Diagnosing & Living with Food Additive Intolerance

Food additive intolerance is probably one of the most difficult food intolerances to diagnose specifically; there isn’t a specific test for each food additive. Food additive intolerance is often only suggested if the symptoms are very varied and elimination of other foods has not improved symptoms.

Living with food additive intolerance

Living with food additive intolerance is probably one of the most difficult food intolerances to live with. This is because of the huge range of foods that food additives can be found in. Most processed foods from meat to fresh fruit and vegetables will have some form of food additive to preserve them or enhance their colour.

It may be extremely difficult, but you should try and avoid foods containing the culprit food additive. You should form a list of particular foods that you have food to cause symptoms and avoid them. This way you may find that certain branded products are suitable for your consumption opposed to others. Also, you may find that you can tolerate certain foods with the offending food additive and so can keep these foods in your diet; whether this is possible or not will depend on who severe your intolerance to that particular food additive is.

It goes without saying that you should read the food labels to check whether a food contains the culprit food additive. Though sometimes, if you are unsure whether a certain food contains the offending food additive it is best to ring the manufacturer to check. This way any unwanted symptoms can be avoided. But, if still uncertain don’t take the risk and avoid that food.

You should be aware of ‘hidden’ food additives. These are food additives that can be described by broad terms on the food label ingredient lists. For example, the exact name of a flavour enhancing food additive may be described as ‘flavours.’

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