Lesser-known food allergens are actually behind many serious reactions
Buckwheat seems to be a key cause of serious food allergies
Shutterstock / Buntovskikh Olga
About one in seven cases of potentially deadly allergic reactions seem to be caused by foods that are generally not labeled as potential allergens on the packaging of a product, which has prompted researchers to discuss policies concerning this need to change.
Food allergies are becoming more and more common, but many official allergens have not been updated for years. For example, the compulsory labeling of the European Union of the food list indicates the presence of 14 food allergens, such as peanuts and soybeans, must be clearly indicated on products, but is based on 2011 data.
To understand the less known triggers, Dominique Sabouraud -Leclerc at the Reims University Hospital Center in France and his colleagues analyzed 2,999 cases of anaphylaxis induced by food – a fatal reaction – reported voluntarily by doctors in 2002 and 2023.
They specifically sought emerging food allergens, which they defined as all foods that were not on the compulsory European labeling list, but which were individually responsible for at least 1% of cases.
The team found goat or sheep milk and buckwheat sparked 2.8 and 2.4% of the cases, respectively. These were followed by peas and lenses, Alpha -Gal – a sugar that can trigger an allergy to red meat and other mammal products – pine nuts and kiwi, which each triggered between 1 and 2% of the incidences. Apples and hive products such as edible pollen, honey and royal jelly caused 1% of cases.
Overall, emerging food allergies were responsible for 413 – approximately 14% – reported cases.
In terms of severity of the reactions, goat cheese and sheep has caused particularly dangerous reactions, especially in young boys, causing two deaths. Recurring reactions and hidden exposure – as in a sauce or as a thickener – were the most frequent with goat or sheep milks and cheeses, followed by peas and lentils, buckwheat and gables.
At the rear of this, the team suggested that these four types of food be added to the list of compulsory warning labels in Europe, which indicates that the presence of these ingredients must be underlined, for example, being written in fat on the packaging.
“Our main objective is to protect allergic consumers and to ensure that they have access to clear information,” explains Sabouraud-Leclerc. “All this is one of the good care for patients: diagnosis, education, emergency kits and know how to read the labels.”
Although the data comes mainly from France, Belgium and Luxembourg, the results would probably be applicable to other countries, with some differences in prevalence depending on local cuisine, explains Sabouraud-Leclerc. “If we manage to update the EU list, it could inspire other countries to follow, a bit like a snowball effect,” she said.
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