FDA Food Allergies: Reducing the Risks

Food allergies can range from merely irritating to life-threatening. Approximately 30,000 Americans go to the emergency room each year to get treated for severe food allergies, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). It is estimated that 150 to 200 Americans die each year because of allergic reactions to food.

Food allergies affect about two per­cent of adults and four to eight per­cent of children in the United States, and the number of young people with food allergies has increased over the last decade, according to a recent report by the Centers for Dis­ease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children with food allergies are more likely to have asthma, eczema, and other types of allergies.

Some food allergies can be out­grown. Studies have shown that the severity of food allergies can change throughout a person's life.

"There is no cure for food allergies," says Stefano Luccioli, M.D., senior medical advisor in the Food and Drug Administration' s (FDA) Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS). "The best way for consumers to protect themselves is by avoiding food items that will cause a reaction." OFAS is part of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

Full article at http://www.fda. gov/consumer/ updates/foodalle rgies012209. html