Why more people are at risk from deadly food allergies
As teenage girl dies after eating poorly labelled shop sandwich..
THE tragic case of schoolgirl Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died when she unwittingly ate sesame seeds in a poorly labelled Pret a Manger sandwich, has led to calls that all food manufacturers improve their allergy information.
Natasha, 15, collapsed onboard a British Airways flight in July 2016 after eating a baguette she had bought at Heathrow Airport.
A coroner concluded she died of anaphylaxis – a severe allergic reaction – caused by eating seeds not listed on the wrapper, and to which she was highly allergic.
This horrifying case highlights how perilous eating can be for people with allergies – a growing group in the UK, including up to eight per cent of children.
“Food allergy is on the rise and has been for some time,” said leading charity Allergy UK.
Our immune system mistakenly identifies food proteins as foreign invading germs, causing hives, rashes, itchy mouth and vomiting – and in rare cases anaphylaxis, which can lead to swelling of the tongue and throat, difficulty breathing and potentially deadly low blood pressure.
About 90 per cent of reactions come from eight foods: Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (eg almonds), sesame seeds, wheat, fish and shellfish.
There is no known cure but children who are allergic to milk, soy, wheat or egg tend to “outgrow” the sensitivity.
Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and seafood tend to be lifelong and can be deadly. They can only be managed by avoiding the allergens.
Sufferers must also carry an EpiPen at all times. This selfinjecting device contains adrenaline, which can often reverse a reaction if used early enough.
But the effectiveness of some EpiPens is likely to be reviewed following the death of Natasha, as the two pens carried by her father were ineffective – possibly because the needles were too short or the dose was too late.
What’s behind the rise in cases?
We still don’t know why food allergies are increasing, although theories include: We’re too clean
Improvements in modern living and medicine – in particular fewer germs, and the use of antibiotics – has eliminated many previous bacterial threats.
As a result, our immune systems sit idle, but revved up for an attack, and so end up treating harmless proteins as if they were germs.
We introduce ‘allergy’ foods too late
For the past three decades, the advice has been to avoid giving children potential allergens, such as eggs and peanuts, until they are two or three – to reduce their risk of developing an allergy.
However, the opposite is thought to be true, with research suggesting if you introduce a food much earlier into the diet – ideally when a baby is weaned around six months of age – then they’re much less likely to become allergic. UK studies have backed this, including one in 2008 which found the prevalence of peanut allergy in Jewish children in the UK, where the advice had been to avoid peanuts, was 10 times higher than in Israel, where babies are given peanuts from an early age. We eat too much junk food Today’s diets, high in fat, sugar and processed foods, are reducing the diversity of bacteria in our gut. This appears to encourage the development of allergies. Evidence suggests eating unprocessed foods, especially fruit and veg, may be protective.
Lack of vitamin D
Because we spend more time indoors and use sunscreen, deficiency of Vitamin D, which is an important nutrient for a healthy immune system, has increased in the past 30 years.
Australian research has found that babies low in it were more likely to develop food allergies.
How can we protect food allergy sufferers?
Even before Natasha’s death, research showed sufferers had low levels of confidence in eating out and buying food due to the lack of information on their contents.
Natasha’s father, Nadim, of London, says his daughter died because of these “inadequate food labelling laws”, and the family are calling for immediate changes.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said the Government will look at companies’ responsibilities in relation to labelling, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove considering bringing in Natasha’s Law to force more stringent requirements.
What does the law say?
The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulations and the UK Food Information Regulations 2014 state that if there are any of 14 types of allergens contained within food they should be highlighted on the label. These are: Cereals with gluten, shellfish, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at a particular concentration, lupin and molluscs. But this only applies to pre-packaged food that is made before it reaches the shop or restaurant. Non-prepackaged food, such as the sandwich Natasha bought, doesn’t need a label listing the ingredients under current laws.
What labelling changes could save lives?
Natasha’s family say changes to the law need to be made “swiftly” to ensure everyone can have confidence about “what allergens are in the food that they buy”. This would mean all foods are labelled – regardless of where they are made or pre-packaged.
Advocates such as Allergy UK want companies to set out what allergens are in products by attaching clear labelling to everything.
They want the obligation to fall on businesses to declare allergens – not on customers to ask. This should help prevent what they call “fatal incidents caused solely by a lack of communication on the allergen content of food”.