Sesame allergy affects more than 1 million children and adults in the US, more than previously known, according to a new study.
But unlike the other top eight allergens like peanuts and milk, laws don’t currently require sesame labeling—and sesame may be labeled in a potentially confusing way, such as tahini. That can increase the risk that someone with an allergy will accidentally eat it.
The study in JAMA Network Open provides the first up-to-date estimates on the current prevalence of sesame allergy among US children and adults in all 50 states.
“Our study shows sesame allergy is prevalent in the US in both adults and children and can cause severe allergic reactions,” says lead author Ruchi Gupta, professor of pediatrics and of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“It is important to advocate for labeling sesame in packaged food. Sesame is in a lot of foods as hidden ingredients. It is very hard to avoid.”
The study directly informs ongoing regulatory rule-making from the US Food & Drug Administration, which is currently considering whether to add sesame to the list of key food allergens requiring mandatory product labeling. Unlike in other countries (the European Union and Australia), current US law does not require labeling for sesame-containing products.
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2014 mandates labeling of the top eight allergenic foods/food groups including peanut, milk, shellfish, tree nuts, egg, wheat, soy, and finfish along with proteins derived from them.
More than 1.5 million children and adults in the US (.49% of the population) report a current sesame allergy, and more than 1.1 million (.34% of the population) report either a physician-diagnosed sesame allergy or a history of sesame-allergic reaction symptoms, the study shows.
The data also indicate many individuals who report sesame allergies and experience potentially severe allergic reactions have no clinical diagnosis of their allergies.
“Clinical confirmation of suspected food allergies is essential to reduce the risk of unnecessary allergen avoidance as well as ensure patients receive essential counseling and prescription of emergency epinephrine,” says first author Christopher Warren, an investigator with the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research.
Unlike allergies such as milk or egg, which people often develop early in life and outgrow by adolescence, sesame allergy affects children and adults to a similar degree.
In addition, four in five patients with sesame allergy have at least one other food allergy. More than half have a peanut allergy, a third have tree-nut allergies, a quarter are egg-allergic, and one in five are allergic to cow’s milk.
Study investigators administered a survey via telephone and web to more than 50,000 US households. The survey asked detailed information about any suspected food allergies, including specific allergic reaction symptoms, details about clinical diagnosis of food allergies, as well as demographic information. The researchers obtained responses for a nationally representative sample of approximately 80,000 children and adults.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health supported the work.
Source: Northwestern University
