Food allergy and intolerance: What challenges do they pose to the food industry?

2009 ◽  
pp. 136-142
Author(s):  
Fiona Angus
Keyword(s):  
2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN M. GENDEL ◽  
NAZLEEN KHAN ◽  
MONALI YAJNIK

Despite awareness of the importance of food allergy as a public health issue, recalls and adverse reactions linked to undeclared allergens in foods continue to occur with high frequency. To reduce the overall incidence of such problems and to ensure that food-allergic consumers have the information they need to prevent adverse reactions, it is important to understand which allergen control practices are currently used by the food industry. Therefore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration carried out directed inspections of registered food facilities in 2010 to obtain a broader understanding of industry allergen control practices in the United States. The results of these inspections show that allergen awareness and the use of allergen controls have increased greatly in the last decade, but that small facilities lag in implementing allergen controls.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 941-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Crevel

Serious attempts to estimate the impact of allergic reactions to foods on public health did not begin until the 1980s. Until about 15 years ago, food allergy was considered a minor aspect of food safety. Two developments probably prompted a radical re-appraisal of that situation. The first was the apparently inexorable rise in the prevalence of atopic diseases, of which food allergy forms a part, with its possible consequences highlighted by some well publicised severe reactions. The second was the growth of genetic modification technology, manifested by the commercialization of transgenic crops. Each of these developments impacted on the food industry in distinct ways. On the one hand, food-allergic consumers had to be enabled to avoid specific allergens in products formulated with existing ingredients. Food manufacturers therefore had to identify those specific allergens down to trace amounts in all the ingredients forming the product, and label or remove them. On the other hand, the introduction of products using ingredients from novel sources required an assessment of the allergenicity of these ingredients as an integral part of safety assurance. The approaches used by the food industry to protect existing allergic consumers and those at potential risk of sensitization by novel proteins will be illustrated, emphasizing how they need to be built into every stage of the life cycle of a product.


2005 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Crevel

Serious attempts to estimate the impact of allergic reactions to foods on public health did not begin until the 1980s. Until about 15 years ago food allergy was considered a minor aspect of food safety. Two developments probably prompted a radical re-appraisal of that situation. The first was the apparently inexorable rise in the prevalence of atopic diseases, of which food allergy forms a part, with its possible consequences highlighted by some well-publicised severe reactions. The second was the growth of genetic modification technology, manifested by the commercialisation of transgenic crops. Each of these developments impacted on the food industry in distinct ways. On the one hand, consumers with food allergies had to be enabled to avoid specific allergens in products formulated with existing ingredients. Food manufacturers therefore had to identify those specific allergens down to trace amounts in all the ingredients forming the product and label or remove them. On the other hand, the introduction of products using ingredients from novel sources required an assessment of the allergenicity of these ingredients as an integral part of safety assurance. The approaches used by the food industry to protect existing consumers who have food allergies and those at potential risk of sensitisation from novel proteins will be illustrated, emphasising how they need to be built into every stage of the life cycle of a product.


Author(s):  
Dimitra Panagiotis Houhoula ◽  
Vasilios Belsis ◽  
Leonidas Georgopoulos ◽  
Virginia Giannou ◽  
Vasiliki R. Kyrana ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible presence of sesame in commercial foods normally carrying no warning for the allergen, but which may have been subjected to contamination during processing. One hundred units of widely consumed goods with high potential to contain allergenic substances deriving from nuts were analyzed, using sensitive and capable PCR (C-PCR) and Real Time PCR (RT-PCR) methodologies. Of the products examined, 15 (15.0%) declared the presence of sesame, 36 (36.0%) carried no food allergy label, 44 (44.0%) were marked by the phrase “may contain traces of nuts” and 5 (5.0%) carried the indication “may contain sesame traces”. The sesame-positive products detected using the C-PCR method were 15 (100%), 12 (33.3%), 14 (31.8%) and 3 (60%), respectively. Using the RT-PCR technique, positive results were obtained for 15 (100%), 18 (50.0%), 18 (20.5%) and 5 (100%) samples, respectively. The results indicate that the PCR methods applied are highly sensitive and selective, which makes them suitable for the detection of sesame traces in food samples. In addition, they can be useful for monitoring the effectiveness of cleaning processes in the production units of the food industry.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-39
Author(s):  
L V Luss ◽  
T Yu Repina ◽  
L V Luss ◽  
T U Repina

Great variety of food additives is being currently used in food industry. However their role and place in the normal effects and pathologic influence on human have not been sufficiently studied. As a consequence the effect of food additives on men's health provokes disagreements, controversials, misunderstanding. The review under consideration offers data on the composition and description of the most commonly used food additives and their possible influence on the development of food allergy and pseudoallergy reactions to food.


2018 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Spotz

Abstract Food Allergy Awareness Week was created with the purpose of placing a spotlight on the seriousness of food allergies. Recognized in the United States in mid-May every year, Food Allergy Awareness Week serves as a reminder of the over 15 million Americans who suffer from food allergies. The importance of allergies and allergen labeling can be seen when looking at U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall data: of the 764 recalls in 2016, 305 (representing more than 40%) were due to undeclared allergens. However, recalls for undeclared allergens are a complex issue with numerous factors. The implementation of prevention-based systems with the necessary management components and further error-proofing the systems, along with allergen awareness embedded throughout a company’s food safety culture, can likely help reduce the number of recalls for undeclared allergens. As a resource to manufacturers, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program have developed several resources to assist with developing robust allergen management programs. By reducing the number of recalls for undeclared allergens, the food industry will likely increase and maintain consumer confidence and trust of the food-allergic community. This enhanced consumer confidence and trust could eventually open the door for further collaboration with the food-allergic community and, potentially, advance allergen-related policies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganiesha De Silva ◽  
RAUJ Marapana

Nowadays food allergy is recognized as an important food safety issue and it is widely debated world-wide. So, the food industry necessity takes the greatest care to assist those, who suffer allergies to select a suitable diet with confidence. Food allergy might be true food allergy or pseudo-allergy (food intolerance). The prevalence of food allergy is estimated much lower than are perceived by the public. That occurrence of food allergy has been estimated recently at 3-4% for adults and approximately 6-8% for young children and infants in the past decade. The most common food allergens are milk, egg, tree nut, soya, fish, some fruit (pineapple, citrus) and vegetables (tomato, mushroom) other than that food containing histamine, preservative, antioxidant, colouring, flavouring and whitening agents also cause food allergic reactions in some persons. Food allergy symptoms are unique to individual and common symptoms are nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and itching. If someone misunderstanding about food allergy could result unnecessary food restriction. So, it is important to know the proper facts about this condition. The main aim of this review is to discuss the recent literature on overview discussion of current food allergy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfstn.v7i0.10562 J. Food Sci. Technol. Nepal, Vol. 7 (14-21), 2012  


2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. Hefle ◽  
Steve L. Taylor
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Jean Fincher

An important trend in the food industry today is reduction in the amount of fat in manufactured foods. Often fat reduction is accomplished by replacing part of the natural fat with carbohydrates which serve to bind water and increase viscosity. It is in understanding the roles of these two major components of food, fats and carbohydrates, that freeze-fracture is so important. It is well known that conventional fixation procedures are inadequate for many food products, in particular, foods with carbohydrates as a predominant structural feature. For some food science applications the advantages of freeze-fracture preparation procedures include not only the avoidance of chemical fixatives, but also the opportunity to control the temperature of the sample just prior to rapid freezing.In conventional foods freeze-fracture has been used most successfully in analysis of milk and milk products. Milk gels depend on interactions between lipid droplets and proteins. Whipped emulsions, either whipped cream or ice cream, involve complex interactions between lipid, protein, air cell surfaces, and added emulsifiers.


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