A study showed that 10.16 percent of people in Taiwan have food allergies, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, with common sources of allergens being seafood and mangoes.
The ministry has conducted three large-scale studies on allergic reactions to food in the past decade, starting with the first in 2005 targeting 30,280 people across 35 organizations and schools.
The 2005 study showed that 18.6 percent of the population exhibited or had a history of food allergies, the ministry said.
Photo: Lin Yen-tung, Taipei Times
The second study looked into medical records from 1996 to 2006 at Veterans General Hospital branches in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei and Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, which found 202 cases of hospitalization due to food allergies.
The latest study conducted in 2012 collected 20,000 valid responses, the ministry said.
Allergen sources included shrimps, crabs, shellfish, fish, mollusks, eggs, dairy products, peanuts, nuts, wheat products, soy products, mangoes, kiwifruit, meats, pineapples and papaya, the ministry said in a report.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital physician Wu Tzu-tsung (吳子聰), who coordinated the investigation, said that there were many clinical cases of allergies to mangoes, adding that symptoms ranged from slight rashes and swelling to wheals and shock, adding that it seemed to be a uniquely local allergen, as foreigners rarely showed any reaction to the fruit.
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital physician Chen Chia-chun (陳家駿) said that aside from common allergens, there were also isolated cases of reactions to chocolate or strawberries.
Adverse reactions to food were most often expressed in skin conditions, in the respiratory tract or stomach, Chen said.
If the conditions are chronic, people can experience diarrhea or atopic dermatitis, Chen said, adding that acute conditions can include severe difficulty breathing, low blood pressure or shock.
More than 70 percent of food allergies tend to arise before the age of 30, the report said, adding that many people were not aware that they were allergic to certain foods.
As a person ages, it is possible foods that were previously safe will begin to cause an allergic reaction, Chen said, adding that if people feel unwell after eating they should seek medical attention immediately.
Meanwhile, despite requirements by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have allergens labeled on packaged foods, restaurant and wholesalers are yet to take similar measures, making it difficult for consumers to determine whether products contain allergens.
FDA official Lee Wan-chen (李婉媜) said that the Regulations on Food Allergens Labeling (食品過敏原標示規定) mandated clear warnings on food containing shrimp, crabs, mangoes, peanuts, dairy products, eggs and other common allergen sources.
Failure to comply with the regulations is punishable by fines ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$940 to US$93,964), Lee said.
The FDA said that wholesalers can choose for themselves whether to display warnings on edible products containing nuts, wheat, shellfish, goat milk, fish, soy products, or products with residual sulphur dioxide or suphite of 10mg per kilogram.
The Consumers’ Foundation said that the FDA should provide a comprehensive list of foodstuffs linked to allergies so restaurants and wholesalers have a reference point for warnings.
However, because restaurants and eateries might have constantly changing menus, it is difficult to enforce labeling regulations, Lee said.
The FDA urges people to tell restaurant servers about their allergies before ordering, Lee added.
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