On 13 and 14 November 1995, a FAO Technical Consultation on Food Allergies was convened at an Italian Government Ministry of Health facility in Rome, Italy. The consultation comprised thirteen experts on food allergies and was international in scope as the participants came from nine different countries, both developed and developing.The Consultation was asked to provide their scientific opinion and recommendations in three areas of concern to FAO:1. Provide guidance on the development of science-based criteria to determine which foods or food products should be placed on a list of those foods or food products whose presence should always be declared in the list of ingredients on a food label, because of their allergenic properties.2. Propose an approach to the problem of class naming conventions for those products of allergenic foods, which are themselves also allergenic and which may be used as food ingredients. (Current label names of some products of allergenic foods do not clearly indicate their food origin and in some cases only state theirtechnological function - e.g. an emulsifier).