Warning over food intolerance tests

The country’s health products’ watchdog has said food intolerance tests are clinically invalid and nobody should act on the results of the tests without expert advice from a medical expert.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) said it had carried out a review of food intolerance test products currently on the market to examine their validity, sparked by their increased availability in recent years, but found there was no single test to diagnose food intolerance.

It also advised people not to rely on the results of test kits alone to detect a condition or to remove certain food groups from their diet.