A taste of food allergy: Digesting the evidence on patient characterizations and management stategies

Food allergy is common and can have a major impact on daily life. While research often focuses on a limited number of foods, this thesis shows that nearly 200 different foods can trigger allergic reactions. Besides tree nuts and peanuts, fruits, and seeds are also important causes. Pine nuts and sunflower seeds were frequently associated with severe reactions, despite not being mandatory labeled. Exotic fruits such as lychee and papaya were also found to cause serious food allergic reactions.
New blood tests that measure responses to specific allergenic proteins can improve diagnosis. One cashew protein proved to be a much better predictor of cashew allergy than the standard diagnostic test. Similarly, a specific peach protein was associated with an increased risk of severe allergic reactions.
This thesis also demonstrates that oral food challenges, in which patients consume increasing amounts of a suspected food under medical supervision, can be performed more safely using continuous monitoring with wearable devices. This approach may help identify severe reactions at an earlier stage during testing.
Birch pollen-related food allergy syndrome is the most common food allergy in Northern Europe. People sensitized to birch pollen may also react to certain fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Although symptoms are often mild, more than one in ten patients experienced severe reactions. Preliminary results suggest that birch pollen immunotherapy may reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
These findings contribute to more accurate diagnosis, personalized dietary advice, and new treatment opportunities for people with food allergies.