Allergens in food

Adverse reactions to food have been reported for the past 2000 years. Writings from ancient Rome indicate that the Romans understood that foods consumed safely by most people could provoke adverse reactions in others (Sampson, 1998). Prausnitz and Kustner were the first to discover that the “substance”, now known as IgE, responsible for Kustner’s allergic reaction to fish was present in his blood serum (Prausnitz and Kustner, 1921).