Food allergy prevalence: new possibilities for therapy and prevention.

Food allergy is an important clinical problem of increasing prevalence worldwide. Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic responses are the most widely recognized form of food allergy. The prevalence of food allergy is influenced by country, age, culture, and dietary habits. Strategies for the prevention of food allergy have been extensively studied. There is currently no standard treatment for food allergy and allergen-specific immunotherapy has been hindered by severe side effects in the past. A mutated recombinant major apple allergen is clinically hypoallergenic, which paves the way toward safer immunotherapy for the treatment of food-allergic patients.Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the oldest medical practices in the world. A Chinese Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2) has been used as a therapy for food allergy patients. FAHF-2 was shown to be remarkably effective against food anaphylaxis in an animal model and in human clinical trial with the potential to be a long-lasting therapy.