Food allergy can be lifestyle changing and as a leading cause of anaphylaxis it can also be life-threatening. The incidence of food allergy in children aged 0-5 is thought to have doubled in the last 10 years, and continues to affect millions of adults.
Awareness and diagnosis of food allergy as well as effective management and treatment for sufferers is imperative in order to prevent life-threatening events. Key areas of focus to aid further understanding of food hypersensitivity as well as to help provide improved support for patients include: epidemiology of food allergy; diagnosis, from clinical to molecular; mechanisms involved in sensitisation; allergy manifestations and tolerance; predictive factors; active treatment options both allergen-specific and non allergen-specific.
This cross-journal collection brings together the findings published in BioMed Central's allergy journals. We hope that this coordinated focus on food allergy will help to raise awareness and stimulate interest within the community.
Image: courtesy of dcastor, creative commons