Food Allergies Cost $500 Million Per Year

A new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology calculates that doctor visits, hospital care and lost work days due to food allergies costs $500 million per year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that food allergies among children have climbed 18 percent from 1997 to 2007 and about four of every 100 Americans suffer from a food allergy. With this rise comes increased medical cost.

Reuters reports that doctor visits cost $118 million annually while visits to the emergency room ring up at $45 million. Indirect costs of food allergies, such as missing work to take a sick child to the doctor, cost $115 million to $203 million.

The study also found that emergency room costs for food allergies were higher than for other medical reasons. For example, the average visit for a food allergy costs about $553 where a visit for asthma issues is about $345. For families with food allergy sufferers, costs can be an additional $400 per month for co-payments and other medical needs.

Although 30% of the population claim to have a food allergy, only about eight percent of children and less than five percent of adults actually have one, says the New York Times. Perhaps some can be attributed to hypochondria, but for those fakers out there, make sure to not eat at any of David Chang's restaurants.

RELATED: How To Cope With Food Allergies

Comments

[OCFoodAllergy]

10:14 PM on 05/08/2011

I love the ignorance of some people when it comes to food allergies. When you walk in the shoes or a parent with a kids with food allergies...you begin to understand how challenging it is. When your kid is covered with hives that covers your entire body, then goes into trouble breathing...the emergency room is where you end up. The blessing is that we have a support group that helps parents deal with the emotional side of the problem, with practical advice at at www.ocfoodallergy.com.

[benji85]

11:11 PM on 05/07/2011

Some people like grow out allergies, but since they've had such harsh reactions to certain foods they just avoid it even if they've out grown the allergy.

[Sarah Mertz]

11:15 PM on 05/06/2011

Why such a huge jump? Is it cause everyone is getting their kids tested for allergies these days?

[HazelPethigFan]

09:56 PM on 05/07/2011

It's because it's the latest fad.

[onwisconsin]

12:19 AM on 05/09/2011

No, it's not. Allergies are serious health issues. I have many that are anaphylactic. It isn't fun to have to watch EVERYTHING I eat but that's the way it's been my whole life.

Scientists have several thoughtful hypotheses about the change in the percentage of those who suffer from food allergies. Maybe you should google a few.

[luvs2eat]

09:53 PM on 05/06/2011

TELL me about it. I have celiac disease (an autoimmune response to the ingestion of wheat, rye, and barley). A pound of pasta costs me about $3.50 and a loaf of bread costs about $4.00. It's tough to have to buy gluten free foods... they are pricey!!

[ncyim]

10:08 PM on 05/06/2011

Same here! I stopped eating the GF bakery good tho because of weight gain. GF baked goods are supper caloric! Since then I've had a blood test for allergies and found that I'm also allergic to many foods including eggs and yeast - double reason not to eat that stuff. Highly recommend that blood test!

[catsanon]

12:23 PM on 05/09/2011

Yeah, the GF products are pricey - and as far as I'm concerned, most of them have questionable nutrional value, so I've pretty much stopped eating them. Instead, I usually just eat whole grains (rice, quinoa and such) or cook my own breads and etc from scratch....