Twenty eight categories of 'freefrom' foods shows has the sector has developed over the last few years. All entries blind judged by panels of carefully curated 'freefrom' and industry judges. Winners to be announced on 8th June.

Finalists just announced. Click here for the full list; click here for a blog post with more details.
The winners will be announced across the awards' social media channels over the course of the day on Tuesday June 13th.

Pholcodine is a drug that is to be found in a wide range of cough medicines. Unfortunately pholcodine has a similar molecular structure to the muscle relaxing drugs which are routinely given to patients about to undergo operations. If that patient has recently (within the last year) had an allergic reaction to pholcodine they could easily react to a muscle relaxant administered prior to an operation. Read more.... March 2023

The treatment of the allergic conditions, beyond medications and implementation of environmental modification maneuvers, is based on the administration of allergy immunotherapy. But there are increasingly strong economic and regulatory pressures adversely influencing the practice of allergy immunotherapy. Interesting article in the Townsend Letter. March 2023

In a recent BSACI on line symposium Professor Stephen Holgate called for urgent action to tackle the environmental causes of the global explosion in allergy cases: the loss of biodiversity, pollution, diet and urbanisation. A timely call but the evidence has been there for many years. Read on...

While it is possible to 'recover' from electrosensitivity the fact that you are able to live a relatively normal life does not mean that the sensitivity has gone away. As Michelle Berriedale Johnson discovered to her cost. Read on... February 2023

The action brought by Action Against 5G against the government, led by Michael Mansfield KC, came to court last week. The government are accused of breaching our human rights by rolling out 5G nationwide without our consent and without informing us of any potential risks. Read on. February 2023

New research funded by the Food Standards Agency looks at the actual costs of living with a food sensitivity both in terms of food and of time lost/spent coping with it - and an estimate of how much people would pay to get rid of that sensitivity. January 2023

New research suggests that of those with food allergies 5-6% may also have coeliac disease - very similar to the levels seen in those with type 1 diabetes and many other autoimmune conditions. See here for the research report; see here for useful comment in Alex Gazzola's Allergy Insight blog. January 2023

Research by Dr Hazel Gowland and Dr Michael Walker covering allergy related cases in the UK courts between Jan 2014 and Feb 2020 show that successful prosecutions resulted in improved allergen control and tightening of allergen related legislation, especially in food service. 28th December 2022

Interested readers will remember that in July Biolab, the nutritional and environmental testing laboratory, went into administration after a falling out with the Care Quality Commission over what they had hoped would be only a temporary suspension. However, Viva Health have now taken over Biolab’s role and can offer a full complement of nutritional and environmental related testing services. Mark Howard of Biolab is now a member of Viva Health Labs staff. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the falling out with the CQC they are not allowed to use the Biolab name. 20 December 22

Trehalose intolerance is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme trehalase, which is required to break down the dietary sugar trehalose into glucose in the gut, for absorption. It is found mainly in mushrooms, particularly shiitake and oyster mushrooms, but also seaweed / algae, shellfish, insects, sunflower seeds and yeasts. As an additive, it is sometimes used to prolong the shelf life of dried food — especially in Japan. 5 setptember 22 For more see the Allergy Insight blog here.

The inquest into the death of Celia Marsh in 2017 after eating a Pret a Manger sandwich which contained milk proteins to which she was allergic has raised a number of issues. How strictly can or should the supply chain be controlled? How practical and reliable is allergen testing? Where and when should precautionary allergen labelling be applied? How reliable is vegan labelling for allergics? And the escalating severity of reactions. 19 September 22 Read more...

John Scott who suffered for many years from Total Food Intolerance (finally resolved through Helminthic Therapy) has now started a Facebook group for Total Food Intolerance sufferers. As he says, ‘thanks to the complete lack of effective treatment options in the medical kit bag and typical dismissal of the condition as psychosomatic by medics, some sort of support group is desperately needed'. For more on Total Food Intolerance follow the links from this blog post. Read more.