Rising rates of food allergies may be the result of environmental factors and a misfiring protection system, propose four immunobiologists from Yale University. A paper published by the scientists in the journal Cell suggests an exaggerated activation of the body’s toxic food protection system in response to environmental factors is behind the increase.(1) They write that as many as 8 percent of children in the United States have a potentially deadly response to what are classified as the major eight food allergens. These are often referred to as the “Big 8” and include milk, eggs, wheat, soybeans, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts.(2) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a rising rate of food allergies in children from data gathered from 1997 to 2011.(5) Researchers found that over a 14-year period, the rate of food allergies increased to 5.1 percent from 3.4 percent. According to the …