Call to check ‘alternative’ foodstuffs for allergy risks

The hunt for more sustainable foods — which includes growing meat in a lab and using mealworm as a protein source — should also include assessing their potential to cause allergic reactions, food allergy experts have warned.

Dutch researcher André Knulst, who will present a paper in Dublin tomorrow on the need for such assessments, said sections of the population already displaying certain food allergies should be assessed for their tolerance of novel proteins.

Mr Knulst, who is based at the Department of Dermatology and Allergology in the University Medical Centre Utrecht, has already carried out preliminary research which showed that patients allergic to shrimp were at risk of developing allergic reactions when consuming mealworm. However, he emphasised that further research is needed.

The work of Mr Knulst and his colleague Geert Houben, principal scientist at TNO, (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) is against a backdrop of a world population boom — predicted to grow by two billion by 2050 — and concerns about food security and water supply.

Mr Knulst said scientists are increasingly looking at alternative food sources such as algae, plants and insects. The EU previously offered member states €3m to promote the use of insects in cooking, and it also asked food standards watchdogs to investigate their potential to supplement diets.

Mr Knulst said the use of cultivated meat grown from stem cells in a lab was being explored. Last year Dutch scientist Dr Mark Post unveiled the first lab-grown hamburger to the world. However, its commercial use is about eight years away.

Mr Knulst will present his paper as part of the international three-day Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Meeting (FAAM) which gets underway in Dublin’s Convention Centre today.

On Saturday, Dr John Fitzsimons, a general paediatrician with a special interest in allergy, will address the conference on the need to establish allergy services in primary care. The existing public hospital services for treating childhood allergy have been described as “overwhelmed” in a draft document prepared for the HSE by Cork-based paediatrician Prof Jonathan Hourihane, seen by the Irish Examiner.

Dr Fitzsimons, who is based at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, said it would be “relatively low tech” to provide allergy testing in primary care — including skin prick tests and the food challenge test — if staff were properly trained.

He was critical of the fact that allergy is not mentioned in Healthy Ireland, the Government framework document for promoting a healthier nation, despite the fact that census figures show 28,600 children have all three major allergic conditions — asthma, eczema, and food allergy.

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