A food sensitivity, or a food intolerance occurs when a person has difficulty digesting a particular food. This can lead to symptoms such as intestinal gas, abdominal pain or diarrhoea. When the body is sensitive to certain foods, there are some common symptoms to be aware of. If you have one or more of these symptoms on a daily basis, then start paying attention to what you regularly eat.

A food intolerance is sometimes confused with or mislabelled as a food allergy. Food sensitivities/ intolerances involve the digestive system. Food allergies involve the immune system. With a food allergy, even a microscopic amount of the food has the potential to lead to a serious or life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.

Test4 do not test for Food Allergies.

Reaction Comparison

	Immediate Reaction Allergy	Delayed onset of Reaction Sensitivity
Test type used	IgE antibodies	IgG antibodies
Speed of reaction	Within minutes	Take hours or days to show up
When do symptoms occur	Short reaction time and dramatic symptoms	Long-lasting and subtle symptoms
Visibility of cause	Easy to trace causes	Causes are more difficult to trace

	Immediate Reaction Allergy
Test type used	IgE antibodies
Speed of reaction	Within minutes
When do symptoms occur	Short reaction time and dramatic symptoms
Visibility of cause	Easy to trace causes

	Delayed onset of Reaction Sensitivity
Test type used	IgG antibodies
Speed of reaction	Take hours or days to show up
When do symptoms occur	Long-lasting and subtle symptoms
Visibility of cause	Causes are more difficult to trace

Test4 offer IgG Food Sensitivity testing from the comfort of your own home, our tests cut out the lengthy trial and error periods of attempting to eliminate certain foods from your diet and pin point the trigger foods directly.

If you suspect that you may be sensitive/intolerant to a certain food or food additive, speak to our team about testing options or see our test options here.

Although food sensitivities are usually less serious than food allergies, they can negatively affect your quality of life. This is why it's important to take steps to identify food intolerances in order to prevent unwanted symptoms and health issues.

	Food Allergies	Food Sensitivities
Involve Immune System	Yes	Yes
Reaction	Immediate within minutes	Delayed show up in hours or days
Terms in Everyday Language	Classic allergy / Acute allergy / True food allergy	Delayed food allergy intolerance
Symptoms	Could look the same	Could look the same

	Food Allergies
Involve Immune System	Yes
Reaction	Immediate within minutes
Terms in Everyday Language	Classic allergy / Acute allergy / True food allergy
Symptoms	Could look the same

	Food Sensitivities
Involve Immune System	Yes
Reaction	Delayed show up in hours or days
Terms in Everyday Language	Delayed food allergy intolerance
Symptoms	Could look the same