Location
There was no statistically significant difference in terms of location for peanut or other food induced anaphylaxis. Most events happened in the country of residence (97% vs 98%) predominantly at home (42% vs 50%), in school or kindergarten (12% vs 9%), and in a relative’s or friend’s house (11% vs 7%).
Non-prepacked products were responsible for only 38% (n=123) of the peanut reactions (specified in n=320 out of 459), compared to other foods, where they triggered the majority of the events (63%; n=610 out of 972 cases with this information available) (p=0.005) (Table 1). Milk and egg (63%; p<0.001), but also some tree nuts (53%; p<0.001) were main ingredients in non-prepacked food. Products were catered or bought (e.g. bakery, supermarket). Peanut was more often listed as an ingredient or on precautionary allergen labelling compared to other food allergens (54% vs 40%; p=0.001), but 45% (n=120) and 58% (n=386) respectively answered ‘don’t know’ to this question.
Small amounts (less or equal to 1 teaspoon) were more likely to elicit the reaction in peanut anaphylaxis (66%; n=197 specified in n=300 out of 459 vs 43%; n=446 specified in n=1034 out of 1503; p<0.001) (Figure 3).