title: Animal models to detect allergenicity to foods and genetically modified products: workshop summary.
abstract: Respiratory allergy and allergy to foods continue to be important health issues. There is evidence to indicate that the incidence of food allergy around the world is on the rise. Current estimates indicate that approximately 5% of young children and 1-2% of adults suffer from true food allergy (Kagan 2003). Although a large number of in vivo and in vitro tests exist for the clinical diagnosis of allergy in humans, we lack validated animal models of allergenicity. This deficiency creates serious problems for regulatory agencies and industries that must define the potential allergenicity of foods before marketing. The emergence of several biotechnologically derived foods and industrial proteins, as well as their potential to sensitize genetically predisposed populations to develop allergy, has prompted health officials and regulatory agencies around the world to seek approaches and methodologies to screen novel proteins for allergenicity.
authors.affiliation: Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Helen_Tryphonas@hc-sc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tryphonas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arvanitakis
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vavasour
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bondy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology* / Q000662:veterinary; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000276:immunology*; D051381:Rats; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology