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What is a food allergy? A food allergy is a specific immune system reaction that happens after a person consumes what is normally considered a safe food. Food allergies occur more often in children than in adults. Approximately 5-8%of children (aged 4 or under) and about 2% of adults have food allergies (FDA 2016). Allergic reactions to food lead to over 30,000 emergency room visits and 2,000 hospitalizations per year (FDA 2016b; Radke et al. 2016). There are approximately 150 fatalities associated with food allergic reactions in the US annually (FDA 2016).