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The non-traditional test that has been backed by American Academy of Environmental Medicine (in Wichita, Kansas) is the tongue test (not a taste test). The patient can't taste or smell the offending food. Rather, it comes in the form of one to four drops of a food in extract form after the patient has refrained from being around or ingesting the offending material. If allergic, the patient will develop symptoms within five minutes—symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, fatigue, joint pain or abdominal discomfort.
A lesser amount of the same extract applied in the same way after symptoms occur, acts to neutralize the reaction, say advocates of the tongue test. Carlton Lee, M.D., of St. Joseph, Mo., noted in the medical journal Clinical Ecology a case of a patient who had a cough brought on by an allergy to wheat, and upon receiving a drop of highly diluted wheat extract, stopped coughing. This should raise some homeopaths' eyebrows.
More information about Carlton Lee and those controversial tests of clinical ecologists are found in this excerpt from Current Comments (Essays of an Information Scientist, Vol:8, p.140-150, 1985 Current Contents, #15, p.3-13, April 15, 1985) by Eugene Garfield which raises some interesting findings that are parallel with homeopathic findings:
One of their most controversial methods is provocation-neutralization testing. With this technique, allergies are diagnosed by assessing the ability of a substance to produce symptoms rather than just induce a wheal as in skin testing. Carlton G. lee, St. Joseph, Missouri, and colleagues describe the test as consisting of a series of dilutions of potential allergen placed under the tongue or skin. Only one dilution of a single substance is used at a time. Clinical ecologists claim that this method determines which substance produces symptoms, and the proper dilution of that substance for neutralizing the symptoms. Lee and colleagues note that certain dilutions of the allergen provoke symptoms while other dilutions relieve mild versions of symptoms. Treatment may involve long-term therapy with neutralizing dilutions, although some patients experience immediate relief of symptoms.
[Lee C H, Williams R I, Wyo C & Binkley E L. Provocative testing and treatment for foods. Arch. Otolaryngol. 90:113-20. 1969.]
