Where are we in risk assessment of food allergens? The regulatory view

Assessing the risk of exposure to chemicals is done every day worldwide. Th is assessment includes hazard identification, dose (concentration)-response (effect) assessment, exposure assessment and risk characterization. The pr esent paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of using these proc edures when assessing the risk of food allergens. It is concluded that haza rd identification is not a problem. The medical literature is full of descr iptions of cases of food allergy where the offending food or even allergen is identified. More knowledge on the relationship between dose and response of different allergens in different patient populations is needed. Exposur e assessment is possible but may not be easy. Determining the distribution of contamination with an allergen may be crucial. To do risk characterizati on, and as a consequence to be able to manage risk, knowledge of a threshol d for effect is needed and the possibility of using a safety factor. If we do not manage to establish thresholds for elicitation of allergic response in food allergy, risk assessment and management will be very difficult. It will be difficult to avoid labeling like "May contain peanuts" used with an d without reason. In the long run, unjustified warnings will not help the a llergic consumer but will create more confusion than guidance.