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To help identify potential food allergies, Labcorp offers profiles that focus on the small number of allergens that cause a high percentage of true food allergies: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, fruits, vegetables, sesame seed, soy or wheat.
If a respiratory or food allergy is suspected, primary care providers can order an allergy profile with reflex components.
With one blood sample, a respiratory profile can be selected based on the patient's geographic location or a food allergen profile with reflex components. There’s no need to select individual allergens to test—it’s as simple as ordering a cholesterol or blood sugar panel.
Although the use of component IgE testing may enhance the evaluation of potentially allergic individuals over the use of whole extracts alone, it cannot yet replace clinical history or oral food challenge in most cases. Clinical history, patient's age, and presence of comorbidities (such as atopic dermatitis) must be incorporated into the diagnostic determination.
If a food is tolerated in the patient's diet on a regular basis, detectable food-specific IgE does not confer allergy to that food.5 If allergy to a specific food is suspected based on clinical history, an undetectable food-specific IgE does not exclude allergy to that food.
Diagnostic accuracy rarely exceeds 50% if a primary care provider relies on a patient’s allergy history without testing.8
A food sensitivity, often called a food intolerance, may have similar symptoms as a food allergy, but there are a few key differences.
The Labcorp food allergy blood test measures your immune response to some of the most common foods known to trigger an allergic reaction. These include:
Available at your primary care provider’s office, a specialist’s office, through Labcorp OnDemand or at a Labcorp patient service center, you can get a blood-based specific IgE allergy test that:
Along with a medical exam and discussion with your doctor, the results for our food allergy blood test can help your healthcare provider or specialist make a diagnosis and determine if you need additional testing or if you should avoid a food altogether.