Mechanism and control of food allergy

The number of patients suffering from food allergy has increased strikingly during the last few decades, coinciding with changes in eating habits and in the environment. Most food-born allergies are IgE-mediated immunologic r eactions to specific foods. It is often difficult to diagnose true food all ergy, because similar symptoms may be caused by naturally occurring toxins or chemical additives. This paper discusses the problems related to food al lergy in general, the current knowledge of food allergies and the mechanism s involved, anti-allergenic factors in foods, methods with which food aller gy may be decreased and treated, relationships between lipid metabolism and allergy, effects of food processing and genetic engineering on food allerg y, and recent progress in the development of hypoallergenic foods.