Why Life Sciences and Health Tech Must Rethink Prevention
Food allergies represent a growing and under addressed challenge within public health and preventative medicine. While prevalence and severity continue to rise, the systems designed to protect individuals have struggled to adapt to modern food environments, digital commerce and changing consumer behaviour.
For the life sciences sector, this presents a clear warning. Allergy related risk is no longer confined to clinical settings or early childhood diagnoses. It is increasingly shaped by systemic failures in food transparency, delayed adult diagnosis and the rapid evolution of how food is produced, sold and consumed.
A changing allergy landscape
Historically, food allergies were viewed primarily as a paediatric condition, managed through avoidance strategies and emergency intervention. That perception is now outdated.
Clinical data shows a steady rise in adult onset food allergies, with many individuals experiencing symptoms for years before diagnosis. During this period, repeated low level exposure can exacerbate immune responses and increase the likelihood of severe reactions later in life.
Hospital admissions for anaphylaxis have increased significantly over the past two decades, reflecting not only rising prevalence but greater exposure risk. This trend places growing strain on emergency care and specialist allergy services, which remain limited in capacity.
Consultant allergist Dr Stephanie Kayode has highlighted how delayed diagnosis and inconsistent allergen communication contribute to worsening patient outcomes. Her work reflects a broader clinical reality. Allergy risk is often cumulative, shaped as much by systemic gaps as by individual biology.
Where prevention breaks down
From a life sciences perspective, one of the most significant issues is that allergy prevention largely depends on individual vigilance rather than system level safeguards.
Food safety regulation has improved labelling standards in formal retail and hospitality settings. However, these frameworks were not designed for today’s decentralised food economy. Informal food sales, social media driven vendors and peer to peer commerce operate with limited oversight and inconsistent allergen disclosure.
Even within regulated environments, consumers are expected to interpret complex labels, navigate precautionary statements and account for formulation changes. This places a disproportionate burden on individuals, increasing the risk of error.
In preventative health terms, this represents a structural failure. Effective prevention should reduce reliance on memory, interpretation and assumption. Instead, allergy safety often amplifies cognitive load at the point of consumption.
The expanding role of health tech in risk reduction
Health technology offers a route to address this gap. As with other areas of preventative care, digital tools can support real time decision making, reduce exposure risk and provide consistent safety cues outside clinical settings.
In allergy management, this shift is particularly significant. Most allergen exposure occurs during routine activities such as shopping, eating and socialising, not in medical environments. Yet existing safety mechanisms are largely static and disconnected from daily behaviour.
This is where platforms like Safe Appetite fit within the broader health tech ecosystem. Positioned as a digital safety layer, Safe Appetite supports allergy sufferers in identifying potential risks and making informed choices in complex purchasing environments.
Rather than replacing clinical care, such tools extend its protective reach, supporting prevention between diagnoses, appointments and emergency events.
Innovation driven by lived experience
A growing proportion of impactful health technologies are being developed by founders with direct lived experience of system failure. In allergy care, this perspective is particularly valuable.
The founder of Safe Appetite spent years unknowingly consuming foods that triggered adverse reactions, with symptoms repeatedly dismissed or misattributed. Like many adults with undiagnosed allergies, prolonged exposure led to escalating health impacts before testing finally provided clarity.
This experience exposed a critical gap. Diagnosis alone does not equate to safety. Without accessible, everyday support, individuals remain vulnerable long after clinical confirmation.
Safe Appetite was developed in response to this gap, reflecting a broader trend in patient led innovation where real world risk informs practical design.
Implications for public health and the life sciences sector
For public health systems, improving everyday allergy safety has clear downstream benefits. Reduced accidental exposure lowers emergency admissions, alleviates pressure on specialist services and improves long term outcomes for patients.
For the life sciences sector, this presents an opportunity to rethink how prevention is delivered. Digital health tools can complement traditional clinical pathways, offering scalable support that aligns with real world behaviour.
There is also potential for richer data insights. Aggregated, anonymised usage patterns can inform research, policy and education, supporting a more proactive approach to allergy risk management.
What needs to evolve next
Addressing rising allergy risk requires coordinated progress across regulation, clinical practice and innovation. Food safety standards must evolve to reflect modern sales channels. Health tech must be recognised as a legitimate component of preventative care rather than an optional add on.
Crucially, collaboration between clinicians, technologists, regulators and investors will determine whether allergy safety keeps pace with changing risk environments.
Food allergies are no longer a niche concern. They are a growing public health issue that demands system level solutions. Health technology has a critical role to play, but only if it is integrated intentionally and at scale.
Author bio
Sophia Turner is the founder of Safe Appetite, a health tech platform designed to support safer decision making for people with food allergies. Diagnosed with multiple food allergies as an adult after years of unexplained symptoms, she now works at the intersection of lived experience, preventative health and digital innovation. Sophia is focused on improving allergy safety through technology, education and system level change.
