A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that more American children and adults have an allergy to sesame than previously thought. But sesame labeling is currently not required by law as are the other top eight allergens like peanut and milk, and is often labeled in a potentially confusing manner, such as tahini. This increases the risk of accidental ingestion.
The new study provides the first up-to-date estimates on the current prevalence of sesame allergy among U.S. children and adults in all 50 states. “Our study shows sesame allergy is prevalent in the United States in both adults and children and can cause severe allergic reactions,” said lead study author Ruchi Gupta, professor of pediatrics and of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “It is important to advocate for labeling sesame in packaged food. Sesame is in a lot of foods as hidden ingredients. It is very hard to avoid.”
Study investigators administered a survey via telephone and web to more than 50,000 U.S. households. The survey asked detailed information about any suspected food allergies, including specific allergic reaction symptoms, details about clinical diagnosis of food allergies as well as demographic information. They obtained responses for a nationally representative sample of approximately 80,000 children and adults.
More than 1.5 million children and adults in the United States (0.49% of the population) report a current sesame allergy, and more than 1.1 million (0.34% of the population) report either a physician-diagnosed sesame allergy or a history of sesame-allergic reaction symptoms, the study found.
The data also indicate many individuals who report sesame allergies and experience potentially severe allergic reactions are not obtaining clinical diagnosis of their allergies. Unlike allergies such as milk or egg, which often develop early in life and are outgrown by adolescence, sesame allergy affects children and adults to a similar degree. In addition, four in five patients with sesame allergy have at least one other food allergy. More than half have a peanut allergy, a third are tree-nut allergic, a quarter are egg-allergic, and one in five are allergic to cow’s milk.
The study directly informs ongoing regulatory rulemaking by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which is currently considering whether sesame should be added to the list of key food allergens for which mandatory product labeling is required. Unlike in other countries (the European Union and Australia), current U.S. law does not require sesame-containing products be labeled.
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