Non "G8" food allergies in the North of England and North Wales: A focus on less common food allergens

Objectives: The eight commonest food allergies in children are milk, egg, wheat, soya, peanuts and tree nuts, fish and shellfish. The purpose of this study was to examine the spectrum of the “less com-mon” food allergies suffered by children in 15 paediatric allergy centres across the North West of England and North Wales.
Method: The North West& North Wales Paediatric Allergy Network anonymised database was used to collate the information. Data was col-lected during a two-year period between April 2019 and March 2021.Results: Data on 5080 children, median age 5 (range 0–19) years old were available. Most children presented with classical immediate or delayed hypersensitivity reactions. 54% had an allergy to one food, 27% to two foods, 10% to three foods and 9% to four or more foods. 47 suffered from OAS, 13 FPIES, and 7 eosinophilic enteropathy. 35% had associated eczema and 25% asthma.
624 (12%) patients had one or more non “G8” food allergies. Legumes (35%), kiwi (19%), banana (6%), tomato (6%) and strawberry (5%) were most prominent. Children in Greater Manchester (42%) and Lancashire & Cumbria (43%) particularly those from Blackburn, Bolton, Oldham, Preston and Wigan, were significantly more likely to have a history of legume allergy than children in Cheshire & Mersey (28%) or North Wales (20%) (p < 0.001). There was a 3.4 (2.4 – 4.8)-fold higher risk of legume allergy in patients who had a peanut allergy. Legume allergy (OR 1.7), peanut allergy (3.5), asthma (3.7) and age (1.2) were all independently associated with a significantly increased risk of the child having an adrenaline auto-injector.
Conclusions: Allergies to legumes are prevalent, particularly in traditionally more multi-cultural areas of the North West. Children with these allergies are more likely to have an associated peanut allergy and carry an adrenaline auto-injector