"Allergic consumer pleased with Santana" is the title of an article in the latest issue of ‘Hypersensitivities’, the quarterly (Dutch) magazine of the Food Allergy Foundation. The article describes the results of a consumer study by PPO Fruit and PRI among three hundred Santana-eating apple allergy patients.
An interesting result is that people with an apple allergy do not consider a light allergic reaction as a problem if this means that they can actually again eat an apple.
Santana is the first apple in the world sold as hypoallergenic product. The apple is intended for people with a mild apple allergy but the study shows that consumers with more than a mild apple allergy are not dissuaded by this restriction. And this had no effect on their satisfaction with the apple. 84% of the people with a heavier apple allergy were pleased after the consumption of Santana while only 34% of this group had no allergic reaction after eating Santana. 52% of the group with mild apple allergy had no allergic reaction after eating Santana and 78% was pleased after consumption of Santana.
Protocol
Together with the Food Allergy Foundation PPO Fruit developed a protocol for the hypoallergenic apple. Important parts of this protocol are: sell packed apples, offer only to people with mild apple allergy, enclose a leaflet with information and a test for safely trying the apple for consumers with apple allergy. Dutch supermarket chains such as Albert Heijn and C1000 do sell – sometimes upon request of their consumers – Santana in a number of their stores.
Source: www.syscope.nl