2.3c How can the cumulative impact of low-level chemical exposures over time be identified and characterized?

Background

Single exposures to food and feed hazards can give rise to severe ill health and for certain chemical, radiological and food hypersensitivity hazards, repeated exposures from our diet can also build to contribute to long term health effects.

Such hazards may naturally be present within certain foods and feed or may occur from contamination, for example, from the production environment or from manufacturing processes. In the UK, up to 2.4 million adults are living with a diagnosed food allergy, and 600,000 people have Coeliac Disease and the FSA wants to improve the quality of life for people living with food hypersensitivities and support them to make safe and informed choices to effectively manage risk.

The overarching aim of this research priority is to provide evidence to support effective risk management decisions by ensuring the risk analysis process is informed by independent, science-led risk assessment and socio-economic analytical evidence.

Next steps

Get in touch: [email protected]

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

FSA Areas of research interest 2024

Topics

No topics assigned yet

Research fields

No research fields assigned yet

Related UKRI funded projects


  • MICA: Identifying risks for severe life-threatening allergic reactions to foods (IRIS-Allergy)

    Food allergy affects up to 3% of adults and 6% of children in the UK, and causes serious reactions (anaphylaxis) which can be fatal. Key to management is dietary avoidance; despite this, accidental reactions are common. ...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: Imperial College London

    Why might this be relevant?

    This project specifically focuses on identifying risks for severe allergic reactions to foods, which aligns with the question about identifying and characterizing the cumulative impact of low-level chemical exposures over time.

  • FOOD ALLERGY AWARENESS CHAMPIONS: TOWARDS IMPROVING FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS IN ONLINE FOOD PROCUREMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH FOOD HYPERSENSITIVITY

    Food hypersensitivity includes allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease. The numbers affected in the UK are not known for sure, but about 1-2% of adults and 5-8% of children have food allergy, which can lead to life-t...

    Funded by: BBSRC

    Lead research organisation: Queen's University Belfast

    Why might this be relevant?

    While this project focuses on improving food safety standards for people with food hypersensitivity, it does not directly address the cumulative impact of low-level chemical exposures over time, but it does partially align with the context of food hypersensitivity.

  • Engaging food hypersensitive communities in citizen science

    Eating food prepared outside the home when you have a food hypersensitivity (FH) risks quality of life and causes stress and anxiety, because it is associated with an increased likelihood of accidental or unwanted consum...

    Funded by: BBSRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Bath

    Why might this be relevant?

    This project engages food hypersensitive communities in citizen science to collect information about assessing allergen risk when eating food prepared outside the home, which partially aligns with the question about identifying and characterizing the cumulative impact of low-level chemical exposures over time.