People who suffer from food allergies manage their condition by avoidance strategies such as diet eliminations and careful examination of ingredient labels. Unexpected exposures and resulting adverse reactions to food allergens represent the main challenge in food atopy. Unlike hay fever and respiratory allergies, immunotherapy has achieved only limited success because of the potency of food allergens, i.e., immunotherapy with food allergens can often trigger serious side effects, including anaphylaxis. Biotechnology has had a positive influence on the science of food allergy by facilitating the discovery and characterization of allergens using recombinant DNA methods. Today, it is generally accepted that most major allergens have been identified and described. Subsequently, biotechnology has enabled the development of diagnostics based on recombinant allergens and more recently has been used to engineer potentially safer immunotherapeutic versions of food allergens - the creation of deallergenized variants. This will allow safer immunotherapies since the de-allergenized variants of food allergens should produce fewer, if any, side effects. In addition, DNA vaccines based on these variants are being tested presently, with a view of providing long-lasting immunotherapeutic options for food allergy patients. Biotechnology is also providing prophylactic options through the development of hypoallergenic foods which have either been engineered to contain fewer andogenous allergens, or have been modified by the presence of proteins like theoredoxin, to render endogenous food allergens less potent and less allergenic. Hypoallergenic foods could reduce the incidence of new food allergies on a global basis.