On this World Food Day 2021, EAACI wants to raise awareness of the burden of food allergy and the importance of creating solid plans for its prevention, diagnosis and care.
- More than 20 million people in Europe suffer from food allergies, and one of four school-age children in Europe lives with this allergic disease. The number of severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), due to food allergies, in on the rise in both children and adults.
Food allergy poses the following individual and macroeconomic challenges:
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Reduced quality of life for patients with food allergy
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Additional costs due to food allergy on households
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Impact on schooling and child development
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Impact on family life and social activities
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Difficulties in measuring social and economic impact
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Shortage of good quality health economic data concerning food allergy
Which priorities to tackle?
- Understand molecular mechanisms of allergen tolerance and its disruption in food allergy
- Improve diagnosis with individual allergen components, agreed food allergen thresholds, and better understanding of food matrix interactions
- Establish food allergy phenotypes
- Establish novel immunotherapeutic approaches and combinations thereof
- Europe wide assessment of epidemiological aspects of food allergy
- Standardising of dietary interventions
- Harmonised guidelines across EU countries, to ensure an effective and systematic approach is adopted in this area.
EAACI works closely with Patients Representative Groups, National Allergy Societies, industry and other key high-level stakeholders involved in tackling food allergy and anaphylaxis.
Watch the following videos on World Food Day 2021 and celebrate this occasion with us:
A message from EAACI President Marek Jutel:
Dietary Diversity, explained by Dr. Isabel Skypala:
Immunonutrition, explained by Dr. Carina Venter: