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This project will explore the information needs of teenagers and young adults in relation to food allergy/intolerance and determine how best to meet them.
<p>A qualitative methodology including a combination of small groups, paired and in-depth interviews will be used. The main target audience are teenagers (secondary school age; 11-18 years) and young people (at college or university; 18-22 years). Some parents/guardians who buy food for young people with food allergies or intolerances will be included.
<p>People from ethnic minorities will also be included in this project, although, their responses will not be reported separately.
<p>The research will be UK-wide. Within England, areas with poor NHS allergy services will be covered (SW and NE England), as well as those with better services (Midlands and South East).
Adverse reactions to food, including fatal reactions, occur most frequently among teenagers and young people, particularly when they are eating away from home.
<p>To better protect these age groups, there is a need to establish what they need to know about food allergies and intolerances, and to explore how best these needs can be met and how to better communicate with them.
<p>This project will identify the key issues that teenagers and young people with a food allergy/intolerance face when they start to eat out, or move away from home and start cooking for themselves.
<p>It will also seek to establish the key issues for parents of teenagers and young people who have food allergy/intolerance.
<p>As part of this research, there will be an assessment of consumers' understanding of allergen labels currently in use. In addition, this research will establish what forms of communication teenagers, young people and parents would like to see.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.