Food Intolerance & Allergy Test Provider

Both of our food intolerance tests and food allergy tests use a simple finger-prick of blood to collect your sample, before we analyse it at our laboratory.

First, we send a food allergy or intolerance kit to your home so that we can collect a small sample of your blood. We’ve been using this technique for 40 years, and our thousands of customers will confirm it’s a relatively painless experience.

The kit includes:

– A cleansing wipe for your finger

– A plaster

– Two single-use lancets

– An absorbent wand or a secure container for your blood

Our clear instructions help you to complete each step to successfully take your sample. After this, you’ll need to register the kit on your own Wellness Hub  so that we can return your results as soon as possible. Once done, send the sample back to us in the post.

We get to work analysing your sample in our laboratories as soon as we receive it, before creating a personalised report. Finally, the results of your food intolerance or food allergy test are sent back to you online, with tips and guidance from our expert team on what to do next.

A food sensitivity or intolerance is not the same as a food allergy.

Food intolerances are much more common than food allergies. It is estimated that 45% of the population are sensitive to some kind of food, while more like 2% of adults have a food allergy.

However, food allergy reactions are much more severe and can even be life threatening. Symptoms also appear almost instantly after being exposed to an allergen and include hives, swelling, wheezing, shortness of breath and in extreme cases, anaphylaxis.

Symptoms for food intolerances, on the other hand, can take up to 72 hours to occur after exposure, and are generally milder. People often report  nausea, IBS, bloating and/or itching.

It’s important to take separate food allergy and intolerance tests if you suspect you may be at risk. This is because they analyse your sample to look for different reactions. Our food intolerance tests identify food-specific IgG reactions in the body, measuring an antibody called Immunoglobulin G. Our at home food allergy test identifies any reactions that are caused by  Immunoglobulin E, or IgE.

We have an advice chart that can help you to learn more about the differences.

We’ve been supporting people with intolerances and allergies for 40 years, so we understand just how important accuracy is. Over this time we’ve developed food intolerance and food allergy tests that are processed with stringent testing and quality control processes in place.

Samples for each food intolerance test are collected using a unique wand system, which helps to keep it protected during transit. Our allergy test uses a secured container. We also label each one so it can be tracked. Once it arrives at our in-house laboratory, our team of highly trained and qualified scientists will run the relevant tests, using fully maintained and calibrated equipment and IT systems.

At YorkTest, we want to empower people with the information they need to make informed choices about what they eat, and how their body reacts. We’re proud that we have a reproducibility rate of over 98%. This means that when we test the same person’s sample on two different occasions, greater than 98% of the results will be the same.

An effective way to manage the symptoms of any suspected food intolerance such as gas or bloating is to follow an elimination diet. This is where you remove certain foods from your diet before adding them again, in order to identify what might be causing an adverse reaction in your body. This is very difficult to do without getting a test first as you don’t know what foods to start eliminating.

If you suspect you might have a food intolerance, unknowingly reintroducing those foods into your diet again could trigger uncomfortable symptoms.

An elimination diet helps you identify trigger foods but it can be hard to stick to. However, when used with the results of a food intolerance test, you already have a clear idea of what could be causing an intolerance to flare up. Using our traffic light system, where red indicates high reactivity and green normal reactivity, you’ll be able to see which food to cut out and include first.

Without a test, understanding the specific foods and proteins that cause a reaction can be difficult. For example, if you often have an upset stomach and you eat bread, you could be intolerant to gluten or yeast or wheat. Knowing exactly what triggers your body means you don’t have to cut out certain foods and nutrients unnecessarily.

When you get your results, our nutritionists  can help you to create eating plans and offer advice on alternative options to replace trigger foods.

YorkTest has been a leading provider of high-quality, highly-accurate food intolerance tests and food allergy tests for 40 years.

We’re driven by scientific expertise. When you order an at home food allergy test or food sensitivity kit, you can be confident we work to the highest standards. Everything  from the design of the sample collection kits, to the food-specific IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests we run to produce your result has been developed to ensure accuracy.

We strive to help our customers lead a full and satisfying life by truly understanding how their bodies react to certain foods. Our results have a reproducibility rate of over 98%, giving you peace of mind that the results and advice you receive are of a high standard.