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Suffered by children and adults alike, "Wheat Allergy"' appears to be particularly associated with exercise-induced anaphylaxis. The more of a cereal (wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize or rice) we eat the more likely we are to suffer an allergy. Thus rice allergy is found more frequently in populations eating ethnic diets. Seed storage proteins (such as wheat gluten) and other proteins present in grain to protect it from attack by moulds and bacteria, have been found to be major allergens.

This difference between the prevalence of clinically proven food "Allergy"'

and the public’s perception of the problem is due primarily to misinterpreting food intolerance or other adverse food reactions to food as food allergy. A true food allergy is an abnormal response to food that is triggered by a specific reaction in the immune system and expressed by certain, often characteristic, symptoms.

Other kinds of reactions to foods that are not food allergies include food intolerances (such as lactose or milk intolerance), food poisoning, and toxic reactions. Food intolerance also is an abnormal response to food, and its symptoms can resemble those of food allergy. Food intolerance, however, is far more prevalent, occurs in a variety of diseases, and is triggered by several different mechanisms that are distinct from the immunological reaction responsible for "Food Allergy"'. People who have food allergies must identify and prevent them because, although usually mild and not severe, these reactions can cause devastating illness and, in rare instances, can be fatal.