Rare and Risky Food Allergens: Clinical Relevance, Cross-reactivity and Management

Depending on national regulations, rare food allergens are not regarded as major food allergens. Consequently, there is a notable lack of information devoted to rare allergens, despite the significant health risks they pose to sensitized individuals, including potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions. Rare and Risky Food Allergens: Clinical Relevance, Cross-Reactivity, and Management addresses that gap by providing an authoritative overview of uncommon food allergens such as fruits, legumes, rice, mammalian milk and meat, honey, wheat beer, chocolate, coffee, edible insects, algae, spices, green tea, and selected food additives. Each chapter examines these allergens from multiple perspectives―molecular identification, immunological mechanisms, cross-reactivity with respiratory or contact allergens, diagnostic approaches, and management strategies.

Bringing together chapters written by international leaders in clinical care, research, and education, this book offers both an assessment of contemporary knowledge and practical guidelines. It aims to equip researchers, academics, students, health practitioners, and nutritionists with a comprehensive understanding of these less common but clinically important allergies, enhancing their ability to recognize and manage these serious health concerns effectively.

Dr. Roua Lajnaf received her Engineer and MSc degrees in Biological Engineering from the National Engineering School of Sfax, Tunisia, and earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Food Technology from the University of Montpellier, France, in 2017. Her research expertise focuses on milk proteins from various mammalian species and the impact of different food processing technologies on their functional properties and allergenicity.

Dr. Lajnaf is currently affiliated with the University of Liège, Belgium, where her work addresses the intersection of climate change, food safety, and human health, including food allergies.

She has extensive experience in academia and food engineering, having taught at the universities of Sfax, Monastir, and Tunis El-Manar in Tunisia, covering topics such as food technology, quality management, and nutritional pathologies, including food allergies. She has presented her work at numerous international conferences, seminars, and congresses and has authored a substantial body of research articles, review papers, book chapters, patents, and books in the fields of food engineering and food allergy. She serves as a reviewer for several journals in food biochemistry and toxicology and is the editor of Food Allergies: Processing Technologies for Allergenicity Reduction (CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group). She has also acted as Lead Guest Editor for multiple journals in nutrition and allergy sciences.

In recognition of her pioneering work on developing cow’s milk alternatives suitable for children with milk protein allergies, Dr. Lajnaf was awarded the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Prize in 2022 in the field of Biological Sciences.

Prof. Sawsan Feki, MD, PhD is a specialist in Immunology, affiliated with the Immunology Laboratory at Habib Bourguiba University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine, Sfax, Tunisia. She serves as a member of the Board of the Tunisian Immunology Society (STI). Her expertise spans autoimmune diseases, autoantibodies, immunogenetics, adaptive immunity, allergic disorders, rheumatic and immune-mediated diseases.

Prof. Feki has extensive academic experience, teaching medical students in immunology and allergology, and has completed a PhD focusing on autoimmune diseases. She has presented her research at numerous national and international congresses and has published widely in immunology, allergology, internal medicine, oncology, and related fields, including review articles on food allergies and multiple sclerosis. She is actively involved in epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of immunological disorders, participating in national and international working groups in these domains.

Prof. Feki is also the author and co-author of several books and book chapters covering allergic and autoimmune diseases, oncology, and internal medicine, contributing significantly to the advancement of knowledge in clinical and translational immunology.