RRD 29: Programme T07 - Food allergy and intolerance

The Food Allergy and Intolerance Research Programme aims to investigate the causes and mechanisms of food allergy, particularly severe food allergy, in order to reduce its incidence and severity.

The provision of robust scientific evidence to underpin the development of sound, evidence-based policies and advice on food allergy and intolerance, will help to ensure the safety of food allergic and food intolerant consumers by enabling them to make informed choices.

Investigate the importance of skin exposure to food and food proteins in the development of sensitisation to foods, and characterise the conditions and mechanisms through which sensitisation via the skin may be achieved.

One of the key aims of the T07 programme is to identify risk factors (genetic, environmental, dietary or other) that are associated with the development of sensitisation to foods and clinical food allergy in early life. With regard to non-genetic factors, there is a need to understand more about exactly how, and under what circumstances, allergic sensitisation is acquired, in order to consider possible preventative or immunomodulatory strategies, and to inform the Agency’s advice to consumers about how to minimise risk of developing a food allergy.

There is a need to gain a better understanding of the relevance of different routes of exposure on the acquisition of sensitisation to food proteins. Of particular importance in this respect is the possibility that skin exposure to food product can cause sensitisation such that subjects may subsequently display symptoms of food allergy following dietary exposure to the same foodstuff.

To address this need, the T07 programme has previously commissioned several projects aimed at characterising the implications of different routes of exposure to allergen on the development of sensitisation to food proteins. Agency funded projects T07001, T07022 and T07043 have collectively provided new evidence that routes of exposure, other than by dietary intake may be important in the acquisition of sensitisation to food proteins, particularly in early life. Of particular importance is, evidence that sensitisation to food proteins may be acquired following skin contact with food or food products, and that the development of sensitisation via this route may serve to prevent the development of tolerance following subsequent dietary exposure to the same food.

Important though these observations are, much of the evidence is indirect and/or requires confirmation. Moreover, there is a need for further characterisation of the relevance of skin exposure and of studies employing food allergens other than those studied to date (peanut and egg)

The need, therefore is for further research that will:

• Determine whether and to what extent the skin is a relevant route of exposure for the acquisition of sensitisation to food proteins
• Define the conditions under which sensitisation via skin contact is achieved, and characterisation of the relevant immunobiological mechanisms.

Both clinical and/or experimental studies may be considered appropriate for addressing the above issues

It is anticipated that results from this research will provide the information necessary to underpin the development of robust advice for consumers and allow the Agency to give further guidance on how to reduce the risk of sensitisation.

Proposals are therefore invited to:

Requirement Reference: T07R0011 - Investigate the importance of skin exposure to food and food proteins in the development of sensitisation to foods, and characterise the conditions and mechanisms through which sensitisation via the skin may be achieved.

Further Information

Before preparing your proposals please contact the named person below for advice and information on the specific scientific issues or the policy background/objectives:

Sarah Hardy, Labelling Standards and Allergy Division,
Tel: 020 7276 8532
Fax: 020 7276 8513;
E-mail: sarah.hardy@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Proposals should be sent, to be received by 17:00 hrs on Friday 19 December to:

E-mail: FSA_Remind@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Post:
Sarah Hardy
Labelling, Standards and Allergy Division
Food Standards Agency
Room 511C, Aviation House
125 Kingsway
London WC2B 6NH

Collection of dietary exposure assessment data to inform risk assessment models for allergenic food proteins present as cross contamination in food products

An area that is currently of particular interest to the programme is that of how to develop management threshold levels for allergens in food that industry can use to inform labelling decisions. In order to do this there is a need to understand the dose response relationship at a population level, which requires extrapolation beyond the information collected from clinical food challenge studies on allergic subjects, to the wider allergic population, using risk assessment models. At present there are a number of uncertainties in the various models that could be used for risk assessment of allergenic foods. Gaining information to fill these data gaps is a key area of research for the programme. Such information would reduce uncertainty in the models and improve our ability to define appropriate management thresholds that are sufficiently protective at the population level.

There is a need to collect quantitative and qualitative information on the dietary patterns and food choices of food allergic consumers. These data are needed:

• To improve the accuracy of exposure data which may be employed in emerging food allergen risk assessment methods.
• To understand better how the patterns of food consumption in specific groups of food allergic consumers differ from those of non-food allergic consumers, based on the individual food product consumed (such as bread, cookies, chocolate etc).

It is envisaged that the study will collect quantitative information on the food consumed by a group of food allergic people, utilising the methodology employed in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey’s rolling programme. Allergies to one or at most two allergenic foods would be studied in the project. If two allergens are studied this should include both an allergen whose presence in food tends to be homogenous in nature (e.g. egg or milk) and one which tends to be present heterogeneously (e.g. tree nuts / peanut/ sesame), although the findings may have potential to be extrapolated more widely. It is envisaged that subjects included in the study would be eating an adult style diet and making their own food choices. The population could include subjects with a range of severities of reactions and would attempt to include representatives of the diverse ethnicity and socio economic groups within the UK. Study subjects should have well characterised food allergies either through medical diagnosis or by evaluation of their history of reactions by clinical staff.

The dietary data collected should be for individual meal occasions and data would be needed at the individual product level. The dietary consumption information collected from the food allergic population in the study should be compared with a suitable control group in order to assess how the diets of food allergic consumers differ from the general population.

Study teams addressing this call should consider including food allergy expertise as part of the research staff working on the project. Proposals would also be required to demonstrate a justification of the sample size selected for the study.

Proposals are therefore invited to:

Requirement Reference: T07R0012 - Collect dietary exposure data for a group of food allergic individuals utilising the methodology employed in the new rolling programme of National Diet and Nutrition Surveys to gain an understanding of their diets and how they differ from those of non-allergic consumers

Further Information

Before preparing your proposals please contact the named person below for advice and information on the specific scientific issues or the policy background/objectives:

Ruth Hodgson, Labelling Standards and Allergy Division,
Tel: 020 7276 8536;
E-mail: ruth.hodgson@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Proposals should be sent, to be received by 17:00 hrs on Friday 19 December 2008 to:

E-mail: FSA_Remind@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Post:
Ruth Hodgson
Labelling Standards and Allergy Division
Food Standards Agency
Room 611C, Aviation House
125 Kingsway
London WC2B 6NH