Estimates of the prevalence of food allergies continue to increase. The best current estimates are that 10–12 million consumers in the United States (3.5–4.0% of the overall population) suffer from food allergies (Sicherer et al., 2004). Even as recently as the mid-1990s, the estimate of the percentage of U.S. consumers suffering from food allergies was 1–2%. Consumer perception surveys indicate that an even larger percentage (10% or more) of households believe that one or more members of the ho…