ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief review of the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and management of food allergies in children.
2 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of simplification, a number of definitions have been used to describe food reactions. An adverse reaction is a clinically abnormal reaction after the ingestion of a food or additive (1). Such reactions may be secondary to food hypersensitivity or food intolerance. An allergic reaction to food is a specialized form of food intolerance due to an aberrant immune response, while food
intolerance is a non-immune-mediated event in response to ingested foods that may include toxins such as aflatoxins and staphylococcal toxins (2). The majority of adverse food reactions, however, are due to food intolerance (2).
