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Diagnosis of a food allergy

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WQ.163/2021

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 12th APRIL 2021

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 19th APRIL 2021

Question Question

Will the Minister advise how many Islanders, broken down by age group, are currently registered as having an official diagnosis of a food allergy to the following allergens –

  1. celery;
  2. cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats);
  3. crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters);
  4. eggs;
  5. fish;
  6. lupin;
  7. milk;
  8. molluscs (such as mussels and oysters);
  9. mustard;
  10. peanuts;
  11. sesame;
  12. soybeans;
  13. sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million); and
  14. tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts)?

 Answer

There is no official register of those who have been diagnosed with a food allergy. Such details are not systematically recorded other than in individual patient notes.

Where an allergy is suspected, a GP may carry out a skin/pinprick test or a blood test. The result of a skin allergy test is available more quickly, while a blood test carried out by the GP to determine the substances a patient is allergic to is then sent to the pathology lab for processing with the test results sent back to the GP electronically.