A free, online food-allergy training program for people working in the food services industry has been launched by the nation's peak medical and patient organisations for allergy.
The course from the National Allergy Strategy comes in response to an alarming rise in episodes of anaphylaxis.
It's designed for managers and food service staff to raise their awareness of the risks food allergies pose, how to identify allergens and ways to respond to customers with food allergy queries.
One in 20 children and one in 50 adults are affected by food allergies, and while prevention and awareness is the key to reducing the risks, there is no cure.
'Each attack is worse'
For Sydney resident David Curley, who has battled an allergy to dairy products his whole life, it could prove potentially fatal.
"And every time I'm exposed to an allergen, my sensitivity to it reduces, so each attack generally is worse than the last," he told SBS World News.
The swelling of the lips and tongue is followed by the airways closing up.
Anaphylaxis can come on within 15 minutes of contact with an allergen.
"It's an immune-system response to, usually, a food protein. So the body recognises the food protein once the food's eaten," Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia's Maria Said explains.
Hospital admissions for food-induced episodes have increased fivefold over the past 20 years.
Cross-contamination is a major culprit, and chef Alex Herbert offers simple advice on how to limit that risk.
"Take care, separate yourself, wash your hands, make sure you've got fresh utensils, and very much focus on that person's dish," he says.
"There is a very simple online course that you can do which draws your attention to what are some of the simple steps that you can take to make your food safe."
Deaths from food-induced anaphylaxis are increasing at a rate of about 10 per cent every year.
Risks for some with ethnic backgrounds
University of Western Australia associate professor Richard Loh says there seem to be particular concerns for people of some ethnic backgrounds.
"There's some published data that more than 50 per cent of deaths of children in Australia from food allergies are in children from Asian background - Indian, Chinese children."
The new online course is for anyone working in the food service and takes about one to one and half hours to compelte.
Mr Curley says he hopes the program is the first step to an industry-wide standard on food-allergy education.
"I would like to see it move to a similar situation to the responsible service of alcohol, where it's mandatory for the food-service industry to have this type of formal training."
