Hong Kong Food Allergy Awareness Week Research 2016-2017: 95% of People Who Took the Test are Found

HK BioTek

HK BioTek Ltd. held a press conference as a part of Hong Kong Food Allergy Awareness Week on 17th May. The organisation has randomly selected 1800 reports in 2016 to analyze the trend of food sensitivity in Hong Kong. Food Sensitivity has become a Major Health Concern Worldwide The World Allergy Organisation (WAO) of the prevalence of sensitivity is 10-40% by country, affecting people’s health and quality of life. Yet, there is a general lack of awareness about food sensitivity in Hong Kong. Dr. Denny Tang explains that allergic symptoms are resulted as the immune system become overly reactive and cause a series of inflammatory response. Eczema, migraine, diarrhea, recurrent cold and joint pain are common symptoms of food sensitivity.

Latest Top 3 food sensitivity allergens: Egg, Dairy and Duck Egg

According to test results, Ms. Tracy Kwong, Operations Manager at HK BioTek, comments 95% of people who took the test are found to be sensitive to at least one food, this shows that it might be a common health issue among locals. According to findings, the top 3 common food sensitivity allergens are Egg (71.7%), Dairy (64.5%) and Duck Egg (54.8%). Compared with the top three allergens in the past years (2004 - 2013), the first two remained unchanged while the prevalence of wheat has declined slightly but remained one of the top ten common allergens. Some of these common allergens are foods that people eat regularly. It is recommended that the public should pay more attention to these common offending foods.

Top common food allergens of different categories in 2016

Low Allergen Diet: A Trend with Room for Improvement in Hong Kong

Mr. Andy Kun, a local Facebook health group founder, shares the challenges of living allergen free in Hong Kong. He points out that local’s awareness of food sensitivity has been improved, however, it still lags behind western countries. He encourages people with diet restrictions to make good use of resources such as the “Gluten Free Eat Out Map’’ and follow health groups for the latest information. Ms. Sarah Lee, a healthy low allergen bakery owner in Hong Kong, mentions that after extensive research and development, there is almost no taste and texture difference between ordinary cakes and its low allergen versions. With a growing demand for low allergen foods, she encourages the catering industry to use healthier ingredients and provide more low allergen food choices to cater for the needs of health-conscious customers with diet restrictions.