Legume allergy: clinical threshold doses in legume-allergic individuals

Background Soybean and peanut, members of the Legume family, are recognized as common allergenic foods by the FAO Codex Alimentarius. EU directive 2003/89/EC and US Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act prescribe labelling of food products for these two major allergenic foods. EU directive 2007/68/EC requires labelling for lupin, another member of the Legume family. The reported prevalence and severity of allergic reactions to soybeans is lower than peanut and most other major allergenic foods. For lupin only limited clinical data are available. Our previous work with peanut has used clinical results from double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFC) to estimate a population threshold. Further exploration of soy and lupin thresholds would benefit all stakeholders.