Food allergies affected 6.7% of U.S. adults and 5.3% of U.S. children ages 0–17 in 2024, based on diagnosed-condition estimates from the CDC. The figures below put those estimates in context with age, sex, race, geography, historical hospitalizations, major allergens, and food-labeling data. Measurement years differ, so older estimates and current FDA information are identified separately.
Contents
- Adult food allergy prevalence
- Differences among adults
- Child food allergy prevalence
- Historical burden and related conditions
- Major allergens and earlier estimates
- Labels, recalls, and undeclared milk
Adult food allergy prevalence
The CDC’s Diagnosed Allergic Conditions in Adults: United States, 2024 estimated that 6.7% of U.S. adults had a diagnosed food allergy in 2024. The estimate has a 95% confidence interval of 6.4% to 7.1%, and its standard error was 0.18 percentage points. These are diagnosed-condition results, not an estimate of every possible sensitivity or self-reported reaction.
Food allergy was one of several diagnosed allergic conditions measured in the report. At least one of diagnosed seasonal allergy, eczema, or food allergy affected 31.7% of U.S. adults. Diagnosed seasonal allergy was more common than diagnosed food allergy: 25.2% of adults had seasonal allergy, compared with 6.7% with food allergy. Diagnosed eczema affected 7.7% of adults alongside the report’s selected allergic-condition measures, while the food-allergy estimate was 6.7%.
| Diagnosed condition or group | U.S. adults, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Seasonal allergy, eczema, or food allergy | 31.7% |
| Seasonal allergy | 25.2% |
| Eczema | 7.7% |
| Food allergy | 6.7% |
Source: CDC, Diagnosed Allergic Conditions in Adults: United States, 2024.
The adult estimate is best read as a prevalence snapshot for 2024. The confidence interval describes statistical uncertainty around the estimate; it does not mean that every adult has the same risk or that the estimate applies unchanged to other years or countries.
Differences among adults
In 2024, diagnosed food allergy was reported for 5.1% of U.S. men aged 18 and older and 8.3% of U.S. women aged 18 and older. The CDC also reported a pattern of lower diagnosed prevalence in older age groups: 7.4% among adults ages 18–44, 6.8% among adults ages 45–64, 5.6% among adults ages 65–74, and 4.7% among adults ages 75 and older.
The same 2024 estimate varied across the racial and ethnic categories used in the report. Diagnosed food allergy affected 9.9% of Black non-Hispanic adults, 6.4% of White non-Hispanic adults, 5.5% of Asian non-Hispanic adults, and 5.4% of Hispanic adults. For Black non-Hispanic adults, the 9.9% estimate had a 95% confidence interval of 8.6% to 11.4%.
Geography also showed a difference, although the two categories were relatively close. Diagnosed food allergy affected 6.8% of adults living in metropolitan areas and 5.9% of adults in nonmetropolitan areas in 2024. These comparisons describe population estimates; they do not establish why the groups differed.
| Adult group | Diagnosed food allergy, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Men | 5.1% |
| Women | 8.3% |
| Ages 18–44 | 7.4% |
| Ages 45–64 | 6.8% |
| Ages 65–74 | 5.6% |
| Ages 75 and older | 4.7% |
| Metropolitan areas | 6.8% |
| Nonmetropolitan areas | 5.9% |
Source: CDC, Diagnosed Allergic Conditions in Adults: United States, 2024.
Child food allergy prevalence
The CDC’s Diagnosed Allergic Conditions in Children Ages 0−17: United States, 2024 estimated that 5.3% of U.S. children ages 0–17 had a diagnosed food allergy in 2024. The 95% confidence interval was 4.8% to 5.9%, and the standard error was 0.28 percentage points.
As with adults, food allergy was part of a broader set of allergic conditions. In 2024, 29.5% of U.S. children had at least one diagnosed seasonal allergy, eczema, or food allergy. Diagnosed seasonal allergy affected 20.6% of children, while diagnosed eczema affected 12.7%.
The child estimate varied by sex and age. Diagnosed food allergy affected 5.9% of boys and 4.7% of girls ages 0–17. By age group, the estimate was 3.9% among children ages 0–5, 5.0% among children ages 6–11, and 6.9% among children ages 12–17. In metropolitan areas, 5.4% of children had a diagnosed food allergy, compared with 5.1% in nonmetropolitan areas.
| Child group | Diagnosed food allergy, 2024 |
|---|---|
| All children ages 0–17 | 5.3% |
| Boys | 5.9% |
| Girls | 4.7% |
| Ages 0–5 | 3.9% |
| Ages 6–11 | 5.0% |
| Ages 12–17 | 6.9% |
| Metropolitan areas | 5.4% |
| Nonmetropolitan areas | 5.1% |
Source: CDC, Diagnosed Allergic Conditions in Children Ages 0−17: United States, 2024.
Historical burden and related conditions
Older CDC data provide a separate view of food allergy among children. In 2007, an estimated 3 million U.S. children under age 18, or 3.9%, had a reported food allergy during the prior 12 months. The 2007 reported rate was 18% higher than the reported rate in 1997. Because these figures use an earlier period and a reported-food-allergy measure, they should not be treated as a direct replacement for the 2024 diagnosed-condition estimate.
The 2007 report also described food allergy alongside other reported allergic conditions. Among U.S. children with a reported food allergy, 29% also had reported asthma, compared with 12% of children without a reported food allergy. Approximately 27% of children with a reported food allergy also had reported eczema or skin allergy, compared with 8% without a reported food allergy. More than 30% had a reported respiratory allergy, compared with 9% of children without a reported food allergy.
In the report’s summary, U.S. children with a reported food allergy were two to four times as likely to have other allergic conditions or asthma as children without a reported food allergy in 2007. These are associations in the cited historical data, not evidence that food allergy caused the other conditions.
Hospital discharge data show another historical change. Average annual U.S. hospital discharges with a food-allergy-related diagnosis among children ages 0–17 were 2,615 in 1998–2000, 4,135 in 2001–2003, and 9,537 in 2004–2006. Those figures are averages for multi-year periods, not counts for a single calendar year.
Source: CDC, Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations.
Major allergens and earlier estimates
The CDC-cited guidance-era estimate stated that eight foods or food groups accounted for more than 90% of allergic reactions among affected individuals in the United States. That estimate belongs to the source’s 2008 context and should not be confused with the current legal list of major allergens.
Under U.S. law, sesame became the ninth major food allergen effective January 1, 2023. The FDA also says that more than 160 foods have been identified as causing food allergies in sensitive individuals. Thus, a short list of major allergens captures the foods most important for standardized labeling, while it does not describe every food capable of causing an allergic reaction.
Earlier federal findings provide historical scale. The 2004 Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act findings estimated that approximately 2% of U.S. adults and about 5% of U.S. infants and young children had food allergies. The same findings estimated roughly 30,000 emergency-room treatments each year for allergic reactions to food and 150 U.S. deaths each year from those reactions. These are 2004 law-era estimates and are not presented as current national totals.
Sources: FDA, Food Allergies and FDA, Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA).
Labels, recalls, and undeclared milk
Food-allergy statistics also include measurements of labeling problems and recalls. In an FDA review of randomly selected baked goods, ice cream, and candy in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1999, 25% of sampled foods failed to list peanuts or eggs on their labels. U.S. recalls for unlabeled allergens rose to 121 in 2000, compared with about 35 a decade earlier.
Among FDA Reportable Food Registry entries involving chocolates and other confections from 2009–2013, undeclared allergens accounted for approximately 11%. This percentage describes entries in that specific registry category and period, not all food products or all allergy incidents.
The FDA’s survey of milk in dark-chocolate products covered 94 products purchased in the United States from September 2013 to September 2014. Six products contained milk or milk-derived components in the ingredient list, while 88 were not explicitly labeled as containing milk in an ingredient or Contains statement. The FDA obtained additional lots of four products for milk analysis beyond the initial 94.
Testing found substantial variation among the additional samples. Product C1, whose ingredient list named milk, measured 1,600 parts per million of milk. Product C5, whose ingredient list named milk fat and sodium caseinate, measured more than 74,000 parts per million. Product A1, labeled “may contain milk,” measured 690 parts per million; product A8, labeled as manufactured in a facility that uses milk, measured 40 parts per million.
The FDA also measured 3,900 parts per million by one method in product A11, labeled “may contain milk,” and 2,100 parts per million in both reported quantitative methods for product A7 Lot B, also labeled “may contain milk.” These measurements come from the FDA’s 2013–2014 survey and should be read as product-specific test results, not a prevalence estimate for all dark chocolate.
Sources: FDA, Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) and FDA, Survey of Milk in Dark Chocolate Products.