Which of the following is NOT the cause of Food Intolerance? (A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning (B) Ab

Question

Q. Which of the following is NOT the cause of Food Intolerance? (A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning (B) Absence of an enzyme (C) Roughage (D) Gluten

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2024MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★

✓ Free question

Concept understanding — Food Intolerance Definition

Imagine you eat a bowl of spicy curry, and an hour later your stomach feels uneasy. Your friend eats the same curry and feels perfectly fine. This is the everyday intuition behind food intolerance: your body reacts badly to a particular food, but the reaction is not an allergy. It is a digestive or metabolic problem, not an immune-system overreaction.

Food intolerance means your body has difficulty digesting or processing a specific food or ingredient. Unlike a food allergy, which can be sudden and life-threatening, intolerance usually causes discomfort that builds up over hours or even days. The symptoms are often digestive — bloating, gas, stomach cramps, diarrhoea — but can also include headaches, fatigue, or skin issues.

Note

Food intolerance is not the same as food allergy. An allergy involves the immune system and can cause hives, swelling, or anaphylaxis. Intolerance is a digestive or metabolic issue and is rarely dangerous, though it can be very uncomfortable.

Why does this matter? Because many people confuse the two. If you have a food intolerance, you do not need to avoid the food completely — you may just need to eat less of it or prepare it differently. For example, many people are lactose intolerant: they lack enough of the enzyme lactase to break down milk sugar. They can often still enjoy small amounts of yoghurt or aged cheese, which have less lactose.

Common causes of food intolerance include:

Enzyme deficiencies — like lactose intolerance (missing lactase) or gluten sensitivity (trouble digesting gluten)
Chemical sensitivities — reactions to naturally occurring substances like caffeine, histamine in aged foods, or salicylates in fruits
Food additives — artificial colours, preservatives, or flavour enhancers like MSG
Psychological factors — sometimes the mere thought of a food can trigger symptoms if you associate it with past discomfort

Important

Food intolerance is dose-dependent. A small amount may cause no symptoms, while a larger portion triggers discomfort. This is very different from an allergy, where even a trace can be dangerous.

For a commerce or humanities student, the practical takeaway is this: food intolerance is a common, non-allergic reaction to food that affects quality of life but is not an emergency. It is managed by identifying trigger foods through an elimination diet and then adjusting portions or preparation methods. It is not a disease, but a normal variation in how different bodies handle food.

Food intolerance comes from the body struggling to process a specific food component — through a missing enzyme, a reaction to gluten, or toxins from food poisoning. Roughage is indigestible fibre that aids digestion, so it is NOT a cause. The answer is (C) Roughage.

Food intolerance is a difficulty in digesting or processing certain foods, producing discomfort such as bloating, gas or loose motions. Unlike a food allergy, it does not involve a dangerous immune reaction; it is mainly a digestive problem. Looking at each option shows which one does not belong among its causes.

(A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning — when contaminated food introduces toxins, they can irritate and upset the digestive system, and this is recognised among the causes of food intolerance. So it IS a cause.
(B) Absence of an enzyme — this is the classic cause. When the body lacks the enzyme needed to break down a food component (for example a shortage of lactase, so milk sugar cannot be digested), intolerance results. So it IS a cause.
(C) Roughage — roughage, or dietary fibre, is the part of plant food (cellulose and similar) that the body cannot, and is not meant to, digest. Its whole value lies in being indigestible: it adds bulk to the stool and keeps the bowel moving. It helps digestion rather than causing intolerance, so this is the odd one out.
(D) Gluten — gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye; many people react adversely to it (as in gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease), making it a genuine cause of intolerance. So it IS a cause.

Since an absent enzyme, gluten and food-poisoning toxins can each lead to intolerance while roughage does not, roughage is the correct choice for "NOT a cause."

✓Final answer

(C) Roughage — it is indigestible dietary fibre that aids digestion and is not a cause of food intolerance, unlike an absent enzyme (B), gluten (D) or toxins from food poisoning (A).

Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2024Set 75/RQPS/41 markMCQ
$Q. Which of the following is NOT the cause of Food Intolerance? (A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning (B) Absence of an enzyme (C) Roughage (D) Gluten$
›Reveal solutionSolution
Food intolerance comes from the body struggling to process a specific food component — through a missing enzyme, a reaction to gluten, or toxins from food poisoning. Roughage is indigestible fibre that aids digestion, so it is NOT a cause. The answer is (C) Roughage.

Food intolerance is a difficulty in digesting or processing certain foods, producing discomfort such as bloating, gas or loose motions. Unlike a food allergy, it does not involve a dangerous immune reaction; it is mainly a digestive problem. Looking at each option shows which one does not belong among its causes.

(A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning — when contaminated food introduces toxins, they can irritate and upset the digestive system, and this is recognised among the causes of food intolerance. So it IS a cause.

(B) Absence of an enzyme — this is the classic cause. When the body lacks the enzyme needed to break down a food component (for example a shortage of lactase, so milk sugar cannot be digested), intolerance results. So it IS a cause.

(C) Roughage — roughage, or dietary fibre, is the part of plant food (cellulose and similar) that the body cannot, and is not meant to, digest. Its whole value lies in being indigestible: it adds bulk to the stool and keeps the bowel moving. It helps digestion rather than causing intolerance, so this is the odd one out.

(D) Gluten — gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye; many people react adversely to it (as in gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease), making it a genuine cause of intolerance. So it IS a cause.

Since an absent enzyme, gluten and food-poisoning toxins can each lead to intolerance while roughage does not, roughage is the correct choice for "NOT a cause."

✓Final answer
$(C) Roughage — it is indigestible dietary fibre that aids digestion and is not a cause of food intolerance, unlike an absent enzyme (B), gluten (D) or toxins from food poisoning (A).$

Q.Which of the following is NOT the cause of Food Intolerance? (A) Toxins formation due to food poisoning (B) Absence of an enzyme (C) Roughage (D) Gluten

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