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San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 1
Food Allergies: The Enemy Within
Krzysztof Maruszewski
European CommissionJoint Research CentreInstitute for Reference Materials and Measurements
http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 2
Allergen intake
Swelling of the skin
Food allergens: the mild effect
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 3
Food allergies: the severe effect
• Allergenic food can cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening type of allergic reaction
• Severe anaphylaxis affects 1-3 per 10,000 people
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 4
Food allergies vs. intolerance
• Allergy– IgE mediated– activate mast cells– release of histamine– dilation of small blood
vessels– Itching, swelling, skin
rash, diarrhoea
• Intolerance– not IgE mediated– may be caused by
overreacting T-cells damaging the lining of the gut (coeliac disease)
– may be caused by deficiency of enzyme activity (milk intolerance
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 5
Regional prevalence in Europe
Peach and melon allergies in the Mediterranean
Fish allergies in Iceland
Celeriac allergies Switzerland
North-south divide in sensitivity towards apple (skin/flesh)
Source: EuroPrevall
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 6
Food allergens
• Only a few offending protein families:– Cupins (peanut, walnut, hazelnut)
– Prolamins (sesame, peach, wheat, rye)
– Plant defence system proteins (banana, avocado, celery, apple)
– Profilins (celery, banana, melon)
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 7
Food allergens: countermeasures
• At the moment no cure for food allergy
• Allergic people have to protect themselves by avoiding the offending foods
• Critical importance of food labelling
• Certified allergen-free production environments
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 8
Labelling
• informs consumers on the contents and the composition of food products
• helps consumers to make an informed choice while purchasing their foodstuffs
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 9
Allergen detection methodology
Immunology
Molecular biology
Protein chemistry
From fluorescence to results
JRC contributions
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 10
Reliability of test results
Poms et al. (2005)
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 11
Pele et al. (2007)
0 20 40 60 80 100
"may contain"
"present inenvironment"
no warning
% testing positive
Hazelnut
Peanut
254 chocolatesamples
Market survey
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 12
Allergen labelling regulations
• Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Labelling: cereals (gluten), crustaceans, eggs, fish, milk, (tree) nuts, peanuts, soybeans, sulphites
• European Union: cereals (gluten), celery, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, (tree) nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soybeans, sulphites
• United States: crustaceans, egg, fish, milk, (tree) nuts, peanuts, soybeans, wheat
• Canada: crustaceans, eggs, fish, milk, (tree) nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soybeans, shellfish, wheat (including kamut, spelt, triticale)
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 13
Labelling related to gluten
Codex Alimentarius– Dietary foods may be labelled “gluten-free” if gluten level
does not exceed 20 mg/kg– Foods specially processed to reduce gluten content to
above 20 mg/kg but below 100 mg/kg (labelling of those products will be decided at national level)
– Method of analysis will be based on immunochemistry• Gluten is a cultivar dependent complex protein mixture• Processing (heating, fermentation) changes apparent
gluten content• Results assay specific
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 14
Outlook
• Harmonisation needs– Analytical methods
– Labelling
– Precautionary labelling
• Thresholds for mandatory labelling
• Allergen management programmes