MARQUETTE -- At a glance, little William Chittle is your ordinary almost two year old.  He's learning to form words, and he loves a good game of catch.  But come mealtime, you'll quickly learn that William is not your average toddler.  He's suffering from eosinophilic esophagitis, a condition that makes him allergic to most food.

"He can't eat anything; it's quite frustrating," said his mother, Janice Chittle.

The Chittle family fridge is stocked with all sorts of goodies, none of which William can eat.  All he can ingest is a special formula which can cost up to $40 a container.  When his allergies really flare up, William gets nutrition through a stomach pump.  

Like William, four percent of the U.S. population suffers from a food allergy, and since 1997, there's been an 18 percent rise in reported food allergies.

Carla Erickson asked on our Facebook wall, "I'd love to know why there is such a surge in food allergies."

Marquette allergist, Dr. Bobby Joseph, says the surge correlates to an increase in misdiagnoses.  According to the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, 50-90 percent of presumed food allergies are not true allergies; there is a big difference.

"Food allergies can kill, food intolerances, no," said Dr. Joseph.  "You can get hives, your throat can close up, your blood pressure can drop, you can lose consciousness--it's called anaphylaxis--and it is potentially life threatening."

Dr. Joseph says getting a scratch test is absolutely imperative to determine whether you are suffering from a food allergy or intolerance.  And as for allergy treatment?  Dr. Joseph says the only treatment right now is avoidance.

Still, there is hope:  allergists expect huge developments in desensitizing medications in the next decade.