Food Sensitivity Test at Home: Kits, Prices and Evidence

ChoosingTherapy.com is user supported. We may earn a commission if you sign up for a service through our links, at no cost to you. Our reviews and comparisons are based on independent research.

When stomach trouble or headaches seem tied to certain meals, an at-home kit can feel like a straightforward way to get answers. You prick your finger, mail a dried blood spot to a lab, and receive a report that ranks foods by how strongly your antibodies react to them.

Everlywell, for example, grades IgG reactivity to up to 204 foods, and an independent, board-certified physician reviews each result. The catch is that allergy societies and dietitians’ groups in the US, Canada and Australia say a high IgG score does not show that a food causes symptoms. Everlywell describes the report as a starting point for an elimination diet and advises against the test for anyone who has or is recovering from an eating disorder.

This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or licensed clinician before starting, stopping, or changing any treatment.

See Everlywell’s Food Sensitivity Test

ChoosingTherapy.com may earn a commission from the companies whose services are linked on this page.

What an at-home food sensitivity test measures

Most people make IgG antibodies after eating a food. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) describes this as a likely normal immune response, and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) says positive IgG results are expected in healthy adults and children.²³ Everlywell’s support pages make the same point: the score depends on exposure. Every food on its panel shows some reactivity, and a food you have already cut out, including gluten, may score lower than expected.

AAAAI and CSACI both recommend against using IgG testing to diagnose food allergies or sensitivities.²³ The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) says on its testing page, updated in February 2026, that home food panels are not reliable or FDA-approved for diagnosing food allergy. It also warns that they often lead to unnecessary food avoidance and nutritional deficiencies.⁴ The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says “food sensitivity” is not an official medical diagnosis. It also says insurers will not pay for these tests because allergy organizations do not recommend them.⁵ LetsGetChecked, a home-testing company, has chosen not to sell one on evidence grounds. Everlywell acknowledges AAAAI’s position and says its test is meant to be used alongside an elimination diet.

Accuracy and the research on IgG-guided diets

The supportive research comes from people with diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In a 2025 trial at eight US centers with 238 participants, 59.6% of people on an IgG-guided diet reached the target drop in abdominal pain, compared with 42.1% on a sham diet.⁶ The trial used a test covering 18 foods chosen for IBS, not a consumer panel. Its authors called for a larger study.

A 2026 review of 13 studies involving 935 people with IBS reported improvements, but also found a risk of bias. It raised concerns that cutting several foods can increase the risk of malnutrition.⁷ We found no trial that tested a consumer IgG panel in the general population these kits are sold to. Everlywell’s kit is a laboratory-developed test run in CLIA-certified labs, a category that reaches buyers without FDA premarket review.

Best at-home food sensitivity tests compared

Of the seven home-testing brands we checked, six sell an at-home food sensitivity test kit to US buyers, and five use a finger-prick blood spot. None has been tested in a published trial in the general population. Prices were checked on September 28, 2026.

Everlywell

Everlywell’s Standard test covers 96 foods for $199, and its Comprehensive test covers 204 foods for $299. Both include free shipping. It accepts HSA and FSA cards but isn’t contracted with any insurer. Results arrive in about 10 to 14 days, and every result is reviewed by an independent physician licensed in your state. The tests are for adults 18 and older in the US, availability varies by state, and orders can’t be refunded once they ship.

Everlywell is the only seller in this comparison whose product page warns people with an eating disorder not to use the test. Our Everlywell food sensitivity test review covers its report and reintroduction guidance in detail.

Check Everlywell’s Food Sensitivity Test

myLAB Box

myLAB Box sells a 96-food test for $150 and a 144-food test for $199. The naming is a little confusing: the $150 kit is the one it calls “Comprehensive.” Results come two to five days after you mail the sample. Neither product page says which antibody is measured, and both kits are temporarily unavailable in New York.

YorkTest

YorkTest’s Premium test covers more than 200 foods and drinks, measures all four IgG subclasses and returns results within seven days. It was on a fall sale for $159, down from $199, and it accepts HSA and FSA cards. Buyers get discounted sessions with nutritional therapists. The test is not sold in New York or to pregnant or breastfeeding customers. In June 2021, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled against YorkTest’s claims that IgG testing could identify intolerances.⁸

Pinnertest and Walk-In Lab

Pinnertest offers panels covering 120, 200 or 250 foods for $199 to $349. Samples are read by microarray at a CLIA-certified lab, with results in about 10 days. Walk-In Lab resells Genova’s 87-food IgG bloodspot kit for $209 plus a $6 physician fee. It sells only to adults and does not file insurance claims.

Hair and bioresonance food tests

5Strands tests a few strands of hair against more than 800 items for $73 using bioresonance, a frequency-based method. Its own method page says the theory is still under scientific discussion, the results are not a diagnosis, and the test cannot rule out food allergies.

The US food allergy guidelines list hair analysis and electrodermal (Vega) testing among the tests not to use.⁹ ASCIA, the Australasian allergy society, calls bioresonance a variation of Vega testing and says hair analysis can lead to misdiagnosis.¹⁰ In a 1987 blinded study, five commercial labs received coded hair and blood samples from nine fish-allergic people and nine controls. The labs missed the fish allergy, reported allergies in people without them, and produced inconsistent results for duplicate samples.¹¹

Food sensitivity test at-home reviews

Everlywell’s own site shows 4.69 stars from 6,991 reviews for the Standard test, while Trustpilot scores Everlywell 2.8 from 538 reviews across all its products. Food sensitivity reviews posted there from November 2024 to July 2026 praise the easy instructions and fast results. Other reviewers describe long lists of flagged foods, known triggers that did not appear, and difficulty collecting the finger-prick sample.

YorkTest scores 4.7 from 3,273 Trustpilot reviews, mostly from UK buyers who credit the fast results and nutritional therapist call. Its 1-star and 2-star reviews from April to September 2026 describe results that did not match known reactions, including milk that was flagged but tolerated and eggs that were missed after the reviewer had stopped eating them. Forum discussions are similarly divided. Some buyers say a kit found their triggers, while others say it missed foods they already knew about. Many also notice that foods they eat often come back high.

Food restriction and eating disorders

Cutting out foods because of a test result can affect mental health as well as nutrition. ASCIA lists food anxieties, malnutrition and impaired growth among the harms of unnecessary food avoidance.¹⁰ A 2019 review found disordered eating in 15% to 25% of people with IBS, compared with 3% of people without it. It also warned that restrictive diets, whether self-imposed or prescribed, can progress into disordered eating.¹² The same review reported that 19% of adult gastroenterology outpatients screened positive for ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), and people with IBS were twice as likely to screen positive.

That review advises caution with restrictive diets for people with an eating disorder history, a low BMI, ongoing weight loss or an already limited diet.¹² Everlywell says its test is not recommended for anyone who has or is recovering from anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder, or for weight loss. None of the other five sellers’ product pages carries a similar warning. If fear of certain foods is shrinking what you eat, a clinician who treats eating disorders can help. In a crisis, you can call or text 988.

For people who choose to use a kit, Everlywell suggests removing the highest-rated foods for four weeks, then adding them back one at a time about three days apart. It says flagged foods that cause no symptoms can stay in your diet. ACAAI advises against eliminating foods without an allergist’s guidance, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends working with a health care provider and a registered dietitian.⁴⁵

Tests that diagnose food allergy, celiac disease and lactose intolerance

Food allergy, celiac disease and lactose intolerance each have a validated test, usually ordered through a doctor. A severe allergic reaction after eating, called anaphylaxis, is a medical emergency, so call 911. CSACI warns that someone with a true food allergy may not have elevated IgG to that food, so a kit could steer them back to a food that endangers them.³

Food allergy

Allergists use skin prick tests, which give results in 15 to 30 minutes, and IgE blood tests, which are less sensitive.⁴ ACAAI calls a supervised oral food challenge the gold standard and says it should never be tried at home. One price-transparency aggregator puts cash prices at $150 to $400 for skin prick testing and $200 to $1,000 for IgE blood panels.

Celiac disease and lactose intolerance

Doctors diagnose celiac disease with blood tests and a small-intestine biopsy. They advise against going gluten-free before testing because it can change the results. Everlywell sells a separate $119 Celiac Disease Screening Test that measures tTG-IgA antibodies. Lactose intolerance is diagnosed with a hydrogen breath test or a supervised break from dairy.

IBS

For IBS, the American College of Gastroenterology recommends a limited trial of a low FODMAP diet and suggests celiac testing when IBS involves diarrhea. A registered dietitian can guide an elimination and reintroduction plan without a kit to start from.

Compare Everlywell’s Food Sensitivity Test options