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Term "anaphylaxis" invented
Charles Richet and Paul Portier invent the word 'anaphylaxis' after discovering life threatening response to certain proteins and medications. -
The word "Allergy" is coined
Baron Clemens von Pirquet coins the term "allergy" to mean altered reactivity. -
Intradermal skin testing introduced
Robert Cooke introduces intradermal skin testing. -
Role of heredity in allergies discovered
Robert Cooke and Albert Vandeveer demonstrate that children of allergic parents are more likely to have an allergy. -
First reference of a nut allergy
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Elimination Diet created
Dr. Albert Rowe first proposes the elimination diet, where allergic patients remove a suspected allergen from their diet for a period of a few months to see whether their health improves. -
Soybean discovered as a possible food allergen
W.W. Duke points out soybean as a food allergen after observing people taking soymilk formula as a milk substitute. -
First Antihistamine drug
Daniel Bovet synthesized the first antihistamine drug. -
Sesame introduced as an allergen
L. Rubenstein adds sesame to the allergenic foods list. -
Allergy in Infants first discussed
Dr. Irving Moore notes that 383 out of 1000 infants seen at his practice have a food allergy. The most common food allergy was milk. -
IgE antibodies first discovered
Teruka and Kimishige Ishizaka first discover Immunoglobulin E antibodies which play an important role in allergic reactions. -
Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act
First extensive regulation for the labelling of consumer goods, particularly prepackaged food in Canada. The label must provide the common name of the product, the name and address of the party who packaged the food, a list of ingredients, durable life dates. -
Double Blind Food Challenge introduced
Dr. Charles May creates the first double blind food challenge where the patient and the doctor are unaware that there is allergens in the food the patient is eating.
(Photo courtesy:The Providence Journal) -
First Epinephrin Auto-injector goes public
Shel Kaplan modifies a military auto-injector to administer epinephrin, creating the first EpiPen. -
Food Allergy Anaphylaxis Network Created
Nonprofit organization FAAN is founded. FAAN is dedicated to increasing awareness of food allergies and reactions. -
Sabrina's Law takes affect
Sabrina Shannon's Radio DocumentaryA law passes in Ontario that requires school boards to have principals implement anaphylaxis plans for their schools which include life threatening allergy training for teachers and staff. This comes after Sabrina Shannon, a 13 year-old student living in Ontario, died after an anaphylactic reaction caused by cross contamination in her school cafeteria. -
New transparent food labelling regulations
Health Canada decided to force manufacturers to write the common name of food allergens in ingredient lists.
