledge, responsiveness and care were frequently seen as sources of service failures. The data stress how exposure to potentially harmful foods and food avoidance influenced attendees' experiences. The findings also help to appreciate consumers' agency, identifying various coping strategies used by affected individuals to anticipate risks, engage in compensatory behaviours and mitigate the effects of unsuitable food and drink.

This study is unique in examining the event experiences of individuals with food allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease. It demonstrates how practices in the crucial domain of food and drink provision can affect the overall event experience, with potential consequences at, across and potentially beyond the venue and occasion. From a theoretical perspective, the study conceptualises intersections of risk, value-creation/destruction and experiential consumption. It shows the “episodic” and “perpetual” impacts of “risk loaded” consumption, while arguing that diverse value-creation/destruction practices mediate pathways leading to different experiential outcomes.

Goats milk has been said to be a suitable alternative to cows milk for people with lactose intolerance and cows milk protein intolerance, but most of the evidence is anecdotal. This review discusses some of the marginal differences which distinguish goats milk from cows milk, leading to suggestions that in certain cases goats milk may be tolerated differently from cows milk. Most of the current evidence, however, appears to refute this claim, with little support for the anecdotal reports. Where any food intolerance is suspected, professional advice should always be obtained to ensure that the diet (especially for children) is well balanced. More research and controlled clinical trials are needed to clarify some of the issues raised.

The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This will sometimes happen after a long period of indecision or when things are extremely difficult, as they have long been for the country, in most homes and among ordinary individuals. Watching one's life savings dwindle away, the nest‐egg laid down for security in an uncertain world, is a frightening process. This has happened to the nation, once the richest in the world, and ot its elderly people, most of them taught the habit of saving in early youth. We are also taught that what has been is past changing; the clock cannot be put back, and the largesse—much of it going to unprincipled spongers—distributed by a spendthrift Government as token relief is no answer, not even to present difficulties. The response can only come by a change of heart in those whose brutal selfishness have caused it all; and this may be a long time in coming. In the meantime, it is a useful exercise to consider our assets, to recognize those which must be protected at all costs and upon which, when sanity returns, the future depends.

Functional disorders caused by food intolerance (FI) are prevalent, thus it is important to analyze the FI of healthy people to common foods so as to guide the people for eating the healthy foods. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

In total, 88,436 healthy persons including 60,902 males and 27,534 females at the age ranging from 20 to 70 years old were subjected a normal physical examination. In total, 14 kinds of food-specific IgG antibodies were detected by enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay.

The total positive rate of 14 FIs was as high as 64.16 percent. Five kinds of foods (egg, crab, cod, shrimp and milk) accounted for 84.51 percent of the total positive rate. In more than one kind of FIs, egg took the largest proportion than the others and the proportion was 58.54 percent. The second was crab with a positive rate of 56.19 percent. The antibody positive rate of any food in one kind of FIs was significantly lower than that in more than one kind of FIs (χ²=629.35, p<0.001). Also, younger age subjects displayed the higher positive rate than the older age groups. In addition, there was no significant difference on FI between male and female subjects.

The results would not only prompt us to pay more attention to FI in daily life, but provide theoretical foundation for the early prevention, diagnosis and treatment of related clinical diseases as well as guiding people healthy meals.

Summarises the findings of the British Nutrition Foundation Task Force report Adverse Reactions to Food.