Report on the Food Allergy and Intolerance Research Program review

The T07 Food Allergy and Intolerance Research Program was reviewed in February 2008 with the aim of assessing the success of the Program against its aims and objectives and considering the future direction of the Program. The review has just been published. It includes a detailed summary of the research projects comprising T07 that were considered, the key issues that were discussed, and the conclusions and recommendations that were reached by the independent Panel.

A total of 18 projects, in seven themed subject areas were reviewed. Further information on individual T07 projects can be found at: www.food.gov.uk

The program was started in 1994 by the Food Standards Agency's predecessor the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, with the primary aim of investigating the causes and mechanisms of severe allergy, in particular peanut allergy. Since then the Program has evolved and has shifted its focus into epidemiology, mechanistic research and an increased amount of clinically based research. In particular, the Program now includes investigations of the prevalence of food allergies and aims to try and establish whether, and to what extent, the prevalence of food allergy is increasing, particularly in childhood when many food allergies tend to develop.

The Review Panel considered that the quality of the science within the portfolio of projects that currently make up the T07 Program was generally of a very high standard. The projects which had sought to determine the prevalence of food allergies, certain aspects of the work on kiwifruit allergy, and investigation of the possible importance of non-oral routes of exposure in the acquisition of sensitisation to peanut were thought to be of particularly high scientific quality.

One aim of the Program which the Panel considered had not been addressed to any significant degree was the area of developing methods for the detection and quantification of allergens in foods. The Panel suggested that the Program gives future consideration to development of reliable methods which can accurately quantify the amount of an allergen in foods. In addition there is a need for development of established reference materials for the major allergenic foods against which to calibrate the methods.

The Panel suggested a number of additional areas of particular priority for the future direction of the Program, including investigation of the mechanisms involved following environmental (including dermal) exposure to allergenic foods, and the development of work to underpin the development of management thresholds for allergenic foods.

They also believed it was important for the Program to host a scientific workshop to identify and prioritise what further basic immunology work needs to be conducted on food allergy.

The full 93-page PDF copy of the report can be downloaded at www.food.gov.uk or by contacting the Allergen Bureau.