Sesame allergy, which killed Natasha Ednan-Laperouse when she ate a Pret a Manger baguette containing the seeds, is “far more common” than previously believed, a new study warns.
Researchers found that up to one in 200 people may have the allergy, which claimed the life of the 15-year-old from
London in 2016.
Natasha, suffered a severe allergic reaction after unknowingly eating sesame contained in an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette that she had bought from a Pret a Manger shop at Heathrow Airport. She died of anaphylaxis after collapsing on board a flight to Nice in July 2016.
Her parents, from Fulham, west London, have backed new legislation – named Natasha’s Law – which means all shops in
Britain will be made to list ingredients.
But the new study shows that sesame allergy affects more than one million children and adults in the US, where sesame allergen labelling is currently not required by law.[Read More: Here’s How To Keep Yourself And Your
Friends Safe From Food Allergies]Study lead author Professor Ruchi Gupta, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said: “Our study shows sesame allergy is prevalent in the US in both adults and children and can cause severe allergic reactions.
“It is important to advocate for labelling sesame in packaged food. Sesame is in a lot of foods as hidden ingredients. It is very hard to avoid.”
The study directly informs ongoing regulatory rule-making by the US Food & Drug Administration, which is currently considering whether sesame should be added to the list of key food allergens where mandatory product labelling is required.
More than 1.5 million children and adults in the US – around one in every 200 people, or 0.49% of the population – reported a current sesame allergy, according to the study.
And more than 1.1 million – 0.34% of the population, or around one in 300 people – reported either a doctor-diagnosed sesame allergy or a history of sesame-allergic reaction symptoms.
The figures, published in JAMA Network Open, also indicate many people who report sesame allergies and experience potentially severe allergic reactions are not obtaining clinical diagnosis of their allergies.
Lead author Christopher Warren, of the US Centre for Food Allergy and Asthma Research, added: “Clinical confirmation of suspected food allergies is essential to reduce the risk of unnecessary allergen avoidance as well as ensure patients receive essential counselling and prescription of emergency epinephrine.”[Read More: Natasha’s Law To Protect The UK’s Two Million Food Allergy Sufferers]
Unlike allergies such as milk or egg, which often develop early in life and are outgrown by adolescence, sesame allergy affects children and adults to a similar degree. In addition, four in five patients with sesame allergy have at least one other food allergy. More than half have a peanut allergy, a third are nut allergic, a quarter are egg-allergic and one in five are allergic to cow’s milk.
Under “Natasha’s Law” all food businesses in the
UK will be required to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packaged food from 2021.
The legislation, which will apply to
England and Northern
Ireland, was announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in June. Although the new legislation is due to be introduced this year, businesses will be given a two-year implementation period to adapt to the change.READ MORE: Everything You Need To Know About The New Food Allergy Law 'I Hope This Is Not A New Trend': Nut Allergy Sufferer Asked To Sign Restaurant Disclaimer This Woman Thought She Had Hay Fever – But It Was A Brain Tumour