Food allergies — and serious reactions associated with them — are on the rise worldwide, with allergy rates estimated at 7% of the global population in 2018, up from 3% in 1960. Per a BBC.com article, ongoing confusion about the difference between allergy and intolerance and initial misunderstanding around allergy prevention techniques have served as added fuel for concern about food allergies and sensitivities. The article notes:

 

“It’s difficult, however, to pinpoint just how much food allergies have risen. Three to four times as many people think they have a food allergy as actually do, making self-reported data difficult to trust. Much of this is because food intolerance and food allergy can be confused. Meanwhile, many countries have no data on food allergy prevalence. Furthermore, the “gold-standard” test for a food allergy – which involves feeding a small amount of the food to the person in question in a clinical setting – is time-consuming, costly, and comes with risks.”

 

Fortunately, recent research on allergies is yielding insight into the roles of the human microbiome, environment, immunotherapies, and optimal levels of nutrients such as vitamin D in immune response and regulation.

While those consumers directly affected by food allergies represent a small fraction of the global population, the severity of reactions and evolving scientific understanding of how allergies develop will keep the topic in the spotlight and on consumers’ minds for the foreseeable future. 

 

Our Health + Wellness 2019 report found that 49% of consumers said they were either treating (24%) or preventing (25%) allergies they saw as environmental in their households, and another 31% said they were either treating (11%) or preventing (20%) food allergies and food sensitivities.

 

Emerging research and consumer conversation place food allergies at the nexus of a number of salient topics in contemporary health and wellness culture: the immune system, biodiversity of the microbiome, environmental factors, and impacts of modern eating and lifestyle.

 

For more information on upcoming trends that intersect with these and many other related topics, our Health + Wellness 2021 study, fielding in February 2021, will examine how a nearly full year of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ongoing trends and shaped new habits and attitudes around what health and wellness means today.

 

More information on Health + Wellness 2021 is available here.