Canadians To Survey Food Allergy Prevalence

How many people in the U.S. have a food allergy? For that matter, how many have each of the eight major food allergies?

Nobody really knows. All those numbers you see floating around? They're estimates based on, well, who knows what?

Other countries have this same problem, of course. Canada is going to do something about it.

As article in The Canadian Press announced that:

Researchers have launched a national survey to determine how many Canadians suffer from potentially fatal food allergies and how effective food labelling is in helping consumers avoid allergens that may be hazardous to their health.

Details of the survey of 9,000 Canadians were announced Wednesday, at the same time as federal Health Minister Tony Clement outlined proposed new labelling requirements for allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites in pre-packaged foods.

The survey by researchers at the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network (AllerGen), conducted in partnership with Health Canada, is aimed at nailing down the actual prevalence in the population of severe allergies to the "Big Five" - peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and sesame seeds.

This is exactly the kind of information that is needed in the U.S. as well. Maybe a new administration can call upon the CDC to do one.