food intolerance

noun

plural food intolerances

: an inability to digest or absorb certain compounds found in foods (such as lactose or gluten) resulting in uncomfortable physical symptoms (such as gas or diarrhea)

… the inability to digest lactose, the sugar in dairy products, is a common food intolerance. When lactose is not absorbed, it ferments in the colon and leads to symptoms like gas, bloating, nausea and intestinal pain.

—Howard LeWine

[Dr. James] Tarbox noted that there is a difference between having a food allergy and food intolerance. "Food allergies can have a broad reaction. … They can be mild with a localized skin rash, or they can have more severe reactions. … Food intolerances are usually related to digestion of foods with enzymes and breaking the food down. Those tend to be more localized and milder and related to the GI tract."

—Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above