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About the Food Intolerance Test
Our laboratory measures the concentration of IgE and IgG4* antibodies in your blood. The food intolerance test thus provides you with initial indications that you can easily follow up on. For a final diagnosis, you can discuss possible allergies with your general practitioner.
Which foods are tested for with the Food Intolerance Test?
This cerascreen® Food Intolerance Test & Food Allergy Test measures the concentration of specific IgE antibodies to 26 different foods and the concentration of specific IgG4 antibodies to 38 different foods. The test thus covers the foods that are responsible for a large proportion of food allergies in Europe.
Table: List of foods against which IgE antibodies are measured
| Food group | IgE antibodies tested | IgG4 antibodies tested |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and eggs |
Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, egg whites |
Pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, egg white, egg yolk |
| Fish and seafood | Cod, salmon, shrimp, crab |
Cod, shrimp |
| Dairy |
Cow's milk |
Cow’s milk, casein |
| Cereals and starchy foods |
Wheat, rice, potato |
Spelt, wheat, rye, oats, rice, potato |
| Nuts,legumes and seeds |
Hazelnut, peanut, almond, mustard, soya |
Hazelnut, peanut, almond, soya, walnut, mustard |
| Fruit |
Apple, orange, strawberry, kiwi, peach |
Apple, orange, strawberry, kiwi, peach, banana |
| Vegetables |
Tomato, carrot, celery |
Tomato, carrot, celery, onion |
| Other |
- |
Gluten, coffee, sesame, pepper (black), baker’s yeast |
Food Intolerance Test
- Obtain a blood sample easily from the convenience of your home
- Receive the analysis carried out in a medical laboratory
- Find out the presence of specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies in your blood
- Receive recommendations and tips that are easy to implement
- Receive your results within a few days after the sample’s arrival at the lab
Are IgE tests reliable?
With a wide range of food intolerance tests, allergy tests and sensitivity tests available on the market, it can be tricky to navigate information about which test is most helpful for you. These days, you can have skin prick tests, bioresonance hair tests and blood tests – all to find out which foods your body finds problematic, if any.
IgE blood tests like ours are a common method used by doctors and registered private clinics to identify potential allergies, along with skin prick tests and patch tests. Although false positives may emerge from a blood test, these tests still provide useful information on your IgE blood count in reaction to a specific set of foods. Even if an allergy is not identified, sensitisation to certain foods can also be revealed with this method.
An IgE blood test is furthermore often used if other forms of allergy tests are unavailable or unsuitable, due to eczema or risks of anaphylactic shock.
Benefits of the Food Intolerance Test
There are countless different food allergies and food intolerances and almost as many tests to get to the bottom of them. Do you have unanswered discomfort or pain and do not know where to start? Then the cerascreen® Food Reaction Test will offer you a helpful initial orientation.
Food intolerances or allergies can not only be responsible for gastrointestinal complaints. They often manifest themselves through symptoms such as tiredness, skin irritation and a burning sensation in the oral cavity. Without a food intolerance test, it is often difficult to identify the causes of such symptoms in everyday life. Want to gain more insights into the differences between a food allergy and intolerance? Visit our Health Portal for all you need to know about this trending topic.
To take the cerascreen® Food Intolerance Test & Food Allergy Test there is no need for you to visit your general practitioner, drive to a clinic or wait for an appointment. To collect the sample, you will receive detailed, illustrated instructions, and after the analysis, you will be provided with a detailed overview of the concentration of antibodies to certain foods. To identify only certain food allergies, click on the link to learn more about the cerascreen® Food Allergy Test.
Benefit from our expertise: cerascreen® is the market leader in Europe for medical sampling and send-in kits, with eight years of experience in the development and evaluation of tests. We have developed more than 50 approved send-in test kits (medical products), evaluated 250,000 samples and serve 19 countries.
Result of the Food Intolerance Test
As soon as your sample has been analysed, you will receive your results report via the My cerascreen® app or your user account on our website. You can easily view the report on your smartphone, tablet or computer and read it in printed form, if required.
The laboratory analysis determines the concentration of specific IgE antibodies against certain grass types, herbs and flower pollen in your blood. Learn what you can do to relieve your symptoms during the pollen season with the help of our recommendations. Extensive health information explains the background of pollen allergies, cross-allergies and much more.
View sample reportFrequently asked questions about Food Intolerance Test
How do you test for intolerances?
To take the food intolerance test, collect a small blood sample from your fingertip with one of the enclosed lancets. Only a few drops of blood are needed.
Return the sample using the free return envelope enclosed in the test kit. In the medical laboratory, the sample will be analysed to determine the level of certain IgE and IgG4 antibodies in the blood sample. When the analysis is complete, you will receive a notification and be able to access the results report easily when you log in to our website or even via the My cerascreen® app.
Important: You will get the most reliable results if you have followed a balanced diet for about two weeks before taking the sample. Also, please do not eat any foods that you know might cause a reaction (for example, anaphylactic shock). Please do not take any antihistamines either.
What do the results tell me?
The results report of the Food Intolerance Test & Food Allergy Test shows for which foods there are larger amounts of IgE and IgG4 antibodies in your blood sample.
A table shows to which extent you are sensitised to 24 different foods and food groups, meaning whether there are too many of the food-specific IgE antibodies in your blood sample. This sensitisation tells you the likelihood of your immune system having allergic reactions to a certain food.
The other table shows you how many IgG4 antibodies to 38 foods are present in the blood. According to alternative medical theories, a medium or reaction can give a first indication of whether or not there might be any food intolerances.
What kind of recommendations will I receive?
Neither the IgE nor IgG4 levels are in themselves a diagnosis. Only general practitioners can diagnose an allergy or intolerance with certainty. In both cases, it is possible that elevated levels are not associated with any discomfort you may be experiencing.
You can use the Food Intolerance Test & Food Allergy Test results as a first indication to discuss further steps with your GP. The results report also provides you with tips on how you can further explore which foods you can and cannot tolerate by eliminating certain foods from your meal plan.
You will also receive recommendations on how to deal with identified allergies and intolerances and how to keep your diet balanced.
Does the NHS do food intolerance testing?
The NHS does not offer an intolerance test. The NHS recommend that you visit your doctor if symptoms are particularly uncomfortable or acute and if you are unsure about what is triggering your symptoms. The majority of food intolerance testing is done privately via blood tests, the most reliable test being food-specific IgG reaction tests.
What do ‘IgE’ and ‘IgG4’ mean?
Immunoglobulins E (IgE) and Immunoglobulins G4 (IgG4) are two types of antibodies. They are part of the defence component of the immune system. Both IgE and IgG4 are groups of specific antibodies that are specialised in defending against very specific foreign bodies.
In the case of an allergy, specific IgE antibodies are found in a too high frequency in the body. They cause the immune system to dysfunction when harmless proteins from pollen, animal hair or even food enter the body. The messenger substance histamine is then released, leading to inflammation and the typical allergy symptoms.
IgG4 food intolerance is an alternative medical theory that is currently not supported by scientific studies. According to the theory, an increased number of specific IgG4 antibodies leads to defensive and inflammatory reactions. The symptoms should usually appear with a time delay – up to hours or days after you have eaten the intolerable food.
What kinds of food intolerances will be tested?
In the case of a food allergy or food intolerance, the symptoms usually appear immediately or shortly after eating. Nuts, soya and animal foods such as milk, eggs and shellfish, in particular, can also trigger a harmful allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock), during which a sudden drop in blood pressure can lead to fainting and, in rare cases, death.
Typical symptoms of food allergy or food intolerance:
- skin rashes
- gastrointestinal discomfort such as diarrhoea and abdominal pain
- An itchy palate and ‘furry tongue’
- Respiratory problems to allergic asthma
Which kind of foods causes allergies?
More than 170 foods can be the cause of allergies and food intolerances. However, there are some foods that are by far the most common triggers.
These include:
- cow’s milk and eggs
- pulses
- nuts
- wheat
- fish and shellfish
Allergies to various types of fruit, vegetables and spices are somewhat less common.
Most food allergies emerge during childhood. Allergies to cow’s milk, eggs, wheat and soya often develop during adolescence, while allergies to nuts, fish and shellfish usually last for a lifetime.
Can food intolerances go away?
There is currently no cure for food intolerances – the best recommendation is to avoid the food that is causing you discomfort, or reduce the amount of it that you consume.
Alternatively, a good way to see if an intolerance goes away is to exclude the problematic food from your diet. This is called an elimination diet. If you have a food intolerance to more than one food, exclude one food item at a time. See if you notice your symptoms subside after two to six weeks; if they do, start reintroducing the food to see if symptoms come back.
Please note: When you eliminate certain foods from your diet, you should still maintain a balanced and healthy diet.
What are IgG4 intolerances?
According to an alternative medical theory, high concentrations of specific IgG4 antibodies are a sign of an intolerance to certain foods. According to this theory, inflammatory reactions occur in the gut after the consumption of food.
This link between the concentration of IgG4 antibodies and the presence of food intolerances is currently the subject of scientific controversy.
How do IgG4 intolerances manifest themselves?
IgG4 intolerances may only appear hours or even days after you have eaten the food in question.
Possible symptoms of food intolerance:
- Gastrointestinal discomfort, especially flatulence
- Headaches and migraines
- Lassitude
- Whistling breath sounds and running nose
- Skin rashes
Which medications can I use for food intolerances and allergies?
There is no therapy to cure an allergy or intolerance to food. IgG4 food intolerances can, according to theories, disappear if you have avoided the trigger for a while.
If you have a food allergy, medication (antihistamines) can ease the symptoms in the short term if you have consumed an allergen. People who have particularly severe allergic reactions often carry an anaphylaxis emergency kit with an adrenaline injector (EpiPen) to counteract an anaphylactic shock.
For whom is the food intolerance test not suitable?
The cerascreen® Food Intolerance Test is not suitable for or is only partially suitable for certain groups of people:
- People with infectious diseases, like hepatitis and HIV, may not use the Food Intolerance Test.
- People with haemophilia should not take the test.
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women should only take the Food Reaction Test under medical supervision. The given reference ranges and recommendations do not apply for people in this group; consult your medical professional for advice concerning your test results.
- The Food Reaction Test is not intended for children under the age of 18.
The test is not intended for diagnosing diseases. For example, if you suffer from chronic diarrhoea or extreme pain, consult a doctor.
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This is how it works
1. Test at home
Your test kit contains everything you need to draw a small sample of blood from your fingertip. Then send the sample back to us free of charge in the enclosed return envelope.
2. View results online
After the evaluation in the medical specialist laboratory, you will have online access to your personal result report.
3. Act
Your access to the test results and the evidence-based findings and tips to improve your health: the my cerascreen® user profile on our website or our app.
