UK Food Standards Agency Research Programme

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 09:02

The UK Food Standards Agency has operated a food allergy research program since 1995. The aim of the program is to investigate the causes and mechanisms of food allergy and deliver benefits for UK consumers. They have recently published a paper outlining the program’s progress so far.

The paper outlines some of the major scientific challenges that the program has sought to address, how the findings have been used as a basis for the development of policy and advice for UK consumers, and the current direction of research being supported by the program.

Program highlights discussed in the publication include research into establishing the true prevalence of food allergy in the UK; determining the impact of the introduction of new foods into the national diet; the role of IgG antibody in food allergy; the role of T lymphocytes in food allergy; and relevant routes of exposure for the acquisition of sensitisation to dietary proteins.

Reference: Buck et al. 2010. Toxicology. DOI:10.1016/j.tox.2010.08.007