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VAST MAJORITY OF ALLERGY SUFFERERS ‘MISTAKEN ABOUT THEIR CONDITION’, CATERERS ARE TOLD
Added: (Fri Nov 04 2005)
As many as nine out of ten people claiming to suffer from allergies and food intolerances are mistaken about their condition, a high-profile gathering of school caterers was told recently,
Catering nutrition expert Dianne Shun Wah told a conference organised by Pelican Buying Company that many people assumed they were suffering from allergies because of what they had read or heard from others.
She said: “Up to 20% think or claim they have an allergy or intolerance to food. The facts are very, very different indeed. We are talking about as few as 2% of adults and 5% of children who have actually got allergies or intolerances to food.”
However Dianne, a former food industry professional who is now a director of hygiene management specialist In House, insisted that the number of people with allergies is increasing. The proportion of adults suffering from allergies or food intolerances had doubled in the past decade, she said.
Dianne’s comments came as she addressed an audience at the ‘Challenges for School Caterers’ conference in Sutton Coldfield, which was attended by more than 100 caterers from schools and colleges across the state and independent sectors.
She warned them: “We have to take allergies seriously. Allergic reaction can kill – there are about 10 deaths a year in this country from reactions to allergies. The majority of these by far are those who are eating away from home.”
Dianne sought to reassure delegates worried that allergies posed a particular risk to very young children. She insisted: “Most of the deaths occurring from reactions to allergies are among teenagers and young adults – particularly young males, usually when they are away from home for the first time.”
And Dianne also warned caterers of the increasing risk to public health posed by obesity. She highlighted a five-fold increase in the condition in the UK. “Twenty-two per cent of adults are now obese,” she said. “That is quite an amazing figure. Fifty per cent of adults are overweight.”
And she warned: “If things continue as they are now, by 2020 we are going to have 50% of our children who are obese.”
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The ‘Challenges for School Caterers’ conference was run by Pelican Buying Company which invited school caterers from across the country, together with a wide range of suppliers of food and catering equipment.
ENDS
About Pelican Buying Company:
Pelican Buying Company, which began trading in 1990, provides cost-reducing purchasing solutions for schools and colleges in the independent and state sectors; leisure and hospitality outlets such as restaurants, hotels, bars and clubs; and for local authority clients.
By harnessing the buying power of many individual businesses, Pelican is able to negotiate trading terms and discounts that individual operators would not normally be able to achieve on their own. Its customer base exceeds 4,000 clients.
For further information please contact Alison Jee on 020 8744 0744 or email alison@alisonjee.co.uk