Do You Have a Citric Acid Allergy?
There is some debate on the internet about whether such a thing as an allergy to citric acid is a known medical condition or not. Some people, including many M.D.s and other doctors (such as naturopaths) suggest that there is no such thing as an allergy to citric acid, instead calling it a "food sensitivity", a "food intolerance" or even a "non-allergic food hypersensitivity".
Regardless of the terms currently used, the fact is that some of us have adverse reactions when we eat citric acid, and sometimes when we put it on our skin. Citric acid is frequently made from Corn, and I believe that often a reaction to corn is actually a reaction to the citric acid that is in the corn. Citric acid is found in MANY foods naturally, and not just citrus fruits as most people think.
It is also used as a cleaner and descaler in concentrations around 6% to remove hard water stains from surfaces, and it is also used to slow the rate at which concrete sets, so you can see it has many industrial and household uses.
In food, citric acid frequently used as a preservative, and many vegetable and fruits are washed in a mild citric acid solution to prevent them going brown (and looking less appealing to shoppers) by reacting to oxygen in the air (oxidization). It is also used as a flavoring to make foods taste tart, and is sometimes used in place of lemon juice by food manufacturers.
You'll see it on the ingredients list of many canned drinks, including many colas and root-beers. How Much in the World? In 2007 there was an estimated 1,700,000 tons (that's 3,400,000,000 or three point four BILLION pounds) of citric acid produced, most of it made in China.
Where did all this go? Here is the breakdown: Half of it was added to drinks, 20% as food additives , another 20% added to cleaners and the last 10% is estimated to be added to cosmetics, like shampoos and soaps. As you can see, it isn't just something quite rare tat you find in a few things, but rather is extremely common.
So what exactly IS the difference between an allergy and an intolerance? Well, here is what I have managed to gather from my studies. To be an allergy, technically, your immune system has to be involved. That is, something has made your immune system start to do its job and try to protect you. The problem with allergies is that too often, your immune system seems to start doing its job when it doesn't need to, because it reacts to things that aren't really very harmful to you, such as pollen.
A food intolerance (or food sensitivity) on the other hand, is a body's inability to digest certain compounds in food, but does NOT involve the immune system. The reasons that this happens seems to be caused by several factors, and more research needs to be done to determine what all of these factors are.
It's vitally important to determine whether or not you do indeed have an allergy or intolerance, and the only way to do this is to see a licensed doctor, preferably an allergist or other specialist in that field. Allergies can be life threatening (hence me saying it's VITALLY important) and many people are now prescribed "epi-pens" which are syringes full of epinephrine, which they must administer to themselves (or have others do it for them) if an attack happens when you aren't near a physician (which is most of the time of course).
There are several common food intolerances, including Lactose Intolerance - which means you can't drink milk or eat milk derived products, and Gluten Intolerance - which means you can't eat breads or any products made with grasses, such as Wheat or Rye.
I've spoken with several doctors and citric acid intolerance (often called citric acid allergy) seems to be new to many of them. While this probably isn't a life threatening condition, because of its symptoms, it can be very debilitating, and quite often very embarrassing.
