An Integrated Approach to Management of Food Allergy – Recommendations for Consumers and Professionals.
The aim of the present paper is to review the existing knowledge on the current strategies in food allergy management and propose an integrated approach to management of food allergy and intolerance. Such approach should consist of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) addressed to health professionals, food industry and educators, and Dietary Behaviour Principles (DBPs) addressed to different groups of consumers, e.g. breastfeeding mothers, parents and carers of young children.
Allergists alert that this rate might be in fact much higher. According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), allergy is the 5th leading chronic disease in US among all ages, and the third most common chronic disease among children under 18 years old. As a chronic disease, it starts from infancy and often lasts for a lifetime. Although, many people outgrow their allergy, it drastically changes the quality of life of the patient and his/her family, and generates different costs, including social and psychological ones.
Almost all sources state that the most effective management food intolerance, including allergy, is elimination or avoidance of harmful ingredients.8 According to the American Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), no medication could prevent food allergies. Medications can be applied to merely control symptoms, which can range from mild (rashes, hives, itching, swelling, etc.) to severe (dyspnea, wheezing, loss of consciousness, etc.). Besides, despite numerous research projects devoted to food allergy, carried out in multinational consortia.
There is a need to develop an innovative approach for evidence-based risk assessment and management in the field of food allergy, taking into account both “classical” (protein) allergens and small-molecular haptens occurring in food naturally, contaminants and food additives.
Public Health Open J. 2016; 1(1): 16-23. doi: 10.17140/PHOJ-1-105