Get your food facts right

There are many misconceptions about different kinds of food, which confuses us, leaving us at sea not knowing what to believe. Here’s a lowdown of some of the most common myths and the facts behind them.

Myth: Most people assume that the word ‘Freefrom’ only applies to gluten and dairy free products.
Fact: This is clearly not the case. ‘Freefrom’ is a term applied to any product (not only food) which is ‘free of’ whatever it is that you cannot consume or use. Hence, a product that is free from gluten is not necessarily free from dairy.

Myth: A person who suffers from food allergy and someone having a food intolerance is the same thing.
Fact: A food allergy is an adverse immune response to a food protein, whereas a a food intolerance is described as an adverse reaction to a food or food ingredient that occurs each time the substance is eaten, that is not due to a psychological cause or to food poisoning, and that does not involve the immune system.

Myth: Lactose intolerance and cow’s milk allergy are the same thing.
Fact: Lactose intolerance has no connection with an allergy to cow’s milk allergy. However, it is possible to suffer from both.

Myth: Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are the same.
Fact: Celiac disease is defined as a positive result to a biopsy of the small intestine — damaged villi (structures which assist absorption). Gluten sensitivity is described as any sensitivity to gluten and includes celiac disease.

Myth: A wheat allergy and wheat intolerance is the same thing.
Fact: Wheat allergy is an allergy to one or several of the proteins in wheat. Wheat intolerance is an intolerance to one or several of the constituents (not necessarily proteins) of wheat. This appears to be most common in relation to highly processed, high-gluten flours and products made from them.

Myth: Eggs are a dairy product.
Fact: The term ‘dairy foods’ refers specifically to cow’s milk products although it is often taken to refer to all animal milk products. Eggs are not dairy products.

Myth: If you have a cow’s milk allergy or intolerance you cannot drink any kind of ‘milk’.
Fact: The term milk should only refer to cow’s milk or at least to animal milk. However, it is often used for many alternatives such as soya ‘milk’,  oat ‘milk’, coconut ‘milk’, which have nothing to do with cow’s milk and are perfectly safe for those with a cow’s milk allergy or intolerance.

Myth: If you are allergic to peanuts, you are also allergic to tree nuts.
Fact: Peanuts are legumes. Tree nuts include walnut, almond, hazelnut, cashew, pistachio and Brazil nuts of which cashews, Brazils and hazelnuts usually cause serious allergic reactions.  Being peanut allergic does not mean that you will be tree nut allergic. Some people can be allergic to both.