Bioengineered Foods and Allergic Reactions

Scientists report that only a fraction of the thousands of proteins in the diet have been found to be food allergens. Therefore, it is unlikely that most proteins introduced into food through bioengineering will be allergens. Additionally, scientists can determine whether a transferred protein has characteristics of known food allergens. To date, all new proteins in the bioengineered foods that will be sold in grocery stores have been shown to lack the characteristics of food allergens.