For the first time, researchers have studied rates of food allergies in the United States by giving allergy tests, rather than asking people about their allergies. The study, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology involved researchers taking blood samples from over 8,000 people and testing them for four allergies: peanut, cow’s milk, egg white, and shrimp. The results have implications for health policy and the need for education about food allergies and asthma.

From this sample of tests, they estimate that 2.5%, or about 7.8 million people in the U.S. have food allergies.  They estimate that 4.2% of children age 1 through 5 have food allergies. This estimate is very close to that of a study published in the journal Pediatrics, which asked parents to report on their children’s allergies, and found that 3.9% of children had reported food allergies.

For more wild facts about allergies, go to about.com.