Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has revealed in a recent statement several facts and information about food allergy and its causes.

The SFDA clarified that food allergy is a reaction that affects the immune system toward a specific type of food that a person eats and which the immune system wrongly identifies as harmful to the body.

The statement pointed out that 50 percent of food allergy cases that affect humans have been found to be caused by eating food from outside the home.

Food allergy affects many people globally, as it turns out that every 3 minutes there is a person visiting the emergency room in a hospital due to exposure to food allergy.

It is believed that 90 percent of food allergy cases were due to some of the common food types, which number about 170 different food items.

The SFDA revealed the most common types of food susceptible to cause food allergies are nuts, milk, eggs, soybean, crustaceans and fish, as well as grains.

The authority also clarified the symptoms caused by food allergies, noting that they are headache, nausea, vomiting, sneezing, coughing, fainting, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, and skin rashes, while the allergy triggers are inhalation, touching, and ingestion.

Source: Saudi Gazette

Reporting by Indonesia Window