WIREDGOV

The Food Standards Agency has welcomed new guidelines on the diagnosis and assessment of food allergy in children and young people. The guidelines have been published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Sue Hattersley, Head of Food Allergy at the FSA, said: ‘These guidelines are an important step forward in improving the consistency and quality of care provided by health professionals. Food allergy is a serious health problem, which appears to be increasing, so it’s important that these people have effective clinical support. The FSA is continuing to carry out research into food allergies and we are working with the food industry and enforcement officers to minimise the risks for those with food allergy, and to provide them with the most up-to-date information.’

It is hoped that these guidelines will lead to better diagnosis of allergies in children. For those who have been diagnosed with a food allergy, the Agency issues Allergy Alerts by email and SMS text messages to warn people about foods that are being recalled because they have been incorrectly labelled. More information about how to sign up to receive Allergy Alerts can be found at the link below.

The FSA also has an ongoing programme of research investigating food allergy and it has also funded the UK arm of a much larger EU study called EuroPrevall, which is gathering information on the types and prevalence of individual food allergies in infants, children and adults across Europe (including the UK). This is the first study to provide robust data on the prevalence of different food allergies across Europe. It is expected that results from this study will be available later this year.

More information about the Agency’s work on food allergies can be found at the link below.