Allergy sufferers reveal free-from safety fears
June witnessed the claim that many allergy sufferers don’t trust the safety of many free-from foods sold in supermarkets.
A global survey of 10,000 respondents in 17 countries, co-ordinated by Anaphylaxis Canada, found allergy sufferers didn't trust threshold levels.
Anaphylaxis Campaign chief executive Lynne Regent said clinically diagnosed allergy suffers, who are at risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis shock, are also suspicious of clinically determined ‘threshold levels’ for allergens being developed by the industry and other stakeholders.
Regent said that while the Anaphylaxis Campaign strongly supported the introduction of allergen threshold levels, it believed allergy suffers needed better communication about their merits from clinicians, such as dieticians and GPs.
“When we asked individuals if they would buy a food if they could be sure it was capable of not triggering an allergic reaction, although the allergen was present, the majority said no. And then we asked: what if it gave you a mild reaction? And they also said no,” Regent said.