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Future Food Utrecht invites UU and UMC Utrecht researchers, students  and stakeholders to participate in lectured given by dr. Marty Blom from TNO/UMC Utrecht and dr. Bregje Holleman from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. 
This lecture is part of the Future Food Project Gallery event where several lectures will be offered throughout the day addressing a wide scope of topics. 

Millions of people worldwide suffer from food allergy. It causes health problems and leads to a loss of quality of life. Research by TNO and UMC Utrecht in  has shown that food allergy-patients regularly experience an allergic reaction due to unclear warnings on food labels. Food-allergy patients experience a great of difficulty reading the information on the food label. This is partly due to the inconsistent range in ways of presentation of allergen information on labels by food business operators.

Researchers from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� (Language & Communication), UMC Utrecht (Dermatology and Allergology), and TNO (Healthy Living) have analyzed current allergen information on food labels as they occur in Dutch supermarkets and provided practical recommendations for improving the label format based on communication theory. Furthermore, they studied the interpretation of commonly used allergy information on foods in two controlled experiments. The results of their analysis have recently been published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy. Both articles attracted (inter)national press attention. In this analysis, a unique combination of expertise came together: the food allergy experts (UMCU and TNO) and the communication and language experts (Faculty of Humanities, Language and Communication). 

What's going to happen?  
During this online event, Marty Blom (TNO/ UMCU) and Bregje Holleman (UU) will share the results of the 2 studies just published one in which they investigated the interpretation of allergy information by allergic and non-allergic consumers and a second one analyzing the label information using a communication perspective and providing practical recommendations for food label design. Furthermore, they will relate this work to another ongoing study from the same project: a qualitative study of interviews among food producers and quality managers about the reasoning behind the allergy information provided on foods. There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion, focusing on the research as such, the interdisciplinary cooperation as well as with regards to the practical implications of this research. 

Speakers

• Marty van Blom: is scientist food allergy and risk assessment (TNO Healthy Living, Utrecht) and holds a position as guest scientist at the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Medical Center Utrecht. Her focus is on scientific and practical developments for implementation of allergen risk management and quantitative guidance for precautionary allergen labeling.

• Bregje Holleman: is an associate professor in language and communication (Fac Humanities, Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��). She is interested in document design; in the question how text can help to support behavioural decisions, and in how subtle wording variation can affect these decisions.

Publications and articles:

1.  Blom, W. M., van Dijk, L. M., Michelsen‐Huisman, A., Houben, G. F., Knulst, A. C., Linders, Y. F., ... & Lentz, L. R. (2021). Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 51(4), 574-584, 2021. 
2. Poor understanding of allergen labelling by allergic and non-allergic consumers. Holleman, Bregje; Van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke; van den Bergh, Huub; van Dijk, Liselotte; Linders, Yvette; Blom, W; Verhoeckx, Kitty; Michelsen-Huisman, Anouska; Houben, Geert; Knulst, Andre; Lentz, Leo. To appear in Clinical & Experimental Allergy (July 21st 2021). Article ID: CEA13975. Article DOI: 10.1111/cea.13975