Premium Allergy Blood Test

A standard allergy test tells you that you react to, say, peanut or birch pollen. A molecular test, run here on the ALEX³ platform, looks at the individual proteins inside each allergen and tells you which one you react to. That matters because proteins are shared between unrelated things: the protein that makes birch pollen allergic is very similar to one in apple, hazelnut and carrot, so someone with hay fever often tests positive to those foods without ever having a dangerous reaction. Molecular results show whether a food positive is a genuine, potentially severe allergy to a stable protein, or a mild cross-reaction to a pollen-like protein that breaks down with cooking. That distinction changes what you need to avoid.

Both cover the same 300 allergens from one sample. The Complete test (from £329) reports each allergen as a whole and takes 14 working days; it is the right choice for a first broad screen. The Premium test (£399) adds 218 molecular components, alpha-gal, and a severity and cross-reactivity assessment, and reports within 2 to 3 working days. Choose Premium if you have multiple suspected allergies, unexplained reactions, a previous test that did not fit your symptoms, or you want the result quickly. It needs a venous sample, so it is not available as a finger-prick kit.

Within 2 to 3 working days of your sample reaching the laboratory, compared with 14 working days for the Complete test. That makes this the fastest broad allergy test we offer, and the one to choose if you have an appointment coming up or want to act before a season starts.

Alpha-gal is a sugar found in red meat and other mammal products. Some people, usually after tick bites, develop an allergy to it, causing hives, stomach upset or anaphylaxis three to six hours after eating beef, pork or lamb. The delay means it is often missed, because nobody connects a midnight reaction with a Sunday roast. Alpha-gal testing is rarely done routinely and is included here as part of the panel.

People with several suspected allergies who want to understand the pattern; anyone whose skin prick or blood tests came back positive to many foods and who wants to know which are genuine; people with unexplained reactions, including delayed ones; those with pollen allergy who also react to fruit, nuts or vegetables and want to know whether it is oral allergy syndrome or a true food allergy; and anyone who needs results in days. If you simply want to know what you are allergic to, the Complete test does that for less.

The £399 option is for people who have a phlebotomist or nurse available, for example through their employer, a local clinic or a private nurse. We send the collection kit; your phlebotomist draws the sample and you post it to the laboratory in the packaging provided. If you would rather we take the sample, book one of 250+ Goodbody clinics (£419) or a nurse home visit (£439).

No. Blood tests measure the IgE antibodies in your blood, which antihistamines do not change, so keep taking your usual allergy treatment. No fasting is needed and the sample can be taken at any time of day.

A PDF report organised by allergen group, with each whole allergen and each molecular component listed alongside your specific IgE level and reaction class, colour-coded from no reaction to high. It flags cross-reactive components so you can see when several positives come from one shared protein, and gives an indication of likely severity for food allergens. Total IgE shows your overall allergic tendency.

No, but it gives a clinic exactly what it needs. Diagnosis of allergy combines your history with test results, and only a clinician can advise on emergency medication, immunotherapy or a food challenge. What a molecular report does is shorten the path: instead of a first appointment ordering tests and a second interpreting them, you arrive with component-level results. Take the report to your GP for referral, or to a private allergist.

Sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy or watery eyes and wheeze from inhaled allergens. Hives, itching, swelling of the lips, face or eyes, tingling in the mouth, vomiting, cramps or diarrhoea within two hours of eating from food allergens, or three to six hours later with alpha-gal. Spreading swelling, dizziness or breathlessness after a sting. Symptoms that build over days are more likely to be intolerance, which this test does not measure.

£399 if you organise your own blood draw, £419 at a Goodbody clinic or £439 with a nurse home visit, including 300 allergens, 218 molecular components, total IgE, alpha-gal and the PDF report within 2 to 3 working days. Component-resolved allergy panels through private allergy clinics in the UK typically cost £400 to £600 plus the consultation fee.

At any of 250+ Goodbody clinics across the UK, or with a nurse visiting your home. No GP referral is needed. Find your nearest clinic.