International surveys to assess accidental exposure risks among patients with food allergy
Key takeaways:
- The surveys target individuals and families with food allergies.
- Analysis of risk factors may guide strategies for mitigating these risks.
- Physicians are urged to share these surveys with their patients.
Patients with food allergies face many risks when they dine and travel away from home, but doctors need data to help prioritize and address these dangers.
The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Food Allergy Ingestion Risk (EAACI FAIR) Taskforce has launched a pair of online international surveys to gather this information directly from patients and their families.
“Our ultimate aim is to better understand where risk lays for people living with food allergy, to try and develop strategies to help mitigate that risk,” Marta Vazquez-Ortiz, MD, MSc, PhD, consultant in pediatric allergy, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, told Healio.
“We are trying to gather the perspectives of parents, young people and adults living with food allergies in this matter,” Vazquez-Ortiz, who also is chair of the EAACI FAIR Taskforce.
The Young People and Adults Survey targets patients with food allergy age 16 years and older, and the Parents & Carers Survey targets respondents who are parents or caregivers of children with food allergies.
Both surveys include three parts, including questions about the respondents’ diagnoses and experiences with food allergies, views about making safe food choices outside of home, and opinions about the neffy epinephrine nasal spray from ARS Pharma.
EAACI expects each survey to take up to 30 minutes to complete.
“Our survey aims are to better understand, from the perspective of parents, young people and adults living with food allergies, the factors that may be associated with having allergic reactions by accident in the community,” Vazquez-Ortiz said.
The surveys also aim to determine factors that are potentially associated with allergic reactions caused by accidents in the community as well as respondents’ preparedness for making safe food choices, she continued.
Plus, the surveys will examine the challenges and perceptions of respondents regarding community awareness and adherence to regulations among operators of food businesses, including when respondents are travelling, as well as among schools and the workplace.
Questions will explore how living with food allergy impacts quality of life as well, Vazquez-Ortiz said.
“We are disseminating the survey globally, with the support from the National Allergy Societies and Patients Organizations’ Committee linked with EAACI, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations,” she said.
The survey primarily will target the U.K. and the United States as well as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
“We are particularly interested in assessing people’s differences in countries with more stringent regulations of food allergen labelling, such as the EU, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, and those without, such as Latin American countries,” Vazquez-Ortiz said.
The task force is interested in perceived risks when patients with food allergy travel abroad, she continued.
“This seems to be a significant factor contributing to accidental reactions,” she said.
The task force is eager to see what people think about neffy as well, added.
The task force will analyze the data and intends to publish its findings as well as present them at EAACI Congress 2025 in June in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the EAACI’s Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Meeting in October in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
“We are completing a scoping review of the published scientific literature on the factors that may be associated with having allergic reactions by accident in the community,” Vazquez-Ortiz said. “The aim is to identify what factors may lead to those reactions, with the ultimate aim to design strategies to mitigate risk.”
The surveys also are available via Instagram at @ood.allergy.survey.2025 and on X at @allergysurvey25. The task force encourages physicians and other stakeholders to share them with their communities. The survey will be open through mid-March.
For more information:
Marta Vazquez-Ortiz, MD, MSc, PhD, can be reached at m.vazquez-ortiz@imperial.ac.uk.