Risk assessment for food allergy - the industry viewpoint

A safe food supply is a legitimate expectation of consumers, which the food industry must meet. Allergic reactions to food are recognised as a signifi cant public health problem. Protecting allergic consumers against such reac tions, while minimising the impact of food allergy on their quality of life , poses a challenge to the industry. Risk assessment is the process whereby the likelihood of an adverse event is related to exposure. Allergic reacti ons to foods can arise in one of three ways, which are not mutually exclusi ve. Firstly, a known allergen may be present in a food at a level above tha t at which the allergic individual reacts, secondly, an individual may reac t to a known or novel allergen because of sensitisation to another, cross-r eactive, allergen and finally sensitisation may occur to a novel allergen, followed by reaction on subsequent exposure. A total absence of risk of rea ction to an allergen implies no exposure, a situation which in most food ma nufacturing environments is unrealistic, and in any event would not help in the context of novel allergens. Possible approaches to risk assessment for food allergy in each of the contexts described above are examined, togethe r with their limitations.