Evaluating new tests for the diagnosis of food allergy.

The article evaluates new tests for the diagnosis of food allergy. A large numbers of patients are still labeled as food allergic merely on the basis positive skin prick tests (STP) and unspecific symptoms, such as chronic urticaria or gastrointestinal disorders, without any objective procedure. The diagnosis of food allergy by history and SPT is hampered by two main factors. First, clinical history of adverse reactions to foods offers a low level of reliability, because of the vast difference between patients' self-perception of being allergic to a food and the demonstration by objective procedures of whether that food actually causes a clinical reaction.