Background and aims: Food allergy is an abnormal response after a food ingestion, mediated by the immune system. Common food allergens are those from cow's milk proteins, eggs, peanuts, nuts, soybeans, wheat, fish, seafood. Food allergies affect 6% of children and 3-4% of adults, accounting for 29-50% of all cases of anaphylaxis, which produce 150-200 deaths annually. Cow's milk allergies affect 2-2.5% of children under 4 years of age.
Methods: The study group consisted of 414 patients admitted to ”Sf Apostol Ioan” Emergency Hospital for Children, Galati during the period 2016-2017 for various illnesses, aged 1-18 years, 228 boys (55%) and 186 girls (45%). Depending on the reason for hospitalization, patients sensitive to different allergens were classified in patients with respiratory diseases (63.98%), digestive (16.42%), dermatological (10.09%), fever and various other diseases (9.51%)
Results: Gender distribution in groups of allergen-sensitized patients shows higher percentages in boys (47.10%) relative to girls (36.72%). The children we tested were especially sensitized to potato allergens (17.16%), milk and milk proteins (11.12%), peanuts (5.00%), egg white (4.24%), yolk (3.58%). Sensitivity to food allergens has decreased with increasing age.
Conclusions: Most food allergens found in the studied group are cow's milk proteins, eggs, peanuts, nuts, soybeans, wheat, fish, seafood. Their detection is extremely important to prevent severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock.

FOOD ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF GALATI