The frequency of food allergy in Australia and Asia

A review of the development of food allergy in a birth cohort of 620 Australian infants at high risk for development of atopic disease has recently been completed. Extrapolating to a random community population showed that at the age of two, egg appears the most frequent food allergen (3.2%), while cow milk (2.0%), and peanut are of similar frequency (1.9%). The prevalence of hypersensitivity to wheat and soy appears similar to sesame seed, cashew nut, hazelnut and walnut, but allergy to fish, brazil nut and shell fish are uncommon. Despite a different methodology, reports from several Asian centres suggest a similar frequency of hypersensitivity to these foods in young children although hypersensitivity to shellfish and seafood was more common than for nuts, peanut and wheat, if seafoods are part of the staple infant diet. Rice hypersensitivity was rare in both Australia and Asian countries. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.