Food Allergy

In the United States, food allergy occurs in 6 to 8 percent of
children under four years of age and in roughly 4 percent of adults,
and its prevalence appears to be increasing, particularly in the area
of peanut allergy.

Individuals who suffer from food allergies are at risk of a range of
reactions, from a mild case of hives to anaphylaxis, a severe and
life-threatening reaction characterized by a drop in blood pressure,
upper airway obstruction and severe wheezing. Food allergy causes
about 30,000 episodes of anaphylaxis and 100 to 200 deaths annually
in the United States.

Most severe food allergy reactions occur in adolescents and young
adults, with peanuts and tree nuts the primary cause. Currently, the
only ways to manage food allergies are to avoid the foods that cause
reactions and to treat the allergic reactions caused by food exposure.

At the request of Congress, an expert panel of national and
international food allergy experts was convened by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) on behalf of the Secretary of Health and
Human Services (HHS) to address issues in food allergy research. In
its report, now available online, the panel examines the current
state of NIH-funded food allergy research and develops and
prioritizes a list of recommendations to the HHS Secretary on key
opportunities and research directions.

Among the panel's recommendations are to engage NIH and the Food and
Drug Administration to resolve impediments to the design and conduct
of food allergy clinical trials. Additional recommendations related
to NIH-funded research include (1) conduct clinical trials evaluating
promising new approaches to preventing and treating food allergies;
(2) investigate epidemiological and genetic causes for food allergy
and associated diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, asthma and
eosinophilic gastroenteritis; (3) facilitate basic and preclinical
research studies on allergen structure and animal models of food
allergy; and (4) determine the feasibility of an international
registry of food-induced allergic reactions that could be used to
facilitate clinical study design.

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