Steve Taylor is a regular expert columnist for SFWB. Click here to read his articles.

Food allergies began to emerge as a critical public health issue in the early 1990s. Many factors contributed to this emergence including publicity in several countries following the unfortunate deaths of food-allergic children, the creation of consumer groups devoted to food allergies in several countries, and activist concerns about the potential allergencity of GMO crops. 

The food industry was poorly prepared to deal with food allergies. But as the FDA began to focus on food allergies and product recalls for undeclared allergens began to accelerate in the mid-1990s, the food industry made a commitment to bring allergen control to the forefront.

The results over the past 20 years have been amazing - detection methods for allergen residues; assessment of the allergenicity of specific food ingredients, novels foods, and GMOs;

• an understanding of threshold doses;
• important clues about preventing the development of food allergies;
• immunotherapeutic strategies with the promise to lessen the impact of food allergies and more.

But the news is not all positive. The prevalence and severity of food allergies continues to increase at a disturbing rate. Undeclared allergens are the leading cause of product recalls in the U.S. Public health authorities have not yet embraced thresholds. The future is promising but much work remains.  

Click here to register for the lecture, which is sponsored by IFT. Ticket prices range from $25.00 to $60.00 until May 4, 2017, and $30.00 to $60.00 after May 4.

Schedule:
4-5 p.m. Executive committee meeting
5-6 p.m. Social hour with cash bar and heavy appetizers
6-8 p.m. Dinner and speaker

About Steve Taylor:
Steve L. Taylor, Ph.D. currently serves as Professor in the Dept. of Food Science & Technology and founder and Co-Director of the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska.

Dr. Taylor received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in food science and technology from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California - Davis. Dr. Taylor maintains an active research program in the area of food allergies.

Dr. Taylor initiated his professional interest in food allergies and sensitivities in 1980. His primary research interests involve the development of methods for the detection of residues of allergenic foods, the determination of the minimal eliciting doses for specific allergenic foods, the assessment of the allergenicity of ingredients derived from allergenic sources, and the assessment of the allergenicity of foods produced through agricultural biotechnology.

Dr. Taylor is heavily involved in outreach to the food industry on food allergies and sensitivities and has helped countless companies on a wide range of allergen-related topics.