TNO research basis for WHO/FAO advice on allergen limits

The WHO/FAO has recommended standards for warning of the possible unintended presence of allergens in food. These standards could help prevent potentially life-threatening situations for food-allergic consumers and significantly improve the quality of life of people with food allergies and those around them. Research by TNO into the sensitivity of people with food allergy formed the basis for this scientific advice.

Producers and suppliers of food often warn about the possible unintended presence of allergens. However, there are no rules as to when this risk should or should not be warned for. As a result, products without a warning often contain allergens and labels of products without allergens often contain a warning. As a result, the food-allergic consumer cannot draw any conclusions from the presence or absence of a warning, a potentially life-threatening situation arises.

Standards for presence of allergens

Research by TNO, UMC Utrecht and the University of Utrecht, among others, has shown that this situation regularly results in serious allergic reactions. Half of all food-allergic patients studied have an unexpected allergic reaction one or more times a year. The solution lies in setting standards for allergens that indicate the maximum amounts that are safe for allergic consumers (Reference Dosages). Based on these standards, one can prescribe when a warning should or should not be given for the possible unintended presence of an allergen.

TNO research basis for reference doses

Professor Dr Geert Houben (Principal Scientist of Food Allergy and Immunotoxicology at TNO and Professor of Food-Related Risk Factors for Allergy and Inflammatory Diseases at UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University) was part of the international expert committee that had to issue a scientific opinion on safe maximum exposure levels for allergens in 2019. Houben: "In the current situation, food-allergic people have the fear of having a life-threatening reaction every day, every meal, every bite. Clear standards, based on a good understanding of the actual risks of allergens, would greatly improve the lives of food-allergic people worldwide".

International database

TNO research and the TNO database were considered by the WHO/FAO expert committee to be "the most comprehensive and best described resource available, both in terms of content and composition". The committee therefore based its determination of Reference Dosages on analyses of the TNO database performed and published by TNO.

Security for food-allergic people

With these standards, producers will know exactly when a label should or should not warn of the possible unintended presence of an allergen, and food-allergic individuals will be able to trust the information on a label with confidence. Houben: "Discussions about setting these standards have been going on for years. We are therefore very pleased that an authoritative international body like WHO/FAO has come up with this opinion. I see it as an important milestone that we have been waiting for for years."

tno.nl