food allery test

Im going monday to get a food allergy test, it is 230 and they test 96 categories. Have you gotten one? And if so would you consider this a good price? What were your results?

Its a finger prick test, I just found one online where you send your hair.. it seems a little fishy though.. it says they test 600 foods and its only 85 dollars... im also wondering how accurate these things are

I agree with Gary, scratch test is only real reliable test, and even that won't show intolerances.

Hmmmm interesting. How does the scratch test work exactly?

I only wish that I had eliminated grains from my diet, as my food testing indicated, years ago - I reduced my gluten and a few times eliminated it, but it wasn't till I got rid of all grains that my sad colon turned happy -

that's all well and good sherry, but as I've said before, it's takes 3-4 MONTHS for my gluten issues to show up - most people, including me figure a week or 2 at the most -

well I'm not sure what you're confused about so I won't bother trying to explain -

I don't have a lot of faith in these tests too...I had the scratch test done many years ago and was told I was allergic to horses and fine with dogs...which turned out to be the complete opposite.

maybe, but I not only wanted to die but was pretty sure it was gonna happen ;-)

There is a world of difference between an allergy and an intolerance. An allergy involves an immediate response via the immune system. People with allergies to food can be diagnosed by blood tests (looking for IgE.) Allergies can develop even later in life (eg. crustaceans)

Intolerance to food does not involve an immune response at all. They are triggered by food chemicals which cause reactions by irritating nerve endings in different parts of the body.
As in Soystud's case of intolerance, the entire food group needed to be removed (removing the wheat protein alone was ineffective). This is because the chemicals involved in food intolerances are found in many different foods, so the approach involves identifying them and reducing intake of groups of food (ie grains.)

Testing for food intolerance with via immunoglobulin markers (such as IgG4) is pointless, as there is no immune involvement in intolerance. What those tests actually show, is which foods you eat the most. If you happen to be intolerant to a common food group, then the test will appear accurate, which is where the confusion arises.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18489614

I agree with PathogenKiller, scratch are not at all reliable.

I've known plenty of real life examples where the scratch tests proved no allergy, and yet when the person ingested the food had anaphylaxis!

To be clear, the scratch test is not comparable to taking a blood sample to look for IgE antibodies to specific foods.

The scratch test only gives a vague indication that there 'may' be an allergy involved. If there were any real suspicion of an allergy, that would have to be confirmed via IgE blood testing. The reason people sometimes get mild reactions (redness) on the skin from the scratch test can be as a result of the dosage or the application itself. And, as InSoFla reported, some do not react at all to the scratch test, though they may in fact have an allergy (though that is less likely.) The mast cell response needs to be triggered.

Removing food groups for a period of time is the only real way to test for an intolerance. As mentioned, any increases in IgG4 (from a blood sample) are more to do with which foods are eaten the most, rather than being indicative of intolerance.

Interesting article PK. However, any increase in IgG4 titers noticed for IBS patients (from your linked article your link) were not suggested as 'intolerance'. As you say, it may relate to loss of tight epithelial junctions, and there were many speculations made.
From your link:
“Interestingly, the study did not show any significant cor-relation between serum IgG4 antibody titers and symptom severity.”

IgG4 titers rise after food ingestion, not as an indication of intolerance, but perhaps for many other reasons. Notice that the IgG4 markers were raised for all foods consumed by the IBS patients, and for the controls too.
Food intolerance does not involve immune response pathways, which are reserved for allergy. Foods can trigger variable IgG4 responses though, and the wide speculation about the cause of increased titers is certainly interesting. And I agree that there may be some deeper significance found one day that goes beyond speculation. Whether it is related to intolerance remains to be seen.
(Improvements in symptoms after removing foods from the diet does not indicate intolerance. Sometimes, when people remove food groups they normally consume, they replace them with alternatives that can improve the balance of their diet, and health.)