Regional variations in food allergies

Monday, 21 September 2009 14:03

Andrew Watson, a bioinformatician at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, UK has written an article that has been published in New Scientist recently on the work of Europrevall. The article reviews research presented at the food allergy meeting held in Vienna in May 2009, and provides a useful overview of the recent work looking at regional differences, cross-reactivity and thresholds for allergen labelling. 

Much of the article discusses regional differences in food allergies, and why these differences exist. Some of the variations mentioned include apples, which are one of the most common triggers of allergic symptoms in adult Europeans. In northern Europe, people react to the uncooked flesh of apples, whereas in the south people react to the skin, both cooked or cooked.  Peach and melon allergy are particularly common in Mediterranean Europe, while Iceland has a higher rate of fish allergy, and Switzerland has a higher rate of celeriac allergy than elsewhere. As sunflower seeds are increasingly used in food products, allergy clinics throughout Europe have seen an increase in the number of severe reactions to sunflower seed allergens, which are said to be more potent than peanut allergens. It is thought that if links could be found between the environmental or dietary peculiarities of the regions that underlie such allergy variations, it may lead to a better understanding of what causes food allergies.

The full article can be accessed on the New Scientist website.