Allergic to sea salt??

[ny biker]

I'll agree with that There are absolutely food allergies, dangerous ones, but there are definitely people who use "allergic to" instead of "don't like" or "don't want to"

There are also food intolerances -- no allergic reaction, but the GI tract has trouble digesting a certain food due to a missing enzyme or some other reason, resulting in various stomach and intestinal issues. I have this problem with tomatoes. I can generally have them in small quantities, like a few slices on a sandwich. But recently I had fair amount of stewed tomatoes with dinner on a Monday followed by tomato soup for lunch on Wednesday, and I was sick for a week.

The problem with food intolerance is that other than lactose intolerance, most people are not familiar with it so it's a pain in the a** to explain, especially in a restaurant. So it's easier to just say you're allergic, even though you might be able to eat a small quantity without problems.