Health Professionals
Research
YORKTEST Laboratories, previously York Nutritional Laboratories, has been established
since 1982. When the YORKTEST foodSCAN service was first introduced, there was limited information on
the outcome of following an elimination diet based on food-specific IgG results.
In 1998, a study was commissioned by the patient support group Allergy UK (formally
the British Allergy Foundation) and YORKTEST introduced a postal questionnaire designed to collect information on a wide
range of parameters including the types of symptoms that concerned the consumer
the most, how well the consumer was able to respond to the dietary advice, how
much benefit, if any, that they felt and how quickly they felt any benefit.
The independent analysis and reporting of the survey data was carried out at
the Centre for Economics, University of York. These data showed consistent evidence
that noticeable benefit is gained from removing offending foods from the diet.
76% of those patients who rigorously followed the recommended diet had a noticeable
improvement in their condition. 68% of those patients who benefited from following
the recommendations felt benefit within 3 weeks of following the diet. The survey
covered subjects with a wide range of chronic medical conditions, and it was clear
that those who reported more than one condition were more likely to report noticeable
improvement. 81.5% of those that dieted rigorously and reported three or more
co-morbidities showed noticeable improvement in their overall condition. For those
who dieted rigorously and reported high benefit, 92.3% felt a return of symptoms
on reintroduction of the offending foods.
There is now a plethora of data showing that people who have adapted their diet
according to the YORKTEST results report an improvement in their symptoms. Some of these data have
been independently reported. [1], [2], [3], [4]
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[1] Report by G. Hardman, dated October 2005: Effect of dietary advice
based on food-specific IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) test results
amongst consumers with a range of medical conditions. In Press
[2] Report by Professor T. Sheldon, Dept of Health Studies, University
of York, dated November 2000: Independent audit of IgG Food Intolerance Tested
Consumer Survey
[3] Rees T et al, 2005: A prospective audit of food intolerance among migraine
consumers in primary care clinical practice. Headache Care 2, 11-14
[4] Atkinson W et al, 2004: Food elimination based on IgG antibodies in
irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial. Gut 53, 1459-1464