Allergy testing is done by your GP or an allergy specialist, and we do not do it. What we offer is food intolerance testing, used selectively, read alongside your GP’s results and a symptom diary, and only when the result would change your plan. This page explains what it can and cannot tell you.
No. Allergy is an IgE immune reaction, it can be dangerous, and it is diagnosed with skin-prick or IgE blood testing through your GP or an allergy specialist. The food tests offered outside medicine measure something else, most often IgG antibodies to foods, and the allergy bodies in Australia and Europe are clear that IgG results do not diagnose allergy or intolerance: those antibodies are found in people who react to a food and in people who do not [1].
That is why we do not call this allergy testing, why we will not run it on a child with a suspected allergy, and why the reference standard for intolerance remains a diary and a structured elimination and rechallenge [2]. Used with that, and read against your GP’s results, a test can sometimes help you decide which food groups to challenge first. Used alone, it produces long lists of foods to avoid and a narrower diet for nothing.
We don’t diagnose or treat allergies or medical conditions; that stays with your doctor. Our part is the nutritional, herbal and lifestyle work that sits alongside their care.
Long-standing gut or skin symptoms — where your GP’s tests have excluded coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and allergy, a diary has not settled the question, and you want a starting point for a structured rechallenge.
A diet that has already narrowed — where foods have been cut on a hunch and the job is to bring them back in properly and in order.
Deciding what to challenge first — as one input beside your history, your diary and your GP’s results, never as the answer on its own.
Suspected allergy — hives, swelling, wheeze or vomiting soon after a food is a matter for your GP or allergist, and an intolerance test is not the way to find out.
Children with suspected reactions — tested and managed through their GP, allergist or paediatrician; we do not remove foods from a child’s diet on a test result.
As a routine — many plans need no testing at all. Testing is a decision we make together, after the first appointment, when a result would change what we do.
What stays with your doctor — allergy testing, coeliac testing before gluten is removed, action plans, and any severe reaction.
We are open 6 days per week, by appointment only. Book an appointment online via our online booking link.
Testing is decided after the first appointment, when we have heard the whole story and only when a result would change the plan. The sample is collected at a collection centre or at home, the laboratory bills you directly at its own price, which we tell you before you decide, and we read the result with you at a follow-up alongside any pathology from your GP. With your consent we share a summary with your doctor.
Depending on what we find, a plan can include:
A diary-led elimination and rechallenge, using any test result as one input for the order of challenges.
A complete, balanced diet while foods are out, and a structured way to bring them back.
Gut work where symptoms have been mistaken for a food reaction.
Reading your GP’s bloods with you, and a plan for anything that is low.
Keeping your GP or allergist in the loop, and sending you back to them where a reaction needs their tests.
Any reaction with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, wheeze, dizziness or collapse is anaphylaxis: use an adrenaline autoinjector if one has been prescribed and call 000. Hives, vomiting or swelling within minutes of a food, or any reaction in a baby or young child, needs your GP or an allergist for proper testing before anything is removed from the diet or reintroduced. If you suspect coeliac disease, get tested through your GP before removing gluten; the test only works while you are eating it.
We don’t diagnose or treat allergies or medical conditions; allergy testing and every medication decision sit with your GP or allergist. ASCIA, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, sets out the medical side plainly, including its position on unorthodox tests.
No. Allergy testing, skin-prick or IgE blood tests, is done through your GP or an allergy specialist, and we will send you there. What we offer is food intolerance testing, which measures something different, used selectively and read alongside your GP’s results and a symptom diary.
IgE testing, through your doctor, detects allergy. IgG testing detects antibodies that most people make to foods they eat, whether or not they react, so allergy bodies do not recommend it to diagnose allergy or intolerance. We use it, if at all, as one input for the order of a structured rechallenge, never as a list of foods to avoid.
Test fees are set by the laboratory and paid to the laboratory, not to the clinic, and they vary with the panel chosen. We tell you the current cost before you decide, and we only suggest it when the result would change the plan. Consultations are billed separately.
No. Testing is decided after we have heard the whole story, and many plans need no testing at all. Bring any results you already have from your GP or allergist; they often mean fewer tests, not more.
1. Stapel SO, Asero R, Ballmer-Weber BK, et al. Testing for IgG4 against foods is not recommended as a diagnostic tool: EAACI Task Force Report. Allergy. 2008;63(7):793-796. doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2008.01705.x
2. Turnbull JL, Adams HN, Gorard DA. Review article: the diagnosis and management of food allergy and food intolerances. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2015;41(1):3-25. doi:10.1111/apt.12984
If you want to know what is actually reacting rather than avoid half your diet on a guess, it is worth seeing someone who works with your GP rather than around them. Our naturopaths and nutritionists consult from Geelong CBD and Drysdale, in person or by telehealth, six days a week. Bring your results and we will start by listening.
We are open 6 days per week, by appointment only. Book an appointment online via our online booking link.
