Food Allergy

Food Allergy

Improving the assessment and management of food allergen risks to protect people with food allergies

Task Force Information

Objectives and list of Task Force members

Activity Overview

Overview of ongoing and upcoming activities

Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)

The Flagship Activity of the Task Force

Expert Groups

Objectives, output and list of experts involved in each activity

Contact Information

Contact details in case you have specific questions

Publications

List of publications of this
Task Force

Multimedia

Links to Task Force related documents, recordings and much more...

Completed Expert Groups

Details including experts involved of each activity

Task Force Information

Objectives

The Task Force aims at fostering an international evidence-based consensus on how to assess the risk from allergenic foods. Once identified the agreed method, the Task Force envisage developing tools to help manage the risks and protect all consumers.

Task Force Members

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* Scientific Advisors

Contact Information

For more detailed information, please contact Geraldine Borja at gborja@ilsieurope.be

Activity Overview

Flagship Activity

Allergen Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA): The Development and Integration of Methodology to Link Emerging Tools with Risk Management Actions across the Supply Chain, including Precautionary Labelling

The expert group identified the methodological aspects that should be applied to allergen risk assessment within complex supply chains in real food production situations. The current focus of the group is to maintain a Community of Practice (CoP) and keep the guideline updated and user-friendly to support various stakeholders in implementing QRA.

Since: 2019 - Ongoing

Ongoing

Define Barriers and Levers for the Effective Regulation of Precautonary Allergen Labelling (PAL)

Activity on barriers and levers for the effective regulation of Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL). The primary objective is to identify gaps that hinder the effective regulation of PAL and determine them necessary actions to address them. The ultimate goal is to establish a more uniform approach to PAL-related decisions.

Start: Oct 2024 - End: Dec 2026

In the Pipeline

Free-from claims (e.g., gluten-free, peanut-free)

The activity will explore how such claims are used, verified, and interpreted across jurisdictions, and how they relate to risk management practices and consumer trust.

Start: TBD

Allergen Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)

The Flagship Activity of the Food Allergy Task Force

Background and Objectives

Allergen cross-contact and unintended allergen presence are a significant challenge for food operators. There is a growing global interest in integrating risk assessment as a part of allergen management, particularly for decisions on precautionary allergen labelling (PAL).

This project developed a guidance on the methodologies needed for food allergen quantitative risk assessment (QRA). The collaborative process started in 2019 and involved a series of consensus building workshops with dozens of stakeholders, including food safety authorities, academia, industry, patients’ organisations and more.

After the publication of the guidance document in 2022, the Expert Group has been actively disseminating this document at various events, offering specialised training, and adapting it into audience-specific user-friendly guidance to help stakeholders apply QRA with ease.

The Task Force aims to keep this guidance a live document, with regular updates to continue supporting QRA implementation within an evolving research and regulatory landscape.

Key Outputs

 

 

  • In 2023, the Task Force launched a Community of Practice (CoP) offering a unique opportunity to connect with a global network. The CoP brings together diverse stakeholders from across the globe, facilitating rich exchanges on overcoming barriers and sharing best practices through discussions and multi-stakeholder workshops.

On the QRA publication page, you will find an array of resources developed to support the use of the Guidance.

Visit the QRA publication page

Key Contributors

 

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Expert Groups

Identifying barriers to the effective harmonisation of best practices of Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL) standards and implementing the recommendations from the FAO/WHO consultation

Background and Objectives

In most jurisdictions, allergenic ingredient labeling is regulated, but precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) remains voluntary. This lack of standardization leads to inconsistent PAL application. This EG aims to identify barriers and opportunities for effective PAL regulation, benefiting both Food Business Operators and Regulatory Agencies:

  • Conduct a literature review to Identify the current global regulatory framework for PAL statements (including FARRP databases).
  • Conduct interviews with a range of Regulatory Agencies to ascertain current regulatory risk management strategies as well as an inventory of interpretations against country / region specific regulations.

Output

This activity will result in a peer-reviewed publication and potentially a “Black & White” report (practical guidance).

Expert Group Members

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Publications

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		Food Allergy Task Force
		
	



		NEW APPROACHES FOR FOOD SAFETY
	

	
Quantitative risk assessment (QRA) for allergens exists in many different forms with different requirements placed on the risk assessor depending on the question that needs to be answered. An electronic workshop held in October 2020 and comprising representatives from a wide range of food allergy and allergen stakeholder groups identified that a summary of current best in class guidance, identified gaps, potential improvements & harmonization of allergen QRA arising largely from cross contact would be very beneficial. The current manuscript provides an introduction to allergen QRA and an overview of inputs potentially needed for different QRA methods, when deemed feasible and necessary. It also introduces the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Europe) Expert Group (EG), created to attempt to achieve consensus on the methodologies needed for allergen QRAs by food business operators, and their implementation. Areas of focus include proactive assessments for food production under normal conditions, both in the upstream supply chain and in food production facilities, and reactive assessments as part of an allergen incident response. As a follow-up report to the October 2020 electronic workshop, the current manuscript provides an overview of allergen QRA and insights into the guidance being developed. This manuscript will itself be followed by more detailed guidance for allergen QRA published open access as an ILSI Europe report.

	
Link to download the full-text

			Keywords
							Expand
		
Allergens; Quantitative risk assessment (QRA); Supply chain; Incidents; Cross-contact; Precautionary allergen labelling (PAL)



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The growing world population, changing dietary habits, and increasing pressure on agricultural resources are drivers for the development of novel foods (including new protein sources as well as existing protein sources that are produced or used in an alternative way or in a different concentration). These changes, coupled with consumer inclination to adopt new dietary trends, may heighten the intake of unfamiliar proteins, or escalate consumption of specific ones, potentially amplifying the prevalence of known and undiscovered food allergies. Assessing the allergenicity of novel or modified protein-based foods encounters several challenges, including uncertainty surrounding acceptable risks and assessment criteria for determining safety. Moreover, the available methodological tools for gathering supportive data exhibit significant gaps. This paper synthesises these challenges, addressing the varied interpretations of "safe" across jurisdictions and societal attitudes towards allergenic risk. It proposes a comprehensive two-part framework for allergenicity assessment: the first part emphasises systematic consideration of knowledge and data requirements, while the second part proposes the application of a generic assessment approach, integrating a Threshold of Allergological Concern. This combined framework highlights areas that require attention to bridge knowledge and data gaps, and it delineates research priorities for its development and implementation.

			
						Download the full paper
					
	
Commissioned by the Threshold of Toxicological Concern Task Force



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		Food Allergy Task Force
		
	



		NEW APPROACHES FOR FOOD SAFETY
	

	
Quantitative risk assessment (QRA) for allergens exists in many different forms with different requirements placed on the risk assessor depending on the question that needs to be answered. An electronic workshop held in October 2020 and comprising representatives from a wide range of food allergy and allergen stakeholder groups identified that a summary of current best in class guidance, identified gaps, potential improvements & harmonization of allergen QRA arising largely from cross contact would be very beneficial. The current manuscript provides an introduction to allergen QRA and an overview of inputs potentially needed for different QRA methods, when deemed feasible and necessary. It also introduces the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Europe) Expert Group (EG), created to attempt to achieve consensus on the methodologies needed for allergen QRAs by food business operators, and their implementation. Areas of focus include proactive assessments for food production under normal conditions, both in the upstream supply chain and in food production facilities, and reactive assessments as part of an allergen incident response. As a follow-up report to the October 2020 electronic workshop, the current manuscript provides an overview of allergen QRA and insights into the guidance being developed. This manuscript will itself be followed by more detailed guidance for allergen QRA published open access as an ILSI Europe report.

	
Link to download the full-text

			Keywords
							Expand
		
Allergens; Quantitative risk assessment (QRA); Supply chain; Incidents; Cross-contact; Precautionary allergen labelling (PAL)



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Multimedia

One-Pager

Sessions and workshops

Completed Expert Groups

Overview of completed activities