Food products and allergy development, prevention and treatment.
In westernized countries allergic diseases have reached epidemic proportions. Food is frequently a perpetrator of allergy but, in turn, modified food and selected food ingredients can become valuable intervention tools in the fight against allergy. There are two basic approaches towards mitigation of food allergy through nutrition: to reduce the allergenicity of raw food materials by physical, chemical or genetic methods or to influence host immunity towards a non-allergic state using various food ingredients. Dietary intervention for the prevention and therapy of allergy is an emerging field where initial findings from animal studies are now being validated in human trials. Nevertheless, to consolidate the utility of such interventions, more pre-clinical and clinical studies remain necessary.
Allergy Group, Nutrition and Health Department, Nestlé Research Center, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, CH-1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland.
Adrian W
AW
Zuercher
Rodolphe
R
Fritsché
Blaise
B
Corthésy
Annick
A
Mercenier
D000818:Animals; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified; D006801:Humans; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use