Food allergy: What are the issues?

With a growing interest in the development of genetically modified crop plants there is a need for appropriate approaches to safety assessment. Among the issues that have to be addressed is consideration of whether the products of novel genes have the potential to cause allergic sensitization. Resulting from a collaboration between the International Food Biotechnology Council and the International Life Sciences Institute recommendations have been made for a step-wise approach to the assessment of allergenic potential based upon considerations of serological identity, and sequence or structural homology, with known allergens and examination of the stability of the test protein in a simulated gastric fluid. In parallel there has been interest in the development of animal models, which would permit a more direct evaluation of potential allergenic activity. Progress in these areas is reviewed briefly in the context of what is known of food allergy and some of the important issues, which must be addressed in designing safety assessment strategies identified. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.