Now research conducted by Portsmouth University has shown that of those people claiming to have an allergy or intolerance, only 2 per cent actually did. That means millions of people wrongly think they have a food allergy. Their condition is not an allergy itself, but the belief that they have an allergy. … The realisation that most people aren’t that special can be avoided by adopting a quasi-medical condition that sets one apart. It demands attention and consideration. It forces other people to think about them and make special arrangements for them. Only last week, a friend with recently self-diagnosed lactose intolerance came round for a cup of tea. Do you have any soya milk? she asked as the kettle boiled. I confessed I hadn’t and felt awful. It was then that I realised she was on her third chocolate biscuit. Oh, milks OK in chocolate biscuits, she said hastily. How convenient, I thought.

— Food intolerance: the new epidemic? [via]

I find this example somewhat annoying (even though I agree with the sentiment) since lactose tolerance is something that declines for the large majority of people as you become an adult. Whatev, though. I’m still really feeling the bit from savage minds of food allergies as an anti-modern idiom of distress.