Around 21 percent of the population of Saudi Arabia suffers from a food allergy, and symptoms range from mild to severe, which may lead to death, a national study conducted by the National Nutrition Committee at the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), in cooperation with Taibah University said.Â
The SFDA said that food allergy can be best treated by avoiding the ingredients that cause it.Â
Food allergy is defined as a reaction of the immune system to a certain type of food, which is the component that causes the allergy, as the immune system believes that this component is a harmful object, even if an individual eats a small amount of it.
SFDA has advised people prone to food allergy to inform the service provider about the type of food allergy they suffer from when ordering and eating outside the home.Â
There is a group of allergenic ingredients that must be disclosed if food contains it such as cereals, fish and its products, peanuts and their products, nuts and their products, milk and its products, sulfites, celery and its products, mustard and its products, eggs and its products, crustaceans and their products, mollusks and their products, Sesame seeds and their products, lupine and its products, and soyabeans and their products.
Symptoms of food allergy differ from person to person. The symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, sneezing or coughing, fainting, difficulty in breathing, stomach pain, and skin rashes. There are also allergens which affect people through inhalation, touching, or ingestion.
To promote public health and protect individuals with food allergies, SFDA has launched “The Regulatory Guide for Creating Appropriate Menus for Food Allergic People” initiative. This initiative is concerned with providing food menus free of eggs, gluten and other allergenic ingredients
The SFDA is currently implementing an awareness campaign entitled “What suits you may not suit me” to raise awareness of food allergy, the ingredients that cause it and its symptoms. Â