Under the title “Nut allergies: update on current evidence and management”, Dr. McWilliam explained what is defined as a nut from an allergy perspective, how common are nut allergies around the world, the features of nut allergies, recent changes in nut allergy management and their implications, as well as the labeling of products containing allergens. She highlighted that “there are a lot of things to change around the way we approach nut allergies”.
Although much of the literature to date has focused on peanut allergy and research on tree nut allergy has been limited, it has been reported that the prevalence of tree nut allergy across the world is about 2%, Dr. McWilliam explained. One of the key messages of her presentation was that the way nut allergies are managed has changed significantly. Whereas in the past nut allergy management was based on removing all nuts (peanuts and tree nuts) from the diet, thanks to new research findings, avoidance is no longer recommended as a preventative strategy for food allergy. Nowadays, nut allergy prevention is based on the introduction of nuts and nut pastes before the child is 12 months old. On the other hand, those with a single nut allergy are advised to include non-allergic nuts in their diet. Unfortunately, food labels do not usually specify the type of nuts that a product contain or “may contain”.
The presentation is available at https://nutfruitcongress.org/bocaraton2019/program.
Although much of the literature to date has focused on peanut allergy and research on tree nut allergy has been limited, it has been reported that the prevalence of tree nut allergy across the world is about 2%, Dr. McWilliam explained. One of the key messages of her presentation was that the way nut allergies are managed has changed significantly. Whereas in the past nut allergy management was based on removing all nuts (peanuts and tree nuts) from the diet, thanks to new research findings, avoidance is no longer recommended as a preventative strategy for food allergy. Nowadays, nut allergy prevention is based on the introduction of nuts and nut pastes before the child is 12 months old. On the other hand, those with a single nut allergy are advised to include non-allergic nuts in their diet. Unfortunately, food labels do not usually specify the type of nuts that a product contain or “may contain”.
The presentation is available at https://nutfruitcongress.org/bocaraton2019/program.