FAQs
What is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?
Our products contain a variety of different ingredients and are suitable for a range of diets. You can identify if a product contains certain ingredients by clicking on the product and checking the "contains symbols".
suitable for vegetarians
contains soya
contains nuts
contains gluten
contains egg
contains dairy
contains alcohol
A true food allergy or (food hypersensitivity) is the overreaction of the body to an otherwise harmless food or food component.
In a true food allergy, the body's immune system mistakenly identifies a component in food as harmful and produces antibodies against it. The antibodies recognise the 'harmful' particle and produces antibodies against it. The antibodies recognise the 'harmful' particle and trigger an immune response. Symptoms may include: hives, shortness of breath, hypotension (dangerously low blood pressure), cardiovascular collapse, and in severe circumstances even death.
Under European Union labelling rules, a specific list of allergens must be identified on food labels to ensure that consumers are informed of the complete contents of the food. This enables consumers with allergies to identify any ingredients that may be present. The allergen list includes: cereals containing gluten, eggs, lupin, milk, nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soya, mustard, celery, fish, molluscs, crustaceans and sulphites or sulphur dioxide.
A food intolerance is a general adverse reaction to foods and does not involve the immune system, but it is triggered by a range of other factors. Generally, the severity of teh symptoms in a food intolerance is proportional to the amount of food ingested. This differs from a food allergy: in a food allergy, even small amounts of the allergen can lead to a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Symptoms are usually gastrointestinal such as nausea, stomach cramps, heartburn, diarrhoea, headaches and vomiting.
We understand that avoiding some foods that can cause allergies or intolerances can be a painstaking task. We hope therefore that the nutrition page showing the "contains symbols" for each product, will be helpful.
