Team:Linkoping Sweden/Project/Context

A food allergy is defined as ”an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food”¹.

The immune system is supposed to identify and destroy germs, like the bacteria or viruses that invade our bodies. What happens when a person has a food allergy is that the immune system targets a harmless food protein, an allergen, as something dangerous and attacks it. This exaggerated immune response is mediated by immunoglobulin antibodies (IgE antibodies) which are proteins produced by the immune system to fight foreign substances. IgE antibodies trigger the symptoms of an allergic reaction, which can vary in severity from slight itchiness to potentially fatal anaphylaxis (difficulty breathing, reduced blood pressure)^{1, 2}. It is estimated that about 1- 2% of the general population has some sort of food allergy³.

A person living with a food allergy is under constant threat from hidden allergens in anything they consume, wear, or even breathe. It is generally considered that peanut allergies are amongst the most dangerous of allergies due to the severity of the symptoms despite minimal contact and the fact that peanut allergies are often life-long^{3, 4}. As for general food allergy, peanut allergy effects about 1% of the general population. However, in the last decade there seems to have been an increase of peanut allergy among children both in the United States and Europe^{5, 6}.