Vivienne Lai's daughter Emilia lives with food allergy - and she's not alone. With allergic diseases on the rise in Australia, new research has revealed the number of infants with cow’s milk and cashew allergies for the first time.
Image: Vivienne Lai and her husband Viet with daughter Emilia, who lives with multiple allergies.
Lai says her daughter’s journey has been “different to most” as she experienced delayed allergic reactions. According to two studies led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, 1.4 and 1.3 per cent of 12-month-olds have cashew and cow’s milk allergies respectively. This compares to previous research which found 3.1 per cent of infants have a diagnosed peanut allergy.The cashew allergy research was led by Dr Tim Brettig, a senior study doctor at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and paediatric allergist and immunologist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
“However, there was no recent data on the prevalence of proven milk and cashew allergy in Australia, making these findings important for future research into how we might be able to prevent them,” Soriano said.Allergic diseases are among the fastest growing chronic conditions in Australia, affecting about one in five people, according to the National Allergy Strategy developed by Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy and peak advocacy body Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia .
Brettig agreed. “We’re finding increased rates of food allergy in a lot of developed or first world countries, particularly those with a Western culture,” he said. All foods sold in both countries must comply with the relevant standards set out by Food Standards Australia New Zealand , which are then enforced by state, territory and New Zealand regulators.
Of the 346 recalls between 2013 and 2022, the most common undeclared allergens were milk , multiple allergens and peanut .“The changes are intended to make allergen information on food labels clearer and more consistent by requiring allergen declarations in a specific format and location on food labels using specific, simple, plain English terms,” a FSANZ spokesperson said.
Several years ago, James Cook University professor Andreas Lopata led a study which tested 50 packaged items from six Asian grocery stores in Melbourne. Just under half of the products analysed , with 18 per cent containing multiple undeclared allergens. These included egg, gluten, milk and peanut - some in very high concentrations.
They said all food undergoes a label check, which includes checking the label is in English, and that any allergen declarations comply with the Code.
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