A specialist allergy practice in the ACT has reported that food allergies in Australian children (aged 0-5 years) referred to it have risen 12-fold since 1995, from 11 positive cases in 1995 to 138  in 2006. 

While the prevalence of non-food allergies, such as hay fever and asthma, was reported to have undergone little change during the study period, food allergies rose from 20 per cent of children tested in 1995 to 57.5 per cent by 2006. The most commonly reported reactions involved peanuts, eggs, cow's milk and cashews.

Of 1489 childern referred, 697, or 47 per cent were found suffered from a food allergy. During the same period, the number of children tested at the clinic with suspected allergies rose four-fold from 55 in 1955 to 240 in 2006.

Cases of anaphylaxis in youngsters were reported to have increased seven-fold from five in 1995 to 37 in 2006.

The reports author and specialist immunologist and allergy specialist, Raymond Mullins,  said the cause of the increase needed further investigation.

While part of this increase could be attributed to an increasing understanding of the symptoms of allergies, improving parents' ability to spot what is a likely reaction to food, the marked increase demonstrates a trend towards intolerance towards certain foods.

(NB: a reference for this report will be uploaded shortly)