In the largest food allergy study to date, researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and elsewhere, reveal that 2.5 percent of the US population have at least one food allergy. They also found a strong link between food allergy and asthma. This is a particularly valuable study - not just because of its size but because the researchers measured antibodies in the blood as well as asking participants if they have an allergy. So all reported cases of allergy were confirmed clinically.

The study involved more than 8,200 participants who suffer with allergies, aged between one and 60. The researchers investigated for four different food allergies and for links between food allergies and asthma, eczema and hay fever. The most common food allergy was peanut allergy, affecting 1.5 percent of the population. Next came shrimp (1 percent), eggs (0.4 percent) and milk (0.2 percent). And 1.3 percent were

Do you feel nervous of having a meal out because of your allergy? Do you avoid visiting restaurants with friends, or Sunday lunch at the pub with the family? Well, maybe you can relax a bit now, because six pub/restaurant chains have now signed up to the Food Standards Agency Healthy Eating Initiative. Whitbread (Beefeater, Brewer's Fayre, Premier Inn), Mitchell & Butlers (All Bar One, Harvester, Browns restaurants), JD Wetherspoon, Marston's and the Spirit Group (Punch taverns, Chef and Brewer) are the companies who have committed to a number of projects, including making nutritional information more readily available to their customers.

JD Wetherspoon (popular for its Sunday roasts, curry club and steak club evenings) seems to have made quite a bit of a progress on the allergy information front. Eating in one of their pubs a few days ago, I noticed there were food and nutrition leaflets on display. These list information of whether dishes on the menu contain gluten, nuts, sesame seeds,

Most flu vaccines are produced inside chicken eggs, raising concerns that people with egg allergies may have a reaction to a protein in the vaccine. Where the vaccine was essential to have, an allergist would get involved by giving the patient skin tests and maybe giving the dose of vaccine over a period of time. But in the last two years, there has been in-depth research looking at the safety of giving the vaccine to people with egg allergies.

"The evidence shows that the time to withhold the vaccine on account of somebody's egg allergy has passed," said Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, an allergist and immunologist at the University of Michigan Health Systems. Greenhawt and his colleague Dr. James T. Li, an allergist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, made new recommendations this month for administering the influenza vaccine to those with egg allergies. The vaccines can be safely given to the majority of adults and children with egg allergy, but should be given under the supervision of an allergist or

Dressing up, early fireworks, and trick and treat make Halloween a fun way to round off half term - but children with allergies need to take care. Prof Sean Cahill, a paediatrician at Loyola University in Chicago, sounds a cautionary note. 'Nut allergies can be especially dangerous,' he says. 'Allergies can be a life-or-death situation. Just because a child only had a rash the first time exposed, doesn't mean it won't be more serious the next time.' Trick and treat is becoming increasingly popular in the UK. If your child does have a nut allergy, here's how to keep them safe, without spoiling their fun.

• If your children are very young, prepare the way with your neighbours. Give them nut-free candy ahead of Halloween and take your children to these 'safe houses' for their treats.
• If your child is older and goes out with friends, ask them to hold off eating their treats till they get home. Then remove all those with nuts or anything else

Adverse reactions to food are not uncommon. True food allergy, however, only affects 2 to 4% of adults and 6 to 8% of children. In food allergy, specific proteins in the food you eat act as allergens, triggering the production of antibodies in the IgE class. Once sensitised like this, the next time you are exposed to the allergen IgE alerts the mast cells in the immune system. A mast cell is a resident cell that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin, These mast cells then release histamine, and it is the histamine that causes the typical symptoms of food allergy, which may include:

• Tingling mouth
• Swelling of the