Managing food allergies in children and young people

Food allergy refers to an adverse immune response to a food. Common allergens include cows’ milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.¹ Furthermore there may be cross-reactions between allergens, for example, between peanuts and tree nuts. Nut allergy may affect over 2% of children and egg allergy may also affect up to 2% of children in the UK.² Latex allergens may cross-react with plant-derived food allergens which may result in food allergies to tomato and kiwi for example.¹

Those with birch tree pollen allergy contributing to oral allergy syndrome may experience cross-reactivity with raw foods including apples, pears and carrots.² Skypala et al³ note that approximately half of patients with birch tree pollen allergy may develop oral allergy syndrome and this may affect 2% of the UK population.