What’s Behind the Surge in Food Allergies? Let’s Find Out!

Food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances have become a growing public health concern, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. While food allergies and intolerances were once considered a rarity, the sharp increase in diagnoses over the past few decades raises concerns.

The surge in food allergies and hypersensitivities can be attributed to genetic factors, immune system development, environmental influences, diet and lifestyle changes, and globalization.

What Is A Food Allergy?

Research shows that 33 million Americans have at least one or more food allergies. Food allergies among children were up by 50% between 1997 and 2011 and again by 50% between 2007 and 2021. One in 13 children, approximately 5.6 million children, have food allergies.

Food allergies are when the immune system mistakenly identifies a specific food protein as a threat, provoking an allergic reaction. The most common types of food allergens and the amount of people affected include:

• Peanuts (6.2 million Americans)
• Tree nuts (3.9 million Americans)
• Soy (1.9 million Americans)
• Sesame (0.7 million Americans)
• Wheat (2.4 million Americans)
• Milk (6.2 million Americans)
• Eggs (2.7 million Americans)
• Shellfish (8.4 million Americans)
• Fish (2.7 million Americans)

While more and more individuals are receiving positive allergy tests for various foods, these are the top nine reported. An allergic reaction to foods like peanuts or milk can vary from mild to severe (anaphylaxis). Mild symptoms of an allergic reaction can include hives, itching, watery eyes, nausea, and tingling lips, throat, or mouth.

A severe allergic reaction, also called anaphylaxis, can cause airway tightening and constriction, swollen throat, difficulty breathing, rapid pulse, anaphylactic shock, drop in blood pressure, dizziness, and loss of consciousness. Anaphylactic reactions can be life-threatening, requiring immediate administration of epinephrine and emergency treatment.

Understanding The Reasons Behind the Rise of Food Allergies

The increasing prevalence of food allergies, hypersensitivity, and intolerances has led to a deeper investigation of the potential causes. Genetic predisposition, immune system development, environmental changes, lifestyle, and globalization have all influenced the upsurge in food allergies in the U.S. and beyond.

Genetic Factors and Predisposition

Genetics plays an integral role in the development of food allergies and anaphylaxis. If one or both parents have food allergies, asthma, or eczema, their children are more susceptible to inheriting a predisposition.

However, genetic factors and predisposition alone do not account for the rapid and widespread increase in food allergy cases. Other factors, including the hygiene hypothesis, diet, environmental pollutants, and urbanization, can increase someone’s chances of developing food allergies.

Environmental Factors and The Hygiene Hypothesis

Environmental changes, including the hygiene hypothesis, are among the most popular theories backing the surge in food allergies. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that since modern living conditions have become more sanitation-focused, our immune systems are less often exposed to germs and parasites.

Due to this reduced exposure to microbes, our immune systems’ ability to differentiate between harmless and harmful substances has become less efficient. As a result, the immune system may overreact to harmless food proteins more often, including common and uncommon food allergens.

Diet and Lifestyle Changes

Modern diets and lifestyle changes, such as the delayed introduction of allergens, increased processed foods, and reduced breastfeeding rates, may impact allergy prevalence. Older guidelines once recommended delaying the introduction of common allergens like milk, fish, and nuts to children to minimize allergy risk.

These guidelines have now been replaced with new advice encouraging parents to introduce common allergens in early childhood, as this can support allergy prevention. The prevalence of processed foods and artificial additives in the modern diet may affect immune responses and the gut microbiome, influencing food allergy risk.

Breastfeeding supports healthy immune system development and could lower infants’ risk of food allergies. Lower breastfeeding rates could impair immune system development and increase food allergy risk.

The Globalization Effect

The rise of global food supply chains introduces new foods and allergens to populations that have never been exposed to them. With increased population and food migration, more and more individuals encounter exotic products, adopt foreign diets, and have allergic responses. The era of globalization can challenge immune systems that are unaccustomed to exposure to these allergens, contributing to the surge in food allergies.

Advances in Food Allergy Research and Therapies

While the specific reasons behind the surge in food allergies remain complex, environmental factors, globalization, dietary habits, and genetics appear to influence them significantly. By increasing food allergy awareness and supporting ongoing research efforts, we can work toward creating a safer world for those with food allergies.

Scientific advancements in food allergy research, such as immunotherapy, allergen-friendly foods, and gut health research, are helping us better understand food allergies. As a result, new approaches and therapies are developing to aid prevention and management.

Oral Immunotherapy

While the treatment options for food allergies remain limited, recent advances in preclinical and clinical immunotherapy have broadened. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), allergen immunotherapy, DNA or vital-like particle vaccines, biologics such as anti-IgE antibodies, and gene and cell therapy with gene-modified immune cells are new approaches for patients with allergies.

Gut Health Research

Individuals with food allergies have distinct gut microbiomes and dysbiosis that facilitate the development of food allergies. The intestinal microbiota composition can influence susceptibility to food allergies or sensitivities. Advances in gut microbiome studies have revealed its role in immune system regulation.

Allergen-Free Alternatives

With a significant surge in food sensitivities and allergies, there has been an increasing production of allergen-free substitutions and alternative products. Food manufacturing innovations continue to expand and provide safer alternatives for those with severe food allergies or food intolerances.

With increasing food allergy research and proactive public health measures, there’s hope for better management and prevention of food allergies and anaphylaxis. Join us in the fight to #StopAnaphylaxis and fund anaphylaxis treatment for those with severe food allergies, latex allergies, insect sting allergies, and medication allergies.

References:

• Food Allergy Research and Education. Facts and Statistics.
• EMBO reports, 2006. Food allergies on the rise? Determining the prevalence of food allergies, and how quickly it is increasing, is the first step in tackling the problem.
• Mayo Clinic, 2024. Food allergy.
• Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team. Why Are Food Allergies On the Rise?
• Intramural Research Program, 2023. Digging Up the Roots of Food Allergies.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024. Food Allergies.
• Cleveland Clinic, 2022. Allergies.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023. Study Complicates Popular Theory Linking Allergies to Hygiene and Microbes.
• Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2015. Food introduction and allergy prevention in infants.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024. Novel and Emerging Therapies for Food Allergy.
• The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2019. Food allergy and the microbiome: Current understandings and future directions.
• Food Allergy Research and Education. Common Allergens: Substitutions.