Allergy trends 2025–2026 reveal a growing public health challenge, with clinicians and patients reporting more severe reactions, emerging allergens and increasing anxiety around everyday food safety. From food allergy and anaphylaxis to environmental triggers, the scale and complexity of allergic disease in the UK is rising, placing new pressure on individuals and healthcare systems alike.
Recent clinical data and lived experience point to a clear message: allergy care, awareness, and support systems must evolve.
Allergy trends 2025 show a rise in severe reactions
According to Consultant Allergist Dr Stephanie Kayode, one of the most concerning developments in recent years has been the increasing frequency of severe and life-threatening allergic reactions.
“In my clinical practice, I have noticed patients are experiencing severe and life-threatening allergic reactions, also known as anaphylaxis, more frequently,” she explains. “This worrying trend was also observed in NHS England hospital admission data, which found that the number of hospital admissions due to anaphylaxis has more than doubled from 2002–2003 to 2023–2024.”
Dr Kayode highlights that alongside rising reaction rates, there remain significant gaps in access to specialist allergy services and life-saving adrenaline auto-injectors across different parts of the UK, an issue that continues to place patients at risk.
Emerging allergens and gaps in food labelling
While UK food law requires 14 allergens to be declared, Dr Kayode warns that this framework is no longer fully aligned with current clinical reality.
“Studies have found certain foods, without mandatory labelling, are increasingly causing more frequent and severe food reactions,” she says. “These emerging food allergens include legumes such as peas and lentils, buckwheat and pine nuts.”
She notes that there are growing calls within the medical community to update and expand allergen labelling requirements to reflect the changing food landscape and better protect people with allergies.
Misunderstandings still put people at risk
One of the most persistent issues in allergy care remains confusion between allergies and intolerances.
“The commonest misconception about food allergies and food intolerances is that they are interchangeable,” Dr Kayode explains. “However, the underlying causes are very different, meaning the tests and treatments are also dissimilar.”
She emphasises that food allergies involve an immune response that can trigger rapid and potentially fatal reactions, while intolerances are non-immune reactions that typically cause delayed gastrointestinal symptoms and are rarely life-threatening.
Dr Kayode also cautions against the rise of unvalidated testing methods marketed directly to consumers.
“No method of hair strand testing is capable of diagnosing allergies or intolerances,” she states. “These tests are not scientifically plausible and can delay access to appropriate medical advice and validated testing.”
A lived experience perspective
For Sophia Turner, founder of the Safe Appetite app and an allergy sufferer herself, these trends reflect challenges she has spoken about repeatedly in previous interviews.
In earlier coverage, Sophia has described how navigating food shopping and everyday consumption with allergies requires constant vigilance, trust in accurate labelling, and access to reliable information. She has also spoken publicly about how inconsistent information and unclear allergen communication increase anxiety for allergy sufferers, particularly when managing risk outside of clinical settings.
Her work in allergy technology has consistently focused on improving clarity, confidence, and safety for people managing allergies in real-world environments, particularly when making decisions quickly or under pressure.
Climate change and environmental factors around allergy trends
Environmental changes are also playing a growing role in allergy prevalence and severity.
“As temperatures rise, plant growing seasons get longer, leading to longer pollen seasons and more pollen being produced,” Dr Kayode explains. “Often, patients report that their hay fever symptoms are starting earlier and sometimes as early as January.”
She adds that air pollution can damage the airways and make pollen more allergenic, meaning lower pollen levels can still trigger more severe reactions.
New developments in treatment and management
There have also been notable developments in how allergic reactions are treated.
Dr Kayode highlights the recent MHRA approval of Neffy, an intranasal adrenaline spray.
“A non-injectable means of self-administering adrenaline is now available,” she says. “It is especially appealing to allergic patients who are needle-phobic or struggle to carry adrenaline auto-injector pens.”
However, she notes that clinical confidence and long-term evidence will be critical in determining how widely such treatments are adopted.
The importance of education and preparedness
Despite advances in treatment, Dr Kayode stresses that education remains one of the most urgent priorities.
“Insufficient, incorrect or delayed injection of adrenaline is associated with protracted reactions and fatal outcomes,” she explains. “It is essential that patients and those around them know how and when to use adrenaline auto-injectors correctly.”
She encourages regular training, familiarity with devices, and shared responsibility among family members, colleagues, and carers.
Looking ahead to allergy trends 2026
Taken together, the trends point to a future where allergy care must be more proactive, better informed, and more aligned with real-world experiences.
Clinical insight, patient education, clearer labelling, and supportive technology will all play a role in reducing risk and improving quality of life for the growing number of people living with allergies.
