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This paper aims to examine the differences in the self-reported allergies to food, especially fish and shellfish, between children and adults, and to study the association between fish consumption and self-reported fish and shellfish allergy (FSA) according to age.

This study is based on a survey conducted between April 2014 and December 2016 where children and adults were recruited from the general population of the Fez-Meknes region. The total studied population was 4,046 people.

The results show that the self-reported food allergy (FA) of the general population was more frequent among children (28.2 per cent) than adults (16.8 per cent), in which eggs, fish/shellfish, milk and cereals were the most common food cited. With regard to the self-reported FSA, the authors found a prevalence of 9.5 per cent in both children and adults, whereas fish species allergies were more frequent among adults than children. The most common clinical manifestations observed in this population were cutaneous reactions. The study of the association between fish consumption and FSA shows that people who consumed fish had a lower rate of FSA, especially in adults (p < 0.001).

The self-reported FA of the general population was more pronounced in children than adults. Regarding the self-reported FSA, the authors have shown a prevalence of 9.5 per cent in both children and adults, indicating an important sensitivity of their population to fish and shellfish. The authors have shown that consumption of fish was associated significantly with a lower rate of FSA, especially in adults.

The purpose of this study is to compare the evolution of self-reported milk allergy in children and adults within the population of Fez-Meknes region, as well as to investigate the consumption of milk and its correlation to milk allergy.

It is a cross-sectional study conducted in Fez-Meknes region between April 2014 and March 2015 basing on a questionnaire completed by 3,068 children and 1,281 adults.

The results showed that food allergy was more reported among children (29.4 per cent) than adults (16.9 per cent). Milk allergy was reported by 5.3 per cent of children and 4.2 per cent of adults. Children reported mostly cutaneous manifestations (64.8 per cent) while adults reported mostly gastrointestinal manifestations (68.5 per cent). The consumption of milk showed a protective effect against the development of milk allergy (p < 0.001).

The consumption of milk was associated significantly with a low rate of milk allergy, especially in adults. However, the pasteurization of milk seemed to be correlated to increase milk sensitivity.

Allergenic substances cause food allergy, which represents a major health issue in most countries. This underlines the importance of considering the products' labeling as well as applying related regulatory practices. The objective of this study was to assess the labeling practices of allergens in food products in Morocco.

This cross-sectional survey was conducted on 156 food products collected from four supermarkets in a Moroccan megacity. The data related to the allergen substances (allergen declared, emphasis characters, precautionary allergen labeling) were collected from labels of food products.

The number of foods included in this research was 156, of which 7 (4.5%) did not mention the allergy alert. The analysis of the allergy alert in the others sample (149) showed 266 nonconformities, noticed in 112 (71.8%) products. The labeling emphasis characters were observed in 33.3% of products, and only 13.5% mentioned “contains allergen” as a mandatory statement to declare the presence of allergens. Allergic alerts found in places concealed, removable by the opening of the seal or difficult to see were observed in 28.9%. The use of a precautionary allergen labeling statement was noticed in 40.4% of products.

Moroccan regulations on food allergens are demanding like those of the European Union and more demanding than those of most African countries. However, the application of this regulation remains unsatisfactory and 266 non-conformities were found in 112 (71.8%) products. The absence of emphasis characters and the declaration in inappropriate places represent the most observed non-conformities. Therefore, Moroccan manufacturers must strictly adhere to regulations to avoid exposure of predisposed consumers to potentially threatening allergenic substances.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of heating and pepsin hydrolysis on the allergenicity of purified cow’s milk ß-lactoglobulin using individual sera from Moroccan population.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in Hospitals of Fez-Meknes region, to evaluate specific IgE to raw cow milk, as well as to heated and pepsin-hydrolyzed β-lactoglobulin.

Results showed that 6.6 per cent of studied patients presented high values of serial IgE. The effect of treatments on the allergenicity of ß-lactoglobulin showed that heating at 90°C and pepsin hydrolysis, for 1 h each, showed an important decrease in the recognition of human IgE with a maximum of reduction of 81 and 91 per cent, respectively.

This reduction of immunoreactivity of human IgE to treated ß-lactoglobulin suggested that this Moroccan population recognized mostly conformational epitopes.