10 m Indians suffer food allergies

Mumbai: The nightmare began even before three-year-old Piyush Patil had finished his cupful of a popular health drink. Clutching his throat as though choking and his skin breaking into hives, the child collapsed even as panic-stricken members of the Mulund household ran helter-skelter looking for doctors’ numbers.
    It was Piyush’s mother, Sheela, who recognised the signs immediately: an allergic reaction to peanut. The Patils, who live in New York but were visiting relatives in Mulund when the accident occurred, had known about Piyush’s allergy for a year. Piyush—who was in a condition called anaphylatic (neartoxic) shock that many people fail to recognise—was rushed to a nearby nursing home for a life-saving shot of steroids. He was fine after the injection, but the Patils, who returned home a few days ago, are scarred.
    “I have been meticulously avoiding anything that even vaguely mentioned peanut, but in Mumbai I found no labels on food or drinks to suggest the inclusion of peanut,’’ says Sheela. For instance, the health drink that she had bought from a local shop in Mulund only mentioned “edible oils’’. “Had it specifically mentioned groundnut oil, I would never have forced Piyush to drink it,’’ she says. What got her worked up is the fact that packets of, say, Glucose biscuits or Kurkure chips exported to New York from India compulsorily carry a special label delineating the kind of edible oils and salts used in the product. “One wonders why the same labelling system isn’t practised in India,’’ she asks.
    The Patils’ experience underlines the inadequate labelling system in India and also shows how widespread food allergies are. “Food allergies affect 1% of the population, a sizeable one crore people,’’ says Dr Pramod Niphadkar, the specialist who treated Piyush. Lax labelling on food items abets allergies
Mumbai: Food allergies account for 5% of all allergies in India. In the United States, studies show that one in every 25 adults suffers from some form of allergy to food items such as eggs, nuts and milk (see box alongside).
    According to Dr Pramod Niphadkar, many Indians are unaware that they could be allergic to besan or chickpea (chana dal) or even amla. He suggests that people who have suffered episodes of food allergy should carry an alert card. “Not only medical staff but even the public should be educated about an anaphylatic attack, which is a serious allergic reaction and can result in death,’’ he says.
    Niphadkar recollects the case of an engineer, son of a well-known doctor, who suffered an anaphylatic shock twice in one week. Detailed history-taking revealed that the Silicon Valley engineer, who was visiting his parents in Dadar, was allergic to alma and has been avoiding the Vitamin C-rich fruit.
    The other serious issue is the inadequate labelling mechanism. While India has the Food Safety and Standards 2006 Act in place, the labelling mechanism is still nascent. “We have achieved some success,’’ says Bejon Misra, CEO of Consumer VOICE, a New Delhi-based NGO.
    “At present, many foodstuffs carry labels detailing the presence of colours and additives as well as the nutritional value of ingredients. There is a move to help patients with diabetes and cholesterol by stating details of sugar and cholesterol.’’
    However, Misra concedes that India still lags far behind other countries who are members of the CODEX Alimenatrius Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation, which was set up two decades ago to draw up standardised guidelines for foodstuff.
    “If the United States has detailed labels even on Indian imports, it is because of the local laws there. Only when India follows it will people with food allergies benefit,’’ says Misra.
WHAT IS A FOOD ALLERGY?
    It is the body’s immune system response to a food that is mistakenly perceived as harmful
    Ingestion of the offending food may trigger the release of chemicals, including histamine, resulting in symptoms of an allergic reaction
    Symptoms may be mild (rashes, hives, itching, swelling, etc) or severe (trouble breathing, wheezing, loss of consciousness etc)
    One could be allergic to any food, but eight foods—milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, cashews etc), fish, shellfish, soy and wheat—account for 90% of all reactions
    Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death
    According to US stats, one in 25 adults suffers from some form of food allergy. The corresponding figure for children is one in 17
(Source: American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology)