- Print this page
- Download as PDF
- Share this page
In 2024 the Food Authority conducted an online survey to understand community knowledge and experiences of food allergies. The anonymous quantitative survey also provided a ‘sense check’ for in-depth qualitative interviews previously conducted with people with food allergies and carers of people with food allergies. The findings are informing community education initiatives.
Key findings included:
- Children are generally more knowledgeable than adults, however there are still gaps, such as sharing food.
- A significant proportion of adults without food allergies didn’t understand critical allergy pointers such as symptoms, what anaphylaxis is or the fact that allergies are becoming more common. This was particularly the case for young adults
- Precautionary allergen labelling is not always well understood.
- For children with anaphylaxis, having reactions is the most difficult and important aspect of living with allergies, while for other children with allergies it is the social aspect.
- Overall, children with anaphylaxis found most experiences more difficult. This was followed by children with multiple food allergies, who also found most experiences more difficult than children with one food allergy but not living with anaphylaxis.
Read the food allergy survey summary report (PDF, 302KB).