Five percent of US adults report food allergy

According to a FDA survey, a 5.3% of US adults said a doctor diagnosed them with food allergy. Most were allergic to one or more of the eight most common food allergens.

Bonnie - this is a very significant number (approximately 15 million Americans) given the fact that these were doctor-diagnosed food allergies. Allergists, much less doctors, ever take food allergies into account for health-related symptoms. My estimation would be closer 15-20% of the population if you take into account those with food allergies who are undiagnosed. Add to that the number of Americans with food intolerances, I would say that somewhere between 50-60% of the population have a food issue.