Rosie Pollock can’t just switch off her allergy.
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Her aversion to specific nuts, like cashews, pine nuts and pistachios, can be a matter of life and death.
But the Wagga barista and waitress said the growing number of residents choosing alternate foods without medically diagnosed intolerance or allergies was increasing, impacting on those genuinely suffering.
It follows a Charles Sturt Univeristy report, which showed the popularity of gluten-free diets had grown across a decade, with close to 20 per cent of the population estimated to be avoiding the grain-based protein.
It is a rise also concerning city dietitians, prompting a fresh call for greater awareness, with the unnecessary avoidance of certain foods leading to nutritional deficiencies.
Ms Pollock said she hated being “that person”; the customer who always had to question the ingredients on a menu.
But she said an increase in “fussy eaters” had created a negative image for those with genuine reasons to avoid certain foods.
“You feel uncomfortable because they have to go and ask what is in the food,” Ms Pollock said. “It would be easier if it was all written on a menu.”
The 21-year-old said it was easy for some staff and kitchens to think the request was due to personal choice and not medical concerns.
“Sometimes they don’t know what’s in the food or they don’t worry about it too much,” Ms Pollock said. “But it can be a serious issue.”
Ms Pollock said friends had been hospitalised with anaphylactic shock in the past, which was a result she had fortunately avoided, but the risk was very real.
Her concerns come after the Australasian Society Clinical Immunology and Allergy revealed hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions had doubled across the country, within a decade.
The same report in 2016 showed food allergies were affecting 10 per cent of of children up to 12 months old; between 4 and 8 per cent of children up to five-years, and about two per cent of adults.
But Wagga dietitian Sheree Morris said there was a common misconception about allergens like gluten, with some residents self-diagnosing after eating certain grains and experiencing negative symptoms.
“I’m seeing a lot of people following a gluten-free diet unnecessarily,” Ms Morris said. “Any restrictive diet can be risky and you could be leaving out something your body needs.”
The dietitian in charge of Wagga Health Service urged residents, worried about food-related gastrointestinal issues, to contact their GP before cutting out foods.
She said if a resident genuinely had coeliac disease, they could be at a higher risk of nutritional deficiency and other related conditions, which was another reason to get tested.
“Be sceptical of fad diets,” Ms Morris said. “It’s important to get help for specialised advice.”