Food Intolerance 220+
This comprehensive panel tests IgG-mediated reactivity to over 220 food items. Unlike allergies, intolerances cause delayed symptoms like bloating, fatigue, or headaches. Results guide elimination diets.
- DHA-licensed lab
- Includes Doctor Consultation
- Physician-reviewed
- Same Day Collection
3 days
Turnaround
Blood
Sample
What the Food Intolerance 220+ test tells you
This panel measures immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against more than two hundred foods, spanning dairy, grains, meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, spices and common beverages. IgG is a different antibody class from the IgE measured in allergy testing. It is produced as part of the normal immune conversation with food, and it is not the antibody that drives immediate allergic reactions.
People usually come to this test after months of vague, delayed symptoms: bloating, irregular bowel habit, wind, headaches, skin flare-ups, or a heaviness and fatigue that seems to follow certain meals but never quite points at one of them. Because the reported reactivity spans so many foods at once, the panel is used as a starting map rather than a verdict: a structured way to choose which foods to remove first in a supervised elimination trial, and then reintroduce one at a time while tracking symptoms.
How much weight to give the result is a genuine point of debate. Major allergy societies take the view that food-specific IgG largely reflects exposure and immune tolerance rather than an adverse reaction, and they do not endorse it as a stand-alone diagnostic test for food intolerance. That does not make the panel useless, but it does set the terms for using it well: read it with your doctor or dietitian, use it to structure an elimination-and-reintroduction trial rather than a permanent diet, and investigate coeliac disease, lactose intolerance and inflammatory bowel disease through their own dedicated tests.
Recommended if you experience chronic bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, skin issues, migraines, or fatigue that you suspect may be food-related.
- Structure an elimination trial
Removing foods at random is slow and demoralising; a reactivity map gives your doctor or dietitian a rational order in which to test them.
- Cover a wide diet
Testing hundreds of items at once includes spices, herbs and beverages that a symptom diary rarely captures but that are eaten almost daily.
- Reframe persistent symptoms
For long-running bloating or fatigue with no clear pattern, the panel gives something concrete to work with while other causes are ruled out properly.
- Reduce guesswork at meals
A written shortlist makes it easier to plan meals and to reintroduce foods deliberately rather than avoiding whole categories out of caution.
Reasons your doctor may request the Food Intolerance 220+ test
Your doctor may order this test for any of the reasons below. Some are routine checks, others follow specific symptoms or an earlier result.
Digestive & delayed symptoms
- Long-standing bloating, wind or an irregular bowel habit without an identified cause.
- Delayed symptoms such as headache, fatigue or brain fog that seem to follow eating.
Skin flare-ups
- Recurrent skin flare-ups that a dermatologist suspects may have a dietary component.
Planning a diet change
- Planning a supervised elimination-and-reintroduction diet with a dietitian.
- An already restricted diet that has not helped, where a more systematic approach is needed.
This panel does not produce a single number. It is reported as a "Multi-parameter panel": every food is graded individually, and your report lists the grade for each item. A food that grades high usually reflects how often you eat it, since regular exposure is the strongest single influence on IgG; closely related foods, such as cow and goat milk, often move together. A food with no reactivity simply means no IgG response was measured. Food-specific IgG is widely read as a marker of exposure and tolerance rather than proof of an adverse reaction, and allergy societies do not accept it as a diagnostic test on its own. It does not detect IgE food allergy, coeliac disease or lactose intolerance: each needs its own test. Treat a flagged food as a candidate for a supervised elimination and reintroduction trial, and let your doctor or dietitian read it alongside your symptoms and history.
Medically reviewed by Dr Nirupama Sabhapathy
This test is reported descriptively rather than on a numeric scale: each finding below explains what your report may say.
Each food is graded individually for reactivity. Your report lists the grade for every item in the panel.
Ranges are a guide: your physician interprets your result alongside your symptoms and history.
What a higher result can point to
- Regular and frequent consumption of that food, which is the strongest single influence on IgG levels.
- A varied diet overall, since more foods eaten means more foods the immune system has met.
- Cross-reactivity between closely related foods, such as cow and goat milk or wheat and other grains.
- Coexisting gut inflammation or increased intestinal permeability, which can raise antibody responses to what passes through.
- A generally brisk antibody response, seen in some people after infection or in those with atopic conditions.
These are possibilities, not diagnoses. A single value outside the reference range is interpreted alongside your symptoms, history and other tests: your doctor decides what it means for you.
What this test cannot tell you
- Food-specific IgG is widely interpreted as a marker of exposure and tolerance rather than proof of an adverse reaction, and leading allergy societies do not accept it as a diagnostic test on its own.
- The panel does not detect IgE food allergy, coeliac disease, lactose intolerance or fructose malabsorption; each needs its own test.
- Results shift as your diet changes, so a repeat panel months later may look different without anything clinically meaningful having happened.
- Acting on a long list of flagged foods without dietetic supervision risks an unnecessarily narrow and nutritionally poor diet.
Risks of the blood draw
- Mild bruising or brief soreness where the needle went in.
- Occasional lightheadedness, which settles after a few minutes of rest.
- Bleeding or infection at the site, which is rare with sterile single-use equipment.
- 1This measures IgG, which is a different antibody class from the IgE behind true food allergy.
- 2A flagged food is best treated as a candidate for a trial, not as a food to be avoided for life.
- 3Value comes from the elimination-and-reintroduction process, ideally supervised by a dietitian.
- 4Coeliac disease and lactose intolerance must be excluded by their own specific tests.
- 5Reactivity often tracks how often you eat something rather than how badly you react to it.
Food Intolerance 220+ also comes in these focused packages, which pair it with the tests usually read alongside it.
- Allergy & IntoleranceFood Allergy Test (44 Allergens)
This comprehensive panel tests for IgE-mediated allergies to 44 common food items, including dairy, nuts, seafood, grains, and fruits. It helps…
499View - Stool StudiesCalprotectin Qualitative
Faecal calprotectin is a protein released by inflamed intestinal tissue. This stool test helps distinguish inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from…
275View - HaematologyAbsolute Eosinophil Count
This test measures the number of eosinophils, white blood cells that fight parasites and play a role in allergic responses. Elevated counts may point…
15View
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the Food Intolerance 220+ test. Can't find what you're looking for?
Talk to our team→It shows which foods your immune system has made IgG against, but it does not prove those foods cause your symptoms. Food-specific IgG is widely read as a marker of exposure and tolerance, and leading allergy societies do not accept it as a diagnostic test on its own. Its practical value lies in choosing candidates for a supervised elimination and reintroduction trial.
Intolerances tend to cause delayed symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea, constipation, skin problems, migraines or fatigue, rather than the fast reactions of an allergy. Because these symptoms have many possible causes, the panel is only useful when matched against a food and symptom diary showing what you ate and when you felt unwell.
Closely related foods share similar proteins, so IgG raised against one often recognises the other, and they tend to grade together. The same happens with wheat and other grains. A pair or group flagged together does not mean each one needs removing; your doctor or dietitian may test them one at a time during reintroduction.
Not necessarily. IgG to a food tends to fall once you stop eating it and rise with regular exposure, so a repeat panel months later may look different without anything clinically meaningful having happened. A food that has gone quiet after avoidance is not proof that a problem has resolved, nor that it was ever the cause.
Yes. A recent course of oral steroids or immune-suppressing treatment can dampen antibody responses and make foods look quieter, so mention it at your appointment. Gut inflammation or increased intestinal permeability can do the opposite, raising responses to many foods at once. Your doctor reads the grades with your history in mind.
An allergy panel measures IgE, the antibody that causes fast reactions such as hives or swelling. This panel measures IgG, which the immune system produces in response to foods you eat regularly. A raised IgG does not indicate an allergy and does not carry any risk of anaphylaxis.
Not necessarily. IgG to a food often simply reflects that you eat it often, and many specialists regard it as a sign of normal immune tolerance. Your doctor will treat a raised result as a hypothesis to test by removing the food and reintroducing it, not as a conclusion.
No. Coeliac disease is investigated with its own specific antibody tests and often a biopsy, and lactose intolerance is assessed by a breath test or a supervised dietary trial. Wheat or dairy appearing on this panel is not a substitute for either.
That is not advisable. Removing many foods at once makes it impossible to tell which one mattered and can leave real nutritional gaps. The usual approach is to eliminate a small number for a defined period, then reintroduce them one at a time while recording symptoms.
No fasting is needed. Keep eating your usual diet in the weeks before the sample, because IgG to a food tends to fall once you stop eating it, which can make a relevant food look quiet. A food and symptom diary kept for a couple of weeks beforehand is the most useful thing to bring.
The food intolerance test is AED 1499, including a physician-reviewed report, with results usually within 3 days. Collection at home anywhere in Dubai, or at our lab, is free with this test, because it reaches the AED 300 threshold on its own.