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Fierro V, Mazzuca C, Urbani S, Dahdah L, Calandrelli V, Valluzzi RL, Giulio D. Perspectives in precautionary allergen labelling of prepackaged foods after the FAO/WHO consultation. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2024; 24:166-170. [PMID: 38547411 DOI: 10.1097/aci.0000000000000979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the perspectives regarding precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) of prepackaged foods following the consultation conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WHO. RECENT FINDINGS The FAO/WHO consultation provided a comprehensive assessment of the current status and practices of PAL implementation worldwide. One of the key findings highlighted by the Expert Committee was the need for improvement in existing PAL systems. It was noted that many countries lacked uniformity in PAL practices, leading to inconsistencies in labelling and potentially misleading information for consumers. Furthermore, the consultation emphasized the importance of PAL being risk-based, taking into account both the amount and frequency of unintended allergen presence (UAP) in food products. SUMMARY The FAO/WHO consultation shed light on various perspectives and challenges associated with PAL of prepackaged foods. Key findings emphasized the need for improvement in existing PAL systems, including the adoption of a risk-based approach, standardized regulations, and enhanced transparency. Moving forward, collaborative efforts between regulatory agencies, food manufacturers, and consumer advocacy groups will be essential in developing effective PAL strategies that prioritize consumer safety and well being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Fierro
- Pediatric Allergology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome
| | - Carmen Mazzuca
- Pediatric Allergology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome
| | - Sara Urbani
- Pediatric Allergology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome
| | - Lamia Dahdah
- Pediatric Allergology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome
| | | | | | - Dinardo Giulio
- Department of Women, Children, and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
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Mortz CG, Eller E, Garvik OS, Kjaer HF, Zuberbier T, Bindslev-Jensen C. Challenge-verified thresholds for allergens mandatory for labeling: How little is too much for the most sensitive patient? Allergy 2024; 79:1306-1316. [PMID: 37661296 DOI: 10.1111/all.15870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND It is mandatory to label food products with the 14 main allergens in the EU. Reasonable allergen labeling requires knowledge of population-based thresholds derived from food challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate the threshold-distribution in clinically verified food allergic patients for allergens mandatory for labeling. METHODS All positive open oral food challenges and double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFC) performed at the Allergy Center, Odense University Hospital, Denmark (2000-2022) were included. For each included challenge, the cumulative threshold (LOAEL) was obtained and NOAEL estimated. Data were modelled as an interval censored log-normal distribution. RESULTS Overall, 38 of all 2612 challenges (1.5%) in 1229 patients (717 male, 986 children) reacted to <5 mg protein. The majority of the most sensitive patients reacted with a Sampson severity score of 2-3. Using interval censored log-normal models only five groups (hens´ egg, fish, peanut, milk, tree-nuts) elicited reactions after ingestion of 0.5 mg protein and in low frequencies of the population. Hen's egg was the most potent allergen, with reactivity to <0.5 mg protein in 0.24% [0.13-0.44%] of egg allergic patients while the estimated fraction of allergic patients reacting to a eliciting dose on 0.5 mg protein for most other allergens were below 0.04%. CONCLUSION Our data demonstrates that the majority of food allergic patients as expected tolerating traces of allergenic foods without developing severe allergic symptoms and signs. Hen's egg appears to be the food most likely to elicit reactions in the most sensitive individuals at very low doses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte G Mortz
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense Research Centre for Anaphylaxis (ORCA), Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Esben Eller
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense Research Centre for Anaphylaxis (ORCA), Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Olav Sivertsen Garvik
- Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Odense University Hospital, and Research Unit of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Henrik Fomsgaard Kjaer
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense Research Centre for Anaphylaxis (ORCA), Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
| | - Torsten Zuberbier
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Allergology and Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP Allergology and Immunology Paul-Ehrlich-Haus Hindenburgdamm 27, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Bindslev-Jensen
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense Research Centre for Anaphylaxis (ORCA), Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
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Nachshon L, Westerhout J, Blom WM, Remington B, Levy MB, Goldberg MR, Epstein-Rigbi N, Katz Y, Elizur A. Sesame eliciting and safe doses in a large sesame allergic population. Allergy 2023; 78:3212-3220. [PMID: 37606275 DOI: 10.1111/all.15863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sesame is a significant food allergen causing severe and even fatal reactions. Given its increasing prevalence in western diet, sesame is listed as an allergenic food requiring labeling in the United States and EU. However, data on the population reaction doses to sesame are limited. METHODS All sesame oral food challenges (OFCs), performed either for diagnosis or for threshold identification before the beginning of sesame oral immunotherapy (OIT) between November 2011 and July 2021 in Shamir medical center were analyzed for reaction threshold distribution. Safe-dose challenges with 90-120 min intervals were also analyzed. RESULTS Two hundred and fifty patients underwent 338 positive OFCs, and additional 158 safe-dose OFCs were performed. The discrete and cumulative protein amounts estimated to elicit an objective reaction in 1% (ED01) of the entire cohort (n = 250) were 0.8 mg (range 0.3-6.3) and 0.7 mg (range 0.1-7.1), respectively, and those for 5% of the population (ED05) were 3.4 mg (range 1.2-20.6) and 4.5 mg (range 1.2-28.8), respectively. Safe-dose OFCs showed similar values of ED01 (0.8, 0.4-7.5 mg) and ED05 (3.4, 1.2-22.9 mg). While doses of ≤1 mg sesame protein elicited oral pruritus in 11.6% of the patients, no objective reaction was documented to this amount in any of the challenges, including safe-dose OFCs. CONCLUSIONS This study provides data on sesame reaction threshold distribution in the largest population of allergic patients studied, with no right or left censored data, and with validation using a safe-dose OFC. It further supports the current methods for ED determination as appropriate for establishing safety precautions for the food industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liat Nachshon
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Joost Westerhout
- The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - W Marty Blom
- The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Benjamin Remington
- Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
| | - Michael B Levy
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
| | - Michael R Goldberg
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Naama Epstein-Rigbi
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yitzhak Katz
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arnon Elizur
- Institute of Allergy, Immunology and Pediatric Pulmonology, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Fiocchi A, Monaci L, De Angelis E, Calandrelli V, Dahdah L, Valluzzi R, Urbani S, Mazzuca C, Arasi S, Cafarotti A, Riccardi C, Artesani MC, Putignani L, Pecora V, Marzano V, Fierro V. Reactivity to allergenic food contaminants: A study on products on the market. Clin Transl Allergy 2023; 13:e12301. [PMID: 37746792 PMCID: PMC10515704 DOI: 10.1002/clt2.12301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The frequency and severity of reactions in food-allergic consumers exposed to unintentional food allergen contamination during production is unknown. To warn allergic consumers, it has been suggested for pre-packaged foods to be precautionary labelled when the food allergen contamination may exceed the amount to which 1%-5% of the population could react (ED01-ED05). ED01 for hazelnut and milk have been estimated at 0.1 and 0.2 mg, respectively, by the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling (VITAL) initiative. The respective reference doses recommended by the FAO/WHO Codex consultation are 3 and 2 mg. We evaluated the reactivity to potential traces of milk and hazelnut allergens in allergen-free pre-packaged products by children affected by severe allergies to milk and hazelnuts. METHODS Oral Food Challenges with commercially available hazelnut-free wafer biscuits and milk-free chocolate pralines were administered to patients with severe food allergies to hazelnut and cow's milk, respectively. Contamination levels of milk or hazelnut allergens were measured using chromatographic separation interfaced with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. RESULTS No hazelnut allergic patient showed allergic reactions to exposure to biscuits, nor any milk allergic patient displayed allergic reactions to the dark chocolate praline. While no hazelnut trace was detected in biscuits, the praline was found to be contaminated by milk at concentrations ranging between 8 and 35 mg total protein/kg food. In our dose model, these amounts exceeded 1.5-10 times the VITAL ED01 and reached the threshold suggested by the FAO/WHO Codex consultation. CONCLUSIONS Upon the consumption of food products available on the market, many patients with severe food allergies tolerate significantly higher doses of allergen than reference doses indicated in the VITAL system used for precautionary allergen labelling. These doses support the safety of the FAO/WHO recommended reference doses.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Linda Monaci
- Institute of Sciences of Food ProductionCNR‐ISPABariItaly
| | | | | | - Lamia Dahdah
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | - Rocco Valluzzi
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | - Sara Urbani
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | - Carmen Mazzuca
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | - Stefania Arasi
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | | | - Carla Riccardi
- Allergy DptBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | | | - Lorenza Putignani
- Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic ImmunologyBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
- Unit of Human MicrobiomeDepartment of Diagnostics and Laboratory MedicineBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
| | | | - Valeria Marzano
- Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic ImmunologyBambino Gesù Children's HospitalIRCCSRomeItaly
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Lloyd M, Loke P, Mack DP, Sicherer SH, Perkin MR, Boyle R, Yin Leung AS, Lee BW, Levin M, Blumchen K, Fiocchi A, Ebisawa M, Oliveira LCLD, Tang MLK. Varying Approaches to Management of IgE-Mediated Food Allergy in Children Around the World. THE JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY. IN PRACTICE 2023; 11:1010-1027.e6. [PMID: 36805346 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2023.01.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Food allergy is a chronic disease that affects individuals of all ages and is a significant public health problem globally. This narrative overview examines clinical management strategies for IgE-mediated food allergy in children around the world to understand variations in practice. Information was drawn from clinical practice guidelines, recent research, the websites of professional and governmental bodies with expertise in food allergy, and clinical experts from a broad cross-section of geographical regions. The structure and delivery of clinical services, allergen avoidance and food labeling, and resources to support the management of allergic reactions in the community are discussed in detail. The adoption of emerging food immunotherapies is also explored. Wide variations in clinical management of food allergy were apparent across the different countries. Common themes were continuing issues with access to specialist care and recognition of the need to balance risk reduction with dietary and social restrictions to avoid unnecessary detrimental impacts on the quality of life of food allergy sufferers. Findings highlight the need for standardized presentation of practice and priorities, and may assist clinicians and researchers when engaging with government and funding agencies to address gaps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Lloyd
- Allergy Immunology, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Paxton Loke
- Allergy Immunology, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Douglas P Mack
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Scott H Sicherer
- Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Kravis Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Michael R Perkin
- Population Health Research Institute, St. George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Boyle
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Agnes Sze Yin Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong; Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Bee Wah Lee
- Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Michael Levin
- Division of Paediatric Allergology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Katharina Blumchen
- Department of Children and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pneumology, Allergology and Cystic Fibrosis, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Alessandro Fiocchi
- Translational Research in Paediatric Specialities Area, Allergy Division, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Motohiro Ebisawa
- Clinical Research Center for Allergy and Rheumatology, National Hospital Organization, Sagamihara National Hospital, Sagamihara, Japan
| | - Lucila Camargo Lopes de Oliveira
- Department of Paediatrics, Division of Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mimi L K Tang
- Allergy Immunology, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Department of Allergy and Immunology, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
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Kopko C, Garthoff J, Zhou K, Meunier L, O'Sullivan A, Fattori V. Are alternative proteins increasing food allergies? Trends, drivers and future perspectives. Trends Food Sci Technol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2022.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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