Manufacturing allergen-free foods is not easy and although allergy sufferers often feel that food manufaturers do not take their problems sufficiently seriously, a large proportion of the food industry does take allergy very seriously indeed.

But, as is so often the case, the science has not quite caught up with the sufferers. So no one really knows how tiny a dose of an allergen it will take to cause a reaction in a super-sensitive person, and, as yet, testing equipment cannot test much lower than five parts per million - which may seem very little, but could, conceivably, be enough to cause a reaction.

On top of that, allergens are often extremely small and extremely light and therefore very, very dificult to eliminate completely from any working environment.

Just as it is vital that manufacturers understand the problems that allergy sufferers face, we feel that it is important that allergy sufferers also understand the problems of the manufacturers. This way a dialogue can be established which should be to everyone's benefit.

So this section of the site carries articles about a selection of manufacturers - both large and small - who have embarked on the difficult task of making safe, allergen free food.

To see what new pages have recently been uploaded to the site click here; to see what is in the current issue of Foods Matter click here.

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