There is a growing trend of people showing adverse reactions to different foods within their diet – generally termed as food intolerance.

 

Symptoms could be bloating, headache, fatigue, diarrhea, irritable bowel and other gastroenterology and dermatology related conditions. It is estimated that in developed countries every second person is suffering from a symptom related to food intolerance. Further, food intolerance symptoms are slowly turning into a serious lifestyle disease that is generally overlooked due to difficulties in diagnosis. Increase in awareness in the general population regarding health and nutrition has led to increased interest in understanding food intolerances.

Symptoms of food intolerance can be multifaceted and can appear within a few hours or even days after the consumption of the food. This makes it difficult for the healthcare practitioner and the patient to identify the food or foods responsible for the symptoms. There is a need for a quick diagnostic tool that can identify foods causing the adverse reaction and aid the healthcare practitioner to consider therapeutic options (e.g. a 1- or 2-month elimination diet) to alleviate the patient’s symptoms.

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