Risk assessment of adverse reactions to ingested food

Adverse reactions affecting the skin, the respiratory tract, the gut and/or blood components may develop acutely or chronically following the ingestion of food, a phenomenon known since hundred of years. If adverse reactions are mediated immunologically they are called “food allergy”;, respectively “food hypersensitivity”; on the other hand they are called “idiosyncrasy”; or “food intolerance”; if the abnormal response is not believed to be immunologic in nature. Exact data on the frequency of adverse reactions are not yet available; in Europe the frequencies of food allergies, respectively of idiosyncrasy, may amount to 0.35 % and 0.03 % within the whole population. At present time the assessment of the risk of newly developed, or modified foodstuff to elicit adverse reactions can only be based on data gathered on man; it is recommended to initiate such studies. Labelling and monitoring are necessary to obtain exact data and to enable sensitive consumers to eliminate suspected products from their diet.