Heinz - Tinytums

Food Allergies

What is a Food Allergy 
Food allergies are rare and happen when a harmless food is wrongly interpreted by the immune system as being harmful. The symptoms of allergy (such as tingling lips, and rashs) are due to the efforts of the immune system in tackling the food. In some cases the reaction is severe, and affected individuals must avoid the problem food.

Food Intolerance
Food intolerance covers non-allergic problems with foods. There are many reasons why certain individual cannot tolerate foods or food components.

Who’s at Risk?  
Some families are more prone to food allergies and intolerances than others and are described as atopic. This means they are more likely to develop conditions such as asthma or eczema. However, being in an atopic family doesn’t automatically mean that your baby will be affected, but it does mean that the risk of developing an allergy is greater.
Therefore the advice from the Department of Health, for babies in an atopic family is:

• Breast feed for six months or longer
• Wait until your baby is at least 6 months before introducing foods which commonly cause allergy (cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, nuts and shellfish) 

If you suspect your baby has a food intolerance or allergy, talk to your doctor straight away. 

Never put a baby on a restricted diet without your doctor’s diagnosis and advice as cutting out foods such as milk or wheat could mean they miss out important nutrients.

You can get additional information from various self-help groups and organisations:

National Eczema Society,
163 Eversholt Street,
London,
NW1 1BU
www.eczema.org

The Anaphylaxis Campaign
www.anaphylaxis.org.uk

For the most up-to-date information on our products please call our Tinytums Careline team on 0800 212 991.