Determining Reaction Level of Food Allergens

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology published a study on the level of food allergens required to cause an allergic reaction to people sensitive to them.

An allergic reaction happens when the body's immune system reacts to a specific food type. Common types of food allergies include milk, eggs, some fruit and vegetables, and nuts. Reactions can be as mild as an itchy sensation or can be life threatening (Anaphylaxis).

The researchers wanted to find a level of allergen which would only produce a reaction in the most sensitive ten percent of people with food allergies.

The number of people who have food allergies has increased in recent decades with around 5-7% of infants and 1-2% of adults at risk. The study aims to develop warning guidelines and food labels that would help inform consumers about the allergen levels in a given product since different people have different allergen tolerance than others.

Mothers Who Eat Peanuts During Pregnancy Lowers Risk of Peanut Allergy in Children

A new study by doctors in Boston Children's Hospital show that increased consumption of peanuts by pregnant mothers lower risk of peanut allergy in their babies. The study is based on mothers who are not allergic to peanuts.

Peanut allergies are a type of allergy where a person gets an allergic reaction from consuming peanuts and its derivatives. Peanut allergies are common in children. The reactions range from minor skin irritations to anaphylaxis (a life threatening reaction). For some people who has this allergy, even a tiny amount of peanut can cause a serious reaction.

Peanut allergies and other type of food allergies are caused when the proteins from the food is mistakenly considered a threat to the body by the immune system. The immune system releases chemicals to combat the presumed threat and causes the allergic reaction.

The latest study is still in its early stages to strongly prove that peanut consumption will lower peanut allergies. But what it does show is that eating peanuts even when pregnant does not cause the allergy to manifest in the mother's offspring.

Studying The Causes Of Food Allergies in Children

A food allergy is a condition where the body's immune system mistakenly identifies a food ingredient as harmful to the body. Thinking that the body is under attack, the immune system triggers an allergic reaction.

These reactions can range from mild to severe. Some may be fatal if left untreated.

Being food intolerant such as lactose intolerance is not an allergy. It is a separate condition where the body is not able to digest the food although the symptoms can be similar to a food allergy.

The most common food types that can cause an allergic reaction are:

• Fish and shellfish
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts
• Eggs
• Cow's Milk
• Soybeans
• Wheat

These account for 90% of all food allergies.

Children are more susceptible to an allergic reaction with eggs, milk, and peanuts. According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, "Although any child can be at risk for food allergies, children are at greater risk if they are younger than age 3 or have a family history of asthma and allergies, a genetic predisposition to allergic disease, or elevated allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin levels (IgE concentrations)..."

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a class of antibody that is responsible for mis-tagging food proteins as harmful to the body.

Study identifies causes for high rates of allergic reactions in children with food allergies

A team of researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and four other institutions have found that young children with documented or likely allergies to milk and/or eggs, whose families were instructed on how to avoid these and other foods, still experienced allergic reactions at a rate of almost once per year. Of severe cases, less than a third received epinephrine, a medication used to counter anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic condition.

The findings are from an ongoing Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) study that has been following more than 500 children with food allergies since infancy. The results of the three-year study appear online in the June 25 issue of Pediatrics.

Nearly 72 percent of the participants experienced a reaction, with 1,171 allergic reactions in total. Allergic reactions were attributed to such factors as a lack of close supervision, misreading ingredient labels, cross-contamination, or errors in food preparation. Participating families had been given written and verbal food avoidance instruction, and written prescriptions for self-injectable epinephrine, beforehand.