food allergiy tests?

Question

I have to go in for allergy testing in foods...specfically nuts
What do they do exactly, and how acurate are the tests?

Answer 1

Food allergies are tested by pricking your skin with a whole bunch known allergens, and waiting 15-30 minutes to gauge the reaction. If you are allergic to something in the test, you will get an itchy bump for that particular allergen. The pricks just barely scratch the skin, so they don't hurt, and the itching goes away after an hour or two. The tests are very accurate, but some of the tests are general (all types of grasses) and others are very specific (peanuts).