EVALUATION OF FOUR SORGHUM HYBRIDS THROUGH THE ...

FOOD ALLERGENS
Introduction
Chapter 1:
Literature Review
An estimated 1-2 percent of adults and 4-8 percent of children suffer from food
allergies (Lehrer and others 2002). In the United States, approximately 30,000 people
require emergent care and 150 people die each year due to an allergic reaction to food
(U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2004). There is currently no cure for food allergies.
The individual must avoid the food they are allergic to, placing responsibility on food
manufacturers.
In 1999, the FDA randomly selected foods from Minnesota and Wisconsin to
review for allergens (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2004). They found that 25% of
these foods did not successfully label peanuts or eggs as ingredients. Furthermore, in
2000, the amount of recalls from unlabeled allergens rose from 35 to 121 over a decade
(U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2004). As a result, the need for governmental
control on these ingredients became obvious.
FDA Regulations
In August of 2004, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of
2004 was created. The act required the labeling of eight major food allergens to be
effective by January 1, 2006. The eight major food allergens are: milk, eggs, fish,
Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. These were chosen as they
are responsible for about 90% of food allergies (U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2004; McEvoy 2007).
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