ABSTRACT
Adverse reactions to foods are clinically abnormal responses attributed to the ingestion or exposure to a foodstuff. The mechanisms causing the adverse reactions are many and diverse. Food intolerances are nonimmunological mechanisms of adverse reactions resulting from atypical physiological responses to an ingested foodstuff. Urticaria is a common skin reaction, reported to occur at least once in up to 20% of the population. Recent reports have documented some interesting cross-reactions of foods and nonfoods when applied topically. Urticarial episodes that occur almost daily for more than 6 weeks are labeled chronic. Patients reporting recurrent episodes of urticaria can frequently identify the trigger of their hives. Physicians applied substances to intact skin to induce erythema. Recognized as nonpruritic, nonpitting, asymmetrical swellings, usually grotesquelly disfiguring, involving areas of loose tissue, i.e., periorally, periorbitally, and genitally, angioedema can become life-threatening when the tongue, epiglottis, or uvula is affected.
