If you are a Celiac disease sufferer, you know that experts recognize 20 parts per million (ppm) as the standard in gluten tolerance.  Eating a variety of foods below this limit is considered safe, even when eaten cumulatively.  While there may be a tiny percentage of individuals with extreme sensitivity for who this standard may still be a problem, The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes this limit as not only safe for Celiacs but also manageable by the food industry.  As a result, the European Union moved their gluten free labeling from 200 ppm to 20 ppm recently and food processors are stepping up to that challenge.  While there are still many challenges there including testing and compliance which I won’t get into, at least there is a common understanding that most can adhere to.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the same limit for food allergens too?  So if you were allergic to peanuts and peanut free label regulations required the food processor to be below say, 1 ppm, we would all know exactly what peanut free means on the label.  This could even open up more foods to the peanut allergic population because companies could test their products and in theory, we would see fewer “may contains”.   That would certainly be a plus for my family.

But here’s the problem with that scenario:  Documented cases of peanut allergy show a wide range of sensitivities and the ramifications of reaction in a very sensitive individual are more severe with anaphylaxis being the ultimate price to pay.  And unlike true Celiac disease (as opposed to gluten sensitivity/intolerance), children have been known to grow out of their food allergies so it’s possible that their level of sensitivity may decrease over time, making it very difficult for researchers to create a scientifically controlled experiment to determine specific levels.

They’re trying though, and that’s the good news.  Over time, if scientists are able to determine a threshold amount that can be tolerated for a variety of food allergies, we can have better food labeling.  This might allow us Allergy Moms to spend less time in the grocery store, phoning food manufacturers, searching for information  on food allergy forums and abandoning our food chemistry degree courses that we’ve all been plunged into.   Trust in proper labeling and regulation compliance notwithstanding, I’d be thrilled to have that time back.

If you’d like to read more about the technical aspects of this scientific challenge, you can download this free report at:  http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a914017328 .  The report is authored by a group of scientists called the ILSI Threshold Working Group which includes renowned food allergy scientist  Steven L. Taylor from the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, University of Nebraska.