Thirty-two million Americans have food allergies and new research finds more than a million of them are allergic to sesame.
The study by Northwestern University provided the first up-to-date estimates on the current prevalence of sesame allergy among U.S. children and adults in all 50 states. It was published at the JAMA Network Open journal.
Researchers estimate about .49% of the US population reports having a sesame allergy and .23% had what’s called a “convincing,” or true food allergy, with skin, lung, heart or gastrointestinal symptoms.
The study looked at ongoing regulatory rule-making by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which is currently considering whether sesame should be added to the list of key food allergens for which mandatory product labeling is required.
At this time, only the labeling of the top eight allergenic foods/food groups is required: peanuts, milk, shellfish, tree nuts, egg, wheat, soy, and finfish (along with proteins derived from them). A change in policy would align with those in Australia, Europe, New Zealand and Canada, which all have sesame labeling requirements.
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