Previous: What is a food allergy?
In the United States, it is estimated that 12 million people have food allergies. That includes 4% of adults and 6-8% of children under 3.
Ninety percent of food allergies are caused by eight foods. They are milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.
Seventy five percent of children with milk allergies can tolerate milk in baked goods.
Fifty percent of children who are allergic to milk, egg, soy and/or wheat are expected to outgrow their allergies by age six. Only 8% of children who have not outgrown their allergies by age 12 will outgrow them.
Children are very unlikely to outgrow nut allergies.
For more statisitics see Wikipedia:Food Allergy:Epidemiology