by N. Zahra

It is estimated that approximately 1 in 3 North Americans is lactose intolerant and 1 in 100 North Americans suffer from celiac disease, or severe gluten intolerance.  According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and milk products.  Gluten intolerance refers to the inability to tolerate gluten-containing foods such as wheat, rye and barley.  In the last few years, there seems to be an increasing trend toward people developing food intolerance in North America.

Personal experiences collected on websites such as motherearthnews.com , suggests that people are noticing a big difference in their digestive health when they consume dairy and wheat in North America versus when they consume it elsewhere, such as in Europe.  So far, there is no conclusive research that suggests that food intolerance is a uniquely North American phenomenon, but in examining data from European countries, one can see that although food intolerance is increasingly on the radar, they are not common enough to merit serious attention by those looking to cash in on peoples’ illnesses or perceived illnesses, such as speciality food companies or pharmaceutical companies.

According to a paper produced by the Institute of Food Research , although there is an increasing public perception of food intolerance, researchers cannot find a large enough cohort of subjects to study in any one European country because diagnosis levels are so low.  Somewhere between 3-5% of Europeans are diagnosed with some form of food intolerance, while in North America, it is estimated that up to 11.5 % of the total population suffers from food intolerance, according to a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2010, with many cases still going undiagnosed.  Conversely, according to a study done by The Gluten-Free Agency , a consulting firm dedicated to helping advertisers market their gluten-free products, the market for gluten-free products is exploding here with consumers in the 50-64 and 25-34 age ranges in North America, being the largest consumers of gluten-free products world-wide.

If we put the andecdotal evidence together with these startling consumer trends, a picture starts to emerge of an ill-health phenomenon that is making big bucks for specialty food companies.  Another dimension to this trend is the difference between those who have been made aware of their food intolerance issues and who can afford to treat them, and those that suffer in silence, thinking that it is normal to be bloated and gassy after every meal.

It is important to raise awareness that bloating and gas after every meal indicates ill digestive health and that the way that food is produced in North America might be largely to blame for this problem.

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