The first two months of mandatory anaphylaxis reporting has revealed about 50 cases are treated in hospital emergency departments every week across the state.
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Since reporting was introduced on November 1, 18 anaphylactic reactions, or two per week, have been treated and reported in the Grampians region.
New regulations require hospitals to notify the Department of Health and Human Services’ Food Safety Unit immediately or within 24 hours of anaphylaxis presentations to their emergency department where the suspected cause is the consumption of a packaged food.
And all other anaphylaxis cases must be notified within five days.
"Since the requirement to notify cases of anaphylaxis commenced on November 1, 2018, there have been 490 reports of anaphylaxis presentations made by hospitals to the Department of Health and Human Services,” a department spokesman said.
“Analysis of the notifications … found that 216 reports were food-related. This has resulted in one food recall, and the referral of 14 notifications to local councils for follow-up at food premises, such as restaurants.
Presentations to hospitals of anaphylaxis where the suspected cause is a packaged food are the highest priority, and as a consequence, the regulations require these to be notified immediately by telephone
- DHHS spokesman
“These notifications are consistent with what we expected and encourage hospitals to continue to make these reports."
The regulations were introduced on the state coroner’s recommendation following the death of Ronak Warty, 10, who died in 2013 after drinking a can of imported coconut drink.
The drink failed to declare the presence of milk as an ingredient on its label - a breach of Australian food labelling law.
It was more than six weeks after his death that the cause was identified, placing others suffering from similar allergies at risk in the interim.
Victoria's deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Angie Bone said the new reporting system would allow a rapid response to the risks of incorrectly labelled packaged food.
"Acting in a timely manner will protect the Victorian public from preventable anaphylactic reactions, which have been on the rise since 1993,” she said.
