Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Food allergies can be a matter of life and death for those suffering from them, but how much is too much when it comes to triggering a reaction? That’s what researchers from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Inflammation and Repair wanted to find out in a recent study.
The study authors identified five of the most common food allergens which cause a reaction in the roughly 10 percent of people who are sensitive to them: peanut, hazelnut, celery, shrimp and fish. They then analyzed data from 436 individuals, each of whom were given small doses of the food they were allergic to. The researchers then monitored their reactions.
“What we wanted was to find a level of allergen which would only produce a reaction in the most sensitive ten percent of people. This sort of data can then be used to apply a consistent level of warning to food products,” said lead investigator Professor Clare Mills.
“What we’d like to see are warnings which tell people with allergies to avoid certain products completely or just apply to those who are most sensitive,” she added. While allergic ingredients used in recipes need to be listed on food labels, the Mills and her colleagues said that in the UK, trace amounts that accidentally find their way into products are not regulated.
They added that precautionary labels that are currently used to warn of trace amounts – “produced in a factory which also handles peanuts,” for example – are applied inconsistently. As a result, allergy sufferers could be taking unnecessary risks, as different people can tolerable different amounts of an allergen than others.
Mills and her colleagues found that between 1.6 and 10.1 milligrams (1/1000 of a gram) of hazelnut, peanut and celery protein produced a reaction in the most sensitive 10 percent of those individuals studies. The amount was higher for fish (27.3 milligrams), and significantly higher with cooked shrimp (2.5 grams). They did not study raw shrimp, however.
According to the Integrated Approaches to Food Allergen and Allergy Management (iFAAM), the number of people who have food allergies is on the rise. Currently, an estimated five to seven percent of infants and one to two percent of adults are at risk, and iFAAM is looking to educate and inform health care workers and the general public throughout Europe about this risk.
“This single study is part of the background to rolling out new warning guidelines across Europe,” Mills added, “and alongside other work being carried out in Manchester and elsewhere we’re developing a strong evidence base to give consumers and industry confidence.”
Experts from the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Spain, Charité University Medical Center in Germany, University College Cork in Ireland, University of Athens in Greece, the Institute of Food Research in the UK and other institutions were also involved in the study. Their work was supported by the European Union through the EuroPrevall project and the UK Food Standards Agency.
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