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Clinicians have long recognized a dermatitis which appears to be triggered by dietary components. The first descriptions of food induced canine dermatitis date back to 1933 [1,2]. However, although we make a clinical diagnosis of canine “food allergy” it is not clear at this time whether these cases are truly immunologically mediated or due to a “food intolerance” (Tab. 1). Furthermore, although there is evidence of a role for IgE in the pathogenesis of food allergy in colony dogs with spontaneous food allergy [3] it is not clear whether this is representative of the disease in the general population. Thus for the purpose of this discussion, although the term food allergy is used throughout, it should be recognized that this term is a presumptive clinical diagnosis and adverse food reaction is a more accurate term for these canine cases.
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